diff --git a/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/RccServer.java b/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/RccServer.java
index d61e31b..c13a353 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/RccServer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/RccServer.java
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import net.minecraft.util.WorldSavePath;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Date;
 
 
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ public class RccServer implements ModInitializer {
     public static final String MOD_ID = "rcc-server";
     public static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MOD_ID);
 
-    public static Config CONFIG = ConfigManager.load();
+    public static Config CONFIG;
 
     public static final StateManager state = new StateManager();
 
@@ -62,10 +63,6 @@ public class RccServer implements ModInitializer {
         return INSTANCE;
     }
 
-    public RccServer() {
-        INSTANCE = this;
-    }
-
     private LuckPerms luckPerms;
 
     public LuckPerms luckPerms() {
@@ -87,10 +84,21 @@ public class RccServer implements ModInitializer {
     public static final RegistryKey<MessageType> CHAT_TYPE = RegistryKey.of(RegistryKeys.MESSAGE_TYPE, new Identifier(MOD_ID, "chat"));
     private static boolean warnedAboutUnsignedMessages = false;
 
+    public RccServer() {
+        INSTANCE = this;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void onInitialize() {
         LOGGER.info("Starting rcc-server");
 
+        try {
+            CONFIG = ConfigManager.load();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            LOGGER.error("Failed to load config. Refusing to continue.", e);
+            return;
+        }
+
         ServerLifecycleEvents.SERVER_STARTING.register(server -> {
             RccServer.server = server;
             state.register(server.getSavePath(WorldSavePath.ROOT).resolve("data").resolve(RccServer.MOD_ID));
diff --git a/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/commands/admin/RccCommand.java b/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/commands/admin/RccCommand.java
index e2724b8..5dbde8d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/commands/admin/RccCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/commands/admin/RccCommand.java
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import me.lucko.fabric.api.permissions.v0.Permissions;
 import net.minecraft.server.command.ServerCommandSource;
 import net.minecraft.text.Text;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 import static net.minecraft.server.command.CommandManager.literal;
 
 public class RccCommand {
diff --git a/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/config/ConfigManager.java b/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/config/ConfigManager.java
index dd0c9d7..7f1e29b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/config/ConfigManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/cc/reconnected/server/config/ConfigManager.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import net.fabricmc.loader.api.FabricLoader;
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.FileReader;
 import java.io.FileWriter;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 
@@ -20,18 +21,16 @@ public class ConfigManager {
     private static final Path configFilePath = FabricLoader.getInstance().getConfigDir().resolve(RccServer.MOD_ID + ".json");
     private static Config config = null;
 
-    public static Config load() {
+    public static Config load() throws IOException {
         if (!configFilePath.toFile().exists()) {
             config = new Config();
             save();
             return config;
         }
-        try (var bf = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(configFilePath.toFile(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8))) {
-            config = gson.fromJson(bf, Config.class);
-            save();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            RccServer.LOGGER.error("Error loading the RccServer config file.", e);
-        }
+        var bf = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(configFilePath.toFile(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+        config = gson.fromJson(bf, Config.class);
+        bf.close();
+        save();
         return config;
     }