diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Network/GeoIP.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Network/GeoIP.cs
index 6df4d1247a..44072720e6 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Network/GeoIP.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Network/GeoIP.cs
@@ -54,13 +54,16 @@ namespace OpenRA.Network
 
 		static Reader database;
 
-		public static void Initialize()
+		public static void Initialize(string databasePath)
 		{
+			if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(databasePath))
+				return;
+
 			try
 			{
-				using (var fileStream = new FileStream("GeoLite2-Country.mmdb.gz", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
-					using (var gzipStream = new GZipInputStream(fileStream))
-						database = new Reader(gzipStream);
+				using (var fileStream = new FileStream(databasePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
+				using (var gzipStream = new GZipInputStream(fileStream))
+					database = new Reader(gzipStream);
 			}
 			catch (Exception e)
 			{
@@ -68,23 +71,23 @@ namespace OpenRA.Network
 			}
 		}
 
-		public static string LookupCountry(string ip)
+		public static string LookupCountry(IPAddress ip)
 		{
-			const string Unknown = "Unknown Location";
+			if (database != null)
+			{
+				try
+				{
+					var record = database.Find<GeoIP2Record>(ip);
+					if (record != null)
+						return record.Country.Names.English;
+				}
+				catch (Exception e)
+				{
+					Log.Write("geoip", "LookupCountry failed: {0}", e);
+				}
+			}
 
-			try
-			{
-				var record = database.Find<GeoIP2Record>(IPAddress.Parse(ip));
-				if (record != null)
-					return record.Country.Names.English;
-				else
-					return Unknown;
-			}
-			catch (Exception e)
-			{
-				Log.Write("geoip", "LookupCountry failed: {0}", e);
-				return Unknown;
-			}
+			return "Unknown Location";
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs
index 8c94753262..9ad42ed72e 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Server
 
 			randomSeed = (int)DateTime.Now.ToBinary();
 
-			GeoIP.Initialize();
+			GeoIP.Initialize(settings.GeoIPDatabase);
 
 			if (UPnP.Status == UPnPStatus.Enabled)
 				UPnP.ForwardPort(Settings.ListenPort, Settings.ListenPort).Wait();
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Server
 				{
 					Name = OpenRA.Settings.SanitizedPlayerName(handshake.Client.Name),
 					IpAddress = ipAddress.ToString(),
-					Location = GeoIP.LookupCountry(ipAddress.ToString()),
+					Location = GeoIP.LookupCountry(ipAddress),
 					Index = newConn.PlayerIndex,
 					PreferredColor = handshake.Client.PreferredColor,
 					Color = handshake.Client.Color,
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs
index 132db8dcc4..3610e22827 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Settings.cs
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ namespace OpenRA
 		[Desc("Sets the timestamp format. Defaults to the ISO 8601 standard.")]
 		public string TimestampFormat = "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss";
 
+		[Desc("Path to a MaxMind GeoLite2 database to use for player geo-location.",
+			"Database files can be downloaded from https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geoip2/geolite2/")]
+		public string GeoIPDatabase = null;
+
 		public ServerSettings Clone()
 		{
 			return (ServerSettings)MemberwiseClone();
diff --git a/launch-dedicated.cmd b/launch-dedicated.cmd
index d2bfad7af2..ca140e909a 100644
--- a/launch-dedicated.cmd
+++ b/launch-dedicated.cmd
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ set ListenPort=1234
 set AdvertiseOnline=True
 set Password=""
 
+set GeoIPDatabase=""
+
 set RequireAuthentication=False
 set ProfileIDBlacklist=""
 set ProfileIDWhitelist=""
@@ -17,6 +19,6 @@ set EnableSyncReports=False
 
 :loop
 
-OpenRA.Server.exe Game.Mod=%Mod% Server.Name=%Name% Server.ListenPort=%ListenPort% Server.AdvertiseOnline=%AdvertiseOnline% Server.EnableSingleplayer=%EnableSingleplayer% Server.Password=%Password% Server.RequireAuthentication=%RequireAuthentication% Server.ProfileIDBlacklist=%ProfileIDBlacklist% Server.ProfileIDWhitelist=%ProfileIDWhitelist% Server.EnableSyncReports=%EnableSyncReports%
+OpenRA.Server.exe Game.Mod=%Mod% Server.Name=%Name% Server.ListenPort=%ListenPort% Server.AdvertiseOnline=%AdvertiseOnline% Server.EnableSingleplayer=%EnableSingleplayer% Server.Password=%Password% Server.GeoIPDatabase=%GeoIPDatabase% Server.RequireAuthentication=%RequireAuthentication% Server.ProfileIDBlacklist=%ProfileIDBlacklist% Server.ProfileIDWhitelist=%ProfileIDWhitelist% Server.EnableSyncReports=%EnableSyncReports%
 
-goto loop
\ No newline at end of file
+goto loop
diff --git a/launch-dedicated.sh b/launch-dedicated.sh
index faf0a30950..604a1c31f6 100755
--- a/launch-dedicated.sh
+++ b/launch-dedicated.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ ListenPort="${ListenPort:-"1234"}"
 AdvertiseOnline="${AdvertiseOnline:-"True"}"
 Password="${Password:-""}"
 
+GeoIPDatabase="${GeoIPDatabase:-""}"
+
 RequireAuthentication="${RequireAuthentication:-"False"}"
 ProfileIDBlacklist="${ProfileIDBlacklist:-""}"
 ProfileIDWhitelist="${ProfileIDWhitelist:-""}"
@@ -26,6 +28,7 @@ while true; do
      Server.AdvertiseOnline="$AdvertiseOnline" \
      Server.EnableSingleplayer="$EnableSingleplayer" \
      Server.Password="$Password" \
+     Server.GeoIPDatabase="$GeoIPDatabase" \
      Server.RequireAuthentication="$RequireAuthentication" \
      Server.ProfileIDBlacklist="$ProfileIDBlacklist" \
      Server.ProfileIDWhitelist="$ProfileIDWhitelist" \