diff --git a/config.default.js b/config.default.js
index 8c5ad2ac63..7228221310 100644
--- a/config.default.js
+++ b/config.default.js
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ var config = {
 	"privilege_thresholds": {
 		"manage_thread": 1000,
 		"manage_content": 2000
-	}
+	},
+
+	"show_motd": true,
+	"motd": undefined
 }
 
 config.url = config.base_url + (config.use_port ? ':' + config.port : '') + '/';
diff --git a/public/templates/home.tpl b/public/templates/home.tpl
index f52cd436c7..880b244505 100644
--- a/public/templates/home.tpl
+++ b/public/templates/home.tpl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<div class="hero-unit">
+<div class="hero-unit {motd_class}">
 	{motd}
 </div>
 
diff --git a/src/webserver.js b/src/webserver.js
index e19f50e77f..fe5ebeec28 100644
--- a/src/webserver.js
+++ b/src/webserver.js
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ var express = require('express'),
 				break;
 			case 'home' :
 					categories.getAllCategories(function(data) {
+						data.motd_class = config.show_motd ? '' : 'none';
 						data.motd = marked(config.motd || "# NodeBB v0.1\nWelcome to NodeBB, the discussion platform of the future.\n\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.nodebb.org\" class=\"btn btn-large\"><i class=\"icon-comment\"></i> Get NodeBB</a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://github.com/psychobunny/NodeBB\" class=\"btn btn-large\"><i class=\"icon-github-alt\"></i> Fork us on Github</a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://twitter.com/dcplabs\" class=\"btn btn-large\"><i class=\"icon-twitter\"></i> @dcplabs</a>");
 						res.send(JSON.stringify(data));
 					}, (req.user) ? req.user.uid : 0);