diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
index 28b7d37741..d570f0e5ed 100755
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
@@ -458,5 +458,29 @@ namespace OpenRA
 
 			Game.JoinServer(host, port);
 		}
+
+		public static bool DownloadMap(string mapHash)
+		{
+			try
+			{
+				var mod = Game.CurrentMods.FirstOrDefault().Value.Id;
+				var dirPath = "{1}maps{0}{2}".F(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, Platform.SupportDir, mod);
+				if(!Directory.Exists(dirPath))
+					Directory.CreateDirectory(dirPath);
+				var mapPath = "{1}{0}{2}".F(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, dirPath, mapHash+".oramap");
+				Console.Write("Trying to download map to {0} ... ".F(mapPath));
+				WebClient webClient = new WebClient();
+				webClient.DownloadFile(Game.Settings.Game.MapRepository + mapHash, mapPath);
+				Game.modData.AvailableMaps.Add(mapHash, new Map(mapPath));
+				Console.WriteLine("done");
+				return true;
+			}
+			catch (WebException e)
+			{
+				Log.Write("debug", "Could not download map '{0}'", mapHash);
+				Log.Write("debug", e.ToString());
+				return false;
+			}
+		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/Settings.cs b/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/Settings.cs
index 8be6cfa6a3..64ca77cb25 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/Settings.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/Settings.cs
@@ -123,6 +123,8 @@ namespace OpenRA.GameRules
 		public int Timestep = 40;
 
 		public string ConnectTo = "";
+		public bool AllowDownloading = true;
+		public string MapRepository = "http://content.open-ra.org/map/";
 	}
 
 	public class KeySettings
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Network/GameServer.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Network/GameServer.cs
index 6bdd6bdb96..fed810d5fb 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Network/GameServer.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Network/GameServer.cs
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ namespace OpenRA.Network
 
 			// Don't have the map locally
 			if (!Game.modData.AvailableMaps.ContainsKey(Map))
-				return false;
+				if (!Game.Settings.Game.AllowDownloading)
+					return false;
 
 			return CompatibleVersion();
 		}
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Network/UnitOrders.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Network/UnitOrders.cs
index a9c340e869..5d34febd7b 100755
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Network/UnitOrders.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Network/UnitOrders.cs
@@ -119,7 +119,12 @@ namespace OpenRA.Network
 							throw new InvalidOperationException("Server's mod ({0}) and yours ({1}) don't match".F(localMods.FirstOrDefault().ToString().Split('@')[0], request.Mods.FirstOrDefault().ToString().Split('@')[0]));
 						// Check that the map exists on the client
 						if (!Game.modData.AvailableMaps.ContainsKey(request.Map))
-							throw new InvalidOperationException("Missing map {0}".F(request.Map));
+						{
+							if (Game.Settings.Game.AllowDownloading)
+								Game.DownloadMap(request.Map);
+							else
+								throw new InvalidOperationException("Missing map {0}".F(request.Map));
+						}
 
 						var info = new Session.Client()
 						{
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.RA/Widgets/Logic/LobbyLogic.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.RA/Widgets/Logic/LobbyLogic.cs
index 8eadfec3f6..bc78db6714 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.RA/Widgets/Logic/LobbyLogic.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.RA/Widgets/Logic/LobbyLogic.cs
@@ -328,8 +328,18 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.RA.Widgets.Logic
 
 		void UpdateCurrentMap()
 		{
-			if (MapUid == orderManager.LobbyInfo.GlobalSettings.Map) return;
+			if (MapUid == orderManager.LobbyInfo.GlobalSettings.Map)
+				return;
 			MapUid = orderManager.LobbyInfo.GlobalSettings.Map;
+
+			if (!Game.modData.AvailableMaps.ContainsKey (MapUid))
+				if (Game.Settings.Game.AllowDownloading)
+				{
+					Game.DownloadMap (MapUid);
+					Game.Debug("A new map has been downloaded...");
+				}
+				else
+					throw new InvalidOperationException("Server's new map doesn't exist on your system and Downloading turned off");
 			Map = new Map(Game.modData.AvailableMaps[MapUid].Path);
 
 			var title = Ui.Root.Get<LabelWidget>("TITLE");