diff --git a/code/controllers/configuration.dm b/code/controllers/configuration.dm
index d0a60a0816..a22c9eec5f 100644
--- a/code/controllers/configuration.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/configuration.dm
@@ -118,7 +118,10 @@
 	var/gateway_delay = 18000 //How long the gateway takes before it activates. Default is half an hour.
 	var/ghost_interaction = 0
 
+	var/comms_password = ""
+
 	var/use_irc_bot = 0
+	var/irc_bot_host = ""
 	var/main_irc = ""
 	var/admin_irc = ""
 	var/python_path = "" //Path to the python executable.  Defaults to "python" on windows and "/usr/bin/env python2" on unix
@@ -407,6 +410,12 @@
 				if("ghost_interaction")
 					config.ghost_interaction = 1
 
+				if("comms_password")
+					config.comms_password = value
+
+				if("irc_bot_host")
+					config.irc_bot_host = value
+
 				if("main_irc")
 					config.main_irc = value
 
diff --git a/code/modules/ext_scripts/irc.dm b/code/modules/ext_scripts/irc.dm
index bc4774af11..f4e94f3ffc 100644
--- a/code/modules/ext_scripts/irc.dm
+++ b/code/modules/ext_scripts/irc.dm
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 /proc/send2irc(var/channel, var/msg)
-	if(config.use_irc_bot)
-		ext_python("ircbot_message.py", "[channel] [msg]")
+	if(config.use_irc_bot && config.irc_bot_host)
+		ext_python("ircbot_message.py", "[config.comms_password] [config.irc_bot_host] [channel] [msg]")
 	return
 
 /proc/send2mainirc(var/msg)
-	if(config.use_irc_bot && config.main_irc)
-		ext_python("ircbot_message.py", "[config.main_irc] [msg]")
+	if(config.use_irc_bot && config.main_irc && config.irc_bot_host)
+		ext_python("ircbot_message.py", "[config.comms_password] [config.irc_bot_host] [config.main_irc] [msg]")
 	return
 
 /proc/send2adminirc(var/msg)
-	if(config.use_irc_bot && config.admin_irc)
-		ext_python("ircbot_message.py", "[config.admin_irc] [msg]")
-	return
\ No newline at end of file
+	if(config.use_irc_bot && config.admin_irc && config.irc_bot_host)
+		ext_python("ircbot_message.py", "[config.comms_password] [config.irc_bot_host] [config.admin_irc] [msg]")
+	return
diff --git a/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm b/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm
index a6e578635d..9b798d80ca 100644
--- a/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm
+++ b/code/modules/ext_scripts/python.dm
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@
 
 	var/command = config.python_path + " " + script + " " + args
 
-	return shell(command)
\ No newline at end of file
+	return shell(command)
diff --git a/code/world.dm b/code/world.dm
index 502d25d190..8d811e8ea4 100644
--- a/code/world.dm
+++ b/code/world.dm
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@
 
 	sleep_offline = 1
 
+	send2mainirc("Server starting up on [config.server? "byond://[config.server]" : "byond://[world.address]:[world.port]"]")
+
 	master_controller = new /datum/controller/game_controller()
 	spawn(1)
 		master_controller.setup()
diff --git a/config/config.txt b/config/config.txt
index 65ea61919e..6538a9edbf 100644
--- a/config/config.txt
+++ b/config/config.txt
@@ -211,15 +211,21 @@ USEALIENWHITELIST
 ##Remove the # to let ghosts spin chairs
 #GHOST_INTERACTION
 
+## Password used for authorizing ircbot and other external tools.
+#COMMS_PASSWORD
+
 ## Uncomment to enable sending data to the IRC bot.
 #USE_IRC_BOT
 
+## Host where the IRC bot is hosted.  Port 45678 needs to be open.
+#IRC_BOT_HOST localhost
+
 ## IRC channel to send information to.  Leave blank to disable.
 #MAIN_IRC #main
 
 ## IRC channel to send adminhelps to.  Leave blank to disable adminhelps-to-irc.
 #ADMIN_IRC #admin
 
-## Path to the python executable on the system.  Leave blank for default.
+## Path to the python2 executable on the system.  Leave blank for default.
 ## Default is "python" on Windows, "/usr/bin/env python2" on UNIX.
-PYTHON_PATH
+#PYTHON_PATH
diff --git a/scripts/ircbot_message.py b/scripts/ircbot_message.py
index b2b8a02f1b..95673c62f4 100644
--- a/scripts/ircbot_message.py
+++ b/scripts/ircbot_message.py
@@ -6,18 +6,18 @@
 import sys,cPickle,socket
 
 def pack():
-    ip = sys.argv[1]
+    passwd = sys.argv[1]
+    ip = sys.argv[3]
     try:
-        data = sys.argv[2:] #The rest of the arguments is data
+        data = sys.argv[4:] #The rest of the arguments is data
     except:
         data = "NO DATA SPECIFIED"
-    dictionary = {"ip":ip,"data":["PASSWORD"] + data}
+    dictionary = {"ip":ip,"data":[passwd] + data}
     pickled = cPickle.dumps(dictionary)
     nudge(pickled)
 def nudge(data):
-    HOST = "IRCBOT IP"
+    HOST = sys.argv[2]
     PORT = 45678
-    size = 1024
     s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
     s.connect((HOST,PORT))
     s.send(data)