diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d5b18647..30475ac1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ SpaceNinjaServer requires a `config.json`. To set it up, you can copy the [confi
 
 - `skipTutorial` affects only newly created accounts, so you may wish to change it before logging in for the first time.
 - `logger.level` can be `fatal`, `error`, `warn`, `info`, `http`, `debug`, or `trace`.
-- `ircAddress`, `hubAddress`, and `nrsAddress` are not present by default but can be provided if these secondary servers are on a different machine.
+- `ircExecutable` can be provided with a relative path to an EXE which will be ran as a child process of SpaceNinjaServer.
+- `ircAddress`, `hubAddress`, and `nrsAddress` can be provided if these secondary servers are on a different machine.
 - `worldState.eidolonOverride` can be set to `day` or `night` to lock the time to day/fass and night/vome on Plains of Eidolon/Cambion Drift.
 - `worldState.vallisOverride` can be set to `warm` or `cold` to lock the temperature on Orb Vallis.
 - `worldState.duviriOverride` can be set to `joy`, `anger`, `envy`, `sorrow`, or `fear` to lock the Duviri spiral.
diff --git a/config-vanilla.json b/config-vanilla.json
index d7c21458..0c9e1d52 100644
--- a/config-vanilla.json
+++ b/config-vanilla.json
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
   "bindAddress": "0.0.0.0",
   "httpPort": 80,
   "httpsPort": 443,
+  "ircExecutable": null,
+  "ircAddress": null,
+  "hubAddress": null,
+  "nrsAddress": null,
   "administratorNames": [],
   "autoCreateAccount": true,
   "skipTutorial": false,
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 3021b14b..a4e2a8c7 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ logger.info("Starting up...");
 // Proceed with normal startup: bring up config watcher service, validate config, connect to MongoDB, and finally start listening for HTTP.
 import mongoose from "mongoose";
 import path from "path";
+import child_process from "child_process";
 import { JSONStringify } from "json-with-bigint";
 import { startWebServer } from "./services/webService.ts";
 import { validateConfig } from "./services/configWatcherService.ts";
@@ -43,6 +44,17 @@ mongoose
 
         startWebServer();
 
+        if (config.ircExecutable) {
+            logger.info(`Starting IRC server: ${config.ircExecutable}`);
+            child_process.execFile(config.ircExecutable, (error, _stdout, _stderr) => {
+                if (error) {
+                    logger.warn(`Failed to start IRC server`, error);
+                } else {
+                    logger.warn(`IRC server terminated unexpectedly`);
+                }
+            });
+        }
+
         void updateWorldStateCollections();
         setInterval(() => {
             void updateWorldStateCollections();
diff --git a/src/services/configService.ts b/src/services/configService.ts
index db58354e..112f0b01 100644
--- a/src/services/configService.ts
+++ b/src/services/configService.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export interface IConfig {
     bindAddress?: string;
     httpPort?: number;
     httpsPort?: number;
+    ircExecutable?: string;
     ircAddress?: string;
     hubAddress?: string;
     nrsAddress?: string;