diff --git a/build/package/deb/debian/control b/build/package/deb/debian/control
index dac12b8594..727f18b433 100644
--- a/build/package/deb/debian/control
+++ b/build/package/deb/debian/control
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Depends:
  libstdc++6:i386 [amd64],
  libstdc++6 [i386],
  gcc-multilib [amd64],
+ libsystemd,
 Recommends:
  gdb,
 Description: A production scale tool for BYOND server management
diff --git a/build/tgstation-server.service b/build/tgstation-server.service
index bcd6de155d..21c6809372 100644
--- a/build/tgstation-server.service
+++ b/build/tgstation-server.service
@@ -7,13 +7,17 @@ After=postgresql.service
 After=mssql-server.service
 
 [Service]
+Type=notify
+NotifyAccess=all
 ExecStart=/bin/bash /opt/tgstation-server/tgs.sh General:SetupWizardMode=Never
+TimeoutStartSec=600
 Restart=Always
 KillMode=process
 RestartKillSignal=SIGUSR2
 AmbientCapabilities=CAP_SYS_NICE
 StandardOutput=null
 StandardError=null
+WatchdogSec=60
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Core/Application.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Core/Application.cs
index b872c4eed6..ef312928a0 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Core/Application.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Core/Application.cs
@@ -336,6 +336,9 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.Core
 				services.AddSingleton<INetworkPromptReaper, PosixNetworkPromptReaper>();
 
 				services.AddSingleton<IHostedService, PosixSignalHandler>();
+
+				services.AddSingleton<SystemDManager>();
+				services.AddSingleton<IHostedService>(x => x.GetRequiredService<SystemDManager>());
 			}
 
 			// configure file transfer services
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/ServerFactory.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/ServerFactory.cs
index 7d34282f77..9dddebff23 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/ServerFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/ServerFactory.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 using System;
-using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/System/NativeMethods.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/System/NativeMethods.cs
index 60b97ca90c..dacb4351bc 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/System/NativeMethods.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/System/NativeMethods.cs
@@ -127,5 +127,15 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.System
 			IntPtr expParam,
 			IntPtr userStreamParam,
 			IntPtr callbackParam);
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// See https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/sd_notify.html.
+		/// </summary>
+#pragma warning disable IDE0079
+#pragma warning disable CA2101 // https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn-analyzers/issues/5479#issuecomment-1603665900
+		[DllImport("libsystemd.so.0", CharSet = CharSet.Ansi, BestFitMapping = false, ThrowOnUnmappableChar = true)]
+		public static extern int sd_notify(int unset_environment, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPUTF8Str)] string state);
+#pragma warning restore CA2101
+#pragma warning restore IDE0079
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/System/SystemDManager.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/System/SystemDManager.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5dd66e259e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/System/SystemDManager.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+using System;
+using System.Globalization;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+
+using Mono.Unix;
+
+using Tgstation.Server.Host.Components;
+using Tgstation.Server.Host.Core;
+using Tgstation.Server.Host.Extensions;
+
+namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.System
+{
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Implements the SystemD notify service protocol.
+	/// </summary>
+	sealed class SystemDManager : IHostedService, IRestartHandler, IDisposable
+	{
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The <see cref="IHostApplicationLifetime"/> for the <see cref="SystemDManager"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		readonly IHostApplicationLifetime applicationLifetime;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The <see cref="IInstanceManager"/> for the <see cref="SystemDManager"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		readonly IInstanceManager instanceManager;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The <see cref="IRestartRegistration"/> for the <see cref="SystemDManager"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		readonly IRestartRegistration restartRegistration;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The <see cref="ILogger"/> for the <see cref="SystemDManager"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		readonly ILogger<SystemDManager> logger;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The <see cref="CancellationTokenSource"/> for <see cref="runTask"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		readonly CancellationTokenSource watchdogCts;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The main task executing in the <see cref="SystemDManager"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		Task runTask;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// If TGS is going to restart.
+		/// </summary>
+		bool restartInProgress;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="SystemDManager"/> class.
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="applicationLifetime">The value of <see cref="applicationLifetime"/>.</param>
+		/// <param name="instanceManager">The value of <see cref="instanceManager"/>.</param>
+		/// <param name="serverControl">The <see cref="IServerControl"/> used to create the <see cref="restartRegistration"/>.</param>
+		/// <param name="logger">The value of <see cref="ILogger"/>.</param>
+		public SystemDManager(
+			IHostApplicationLifetime applicationLifetime,
+			IInstanceManager instanceManager,
+			IServerControl serverControl,
+			ILogger<SystemDManager> logger)
+		{
+			this.applicationLifetime = applicationLifetime ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(applicationLifetime));
+			this.instanceManager = instanceManager ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(instanceManager));
+
+			ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(serverControl);
+
+			this.logger = logger ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(logger));
+
+			restartRegistration = serverControl.RegisterForRestart(this);
+			try
+			{
+				watchdogCts = new CancellationTokenSource();
+			}
+			catch
+			{
+				restartRegistration.Dispose();
+				throw;
+			}
+		}
+
+		/// <inheritdoc />
+		public void Dispose()
+		{
+			restartRegistration.Dispose();
+			watchdogCts.Dispose();
+		}
+
+		/// <inheritdoc />
+		public Task HandleRestart(Version updateVersion, bool handlerMayDelayShutdownWithExtremelyLongRunningTasks, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+		{
+			// If this is set, we know a gracefule SHUTDOWN was requested
+			restartInProgress = !handlerMayDelayShutdownWithExtremelyLongRunningTasks;
+			return Task.CompletedTask;
+		}
+
+		/// <inheritdoc />
+		public Task StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+		{
+			if (SendSDNotify("RELOADING=1"))
+			{
+				logger.LogDebug("SystemD detected");
+				runTask = RunAsync(watchdogCts.Token);
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				logger.LogDebug("SystemD not detected");
+				runTask = Task.CompletedTask;
+			}
+
+			return Task.CompletedTask;
+		}
+
+		/// <inheritdoc />
+		public async Task StopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+		{
+			watchdogCts.Cancel();
+			await runTask.WithToken(cancellationToken);
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Runs the <see cref="SystemDManager"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="cancellationToken">The <see cref="CancellationToken"/> for the operation.</param>
+		/// <returns>A <see cref="Task"/> representing the running operation.</returns>
+		async Task RunAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+		{
+			if (applicationLifetime.ApplicationStarted.IsCancellationRequested)
+				throw new InvalidOperationException("RunAsync called after application started!");
+
+			logger.LogTrace("Installing lifetime handlers...");
+
+			var readyCounts = 0;
+			void CheckReady()
+			{
+				if (Interlocked.Increment(ref readyCounts) < 2)
+					return;
+
+				SendSDNotify("READY=1");
+			}
+
+			applicationLifetime.ApplicationStarted.Register(() => CheckReady());
+			applicationLifetime.ApplicationStopping.Register(
+				() => SendSDNotify(
+					restartInProgress
+						? "RELOADING=1"
+						: "STOPPING=1"));
+
+			try
+			{
+				await instanceManager.Ready.WithToken(cancellationToken);
+				CheckReady();
+
+				var watchdogUsec = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("WATCHDOG_USEC");
+				if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(watchdogUsec))
+				{
+					logger.LogDebug("WATCHDOG_USEC not present, not starting watchdog loop");
+					return;
+				}
+
+				logger.LogDebug("Starting watchdog loop with interval of {usec}us", watchdogUsec);
+
+				var microseconds = UInt64.Parse(watchdogUsec, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
+				var milliseconds = (int)(microseconds / 1000);
+				if (milliseconds == 0)
+					milliseconds = 1;
+
+				while (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+				{
+					await Task.Delay(milliseconds, cancellationToken);
+
+					logger.LogTrace("Sending sd_notify WATCHDOG=1");
+					var result = NativeMethods.sd_notify(0, "WATCHDOG=1");
+					if (result <= 0)
+						logger.LogError(new UnixIOException(result), "sd_notify READY=1 failed!");
+				}
+			}
+			catch (OperationCanceledException ex)
+			{
+				logger.LogTrace(ex, "Watchdog loop cancelled!");
+			}
+			catch (Exception ex)
+			{
+				logger.LogError(ex, "Watchdog loop crashed!");
+			}
+
+			logger.LogDebug("Exited watchdog loop");
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Send a sd_notify <paramref name="command"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="command">The <see cref="string"/> to send via sd_notify.</param>
+		/// <returns><see langword="true"/> if the command succeeded, <see langword="false"/> otherwise.</returns>
+		bool SendSDNotify(string command)
+		{
+			logger.LogTrace("Sending sd_notify {message}...", command);
+			var result = NativeMethods.sd_notify(0, command);
+			if (result > 0)
+				return true;
+
+			if (result < 0)
+				logger.LogError(new UnixIOException(result), "sd_notify READY=1 failed!");
+			else
+				logger.LogTrace("Could not send sd_notify {message}. Socket closed!", command);
+
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+}