diff --git a/include/econfig-spec.h b/include/econfig-spec.h
index 4c3fdd84..5d8548f3 100644
--- a/include/econfig-spec.h
+++ b/include/econfig-spec.h
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ EMPCFBOTH("data", datadir, char *, NSC_STRING, KM_INTERNAL,
     "Directory the data is stored in")
 EMPCFBOTH("info", infodir, char *, NSC_STRING, KM_INTERNAL,
     "Directory the info pages are stored in")
+EMPCFBOTH("listen_addr", listen_addr, char *, NSC_STRING, KM_INTERNAL,
+	  "Local address the server should listen on.  \"\" listens on all.")
 EMPCFBOTH("port", loginport, char *, NSC_STRING, KM_INTERNAL,
     "TCP/IP port the server will start up on")
 EMPCFBOTH("privname", privname, char *, NSC_STRING, 0,
diff --git a/src/lib/global/path.c b/src/lib/global/path.c
index c18d7e12..d15c169b 100644
--- a/src/lib/global/path.c
+++ b/src/lib/global/path.c
@@ -50,4 +50,5 @@ char *banfil	= "ban";
 char *authfil	= "auth";
 char *timestampfil = "timestamp";
 
+char *listen_addr = "";
 char *loginport = EMP_PORT;
diff --git a/src/lib/player/accept.c b/src/lib/player/accept.c
index 288dcb3b..b3d8c9d7 100644
--- a/src/lib/player/accept.c
+++ b/src/lib/player/accept.c
@@ -71,22 +71,37 @@ void
 player_init(void)
 {
     struct sockaddr_in sin;
+    struct hostent *hp;
     struct servent *sp;
     int s;
-    short port;
     int val;
 
     emp_initque(&Players);
     init_player_commands();
 
-    sp = getservbyname("empire", "tcp");
-    if (sp == 0)
-	port = htons(atoi(loginport));
-    else
-	port = sp->s_port;
-    sin.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
-    sin.sin_port = port;
     sin.sin_family = AF_INET;
+    if (!*listen_addr)
+	sin.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
+    else if (isdigit(*listen_addr))
+	sin.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(listen_addr);
+    else {
+	hp = gethostbyname(listen_addr);
+	if (!hp) {
+	    logerror("Can't resolve listen address %s", listen_addr);
+	    exit(1);
+	}
+	memcpy(&sin.sin_addr, hp->h_addr, sizeof(sin.sin_addr));
+    }
+    if (isdigit(*loginport))
+	sin.sin_port = htons(atoi(loginport));
+    else {
+	sp = getservbyname(loginport, "tcp");
+	if (!sp) {
+	    logerror("Can't resolve service %s", loginport);
+	    exit(1);
+	}
+	sin.sin_port = sp->s_port;
+    }
     if ((s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) < 0) {
 	logerror("inet socket create");
 	exit(1);