diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 76a9c6585..e43c0baf0 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -20,10 +20,28 @@ import open from 'open';
 
 // local library imports
 import './src/fetch-patch.js';
-import { serverEvents, EVENT_NAMES } from './src/server-events.js';
 import { CommandLineParser } from './src/command-line.js';
-import { loadPlugins } from './src/plugin-loader.js';
-import {
+import { serverDirectory } from './src/server-directory.js';
+
+console.log(`Node version: ${process.version}. Running in ${process.env.NODE_ENV} environment. Server directory: ${serverDirectory}`);
+
+// Work around a node v20.0.0, v20.1.0, and v20.2.0 bug. The issue was fixed in v20.3.0.
+// https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/47822#issuecomment-1564708870
+// Safe to remove once support for Node v20 is dropped.
+if (process.versions && process.versions.node && process.versions.node.match(/20\.[0-2]\.0/)) {
+    // @ts-ignore
+    if (net.setDefaultAutoSelectFamily) net.setDefaultAutoSelectFamily(false);
+}
+
+// config.yaml will be set when parsing command line arguments
+const cliArgs = new CommandLineParser().parse(process.argv);
+globalThis.DATA_ROOT = cliArgs.dataRoot;
+globalThis.COMMAND_LINE_ARGS = cliArgs;
+process.chdir(serverDirectory);
+
+const { serverEvents, EVENT_NAMES } = await import('./src/server-events.js');
+const { loadPlugins } = await import('./src/plugin-loader.js');
+const {
     initUserStorage,
     getCookieSecret,
     getCookieSessionName,
@@ -38,17 +56,17 @@ import {
     getSessionCookieAge,
     verifySecuritySettings,
     loginPageMiddleware,
-} from './src/users.js';
+} = await import('./src/users.js');
 
-import getWebpackServeMiddleware from './src/middleware/webpack-serve.js';
-import basicAuthMiddleware from './src/middleware/basicAuth.js';
-import getWhitelistMiddleware from './src/middleware/whitelist.js';
-import accessLoggerMiddleware, { getAccessLogPath, migrateAccessLog } from './src/middleware/accessLogWriter.js';
-import multerMonkeyPatch from './src/middleware/multerMonkeyPatch.js';
-import initRequestProxy from './src/request-proxy.js';
-import getCacheBusterMiddleware from './src/middleware/cacheBuster.js';
-import corsProxyMiddleware from './src/middleware/corsProxy.js';
-import {
+const { default: getWebpackServeMiddleware } = await import('./src/middleware/webpack-serve.js');
+const { default: basicAuthMiddleware } = await import('./src/middleware/basicAuth.js');
+const { default: getWhitelistMiddleware } = await import('./src/middleware/whitelist.js');
+const { default: accessLoggerMiddleware, getAccessLogPath, migrateAccessLog } = await import('./src/middleware/accessLogWriter.js');
+const { default: multerMonkeyPatch } = await import('./src/middleware/multerMonkeyPatch.js');
+const { default: initRequestProxy } = await import('./src/request-proxy.js');
+const { default: getCacheBusterMiddleware } = await import('./src/middleware/cacheBuster.js');
+const { default: corsProxyMiddleware } = await import('./src/middleware/corsProxy.js');
+const {
     getVersion,
     color,
     removeColorFormatting,
@@ -56,38 +74,23 @@ import {
     safeReadFileSync,
     setupLogLevel,
     setWindowTitle,
-} from './src/util.js';
-import { UPLOADS_DIRECTORY } from './src/constants.js';
-import { ensureThumbnailCache } from './src/endpoints/thumbnails.js';
-import { serverDirectory } from './src/server-directory.js';
+} = await import('./src/util.js');
+const { UPLOADS_DIRECTORY } = await import('./src/constants.js');
+const { ensureThumbnailCache } = await import('./src/endpoints/thumbnails.js');
 
 // Routers
-import { router as usersPublicRouter } from './src/endpoints/users-public.js';
-import { init as statsInit, onExit as statsOnExit } from './src/endpoints/stats.js';
-import { checkForNewContent } from './src/endpoints/content-manager.js';
-import { init as settingsInit } from './src/endpoints/settings.js';
-import { redirectDeprecatedEndpoints, ServerStartup, setupPrivateEndpoints } from './src/server-startup.js';
-import { diskCache } from './src/endpoints/characters.js';
+const { router : usersPublicRouter } = await import('./src/endpoints/users-public.js');
+const { init : statsInit, onExit : statsOnExit } = await import('./src/endpoints/stats.js');
+const { checkForNewContent } = await import('./src/endpoints/content-manager.js');
+const { init : settingsInit } = await import('./src/endpoints/settings.js');
+const { redirectDeprecatedEndpoints, ServerStartup, setupPrivateEndpoints } = await import('./src/server-startup.js');
+const { diskCache } = await import('./src/endpoints/characters.js');
 
 // Unrestrict console logs display limit
 util.inspect.defaultOptions.maxArrayLength = null;
 util.inspect.defaultOptions.maxStringLength = null;
 util.inspect.defaultOptions.depth = 4;
 
-console.log(`Node version: ${process.version}. Running in ${process.env.NODE_ENV} environment. Server directory: ${serverDirectory}`);
-
-// Work around a node v20.0.0, v20.1.0, and v20.2.0 bug. The issue was fixed in v20.3.0.
-// https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/47822#issuecomment-1564708870
-// Safe to remove once support for Node v20 is dropped.
-if (process.versions && process.versions.node && process.versions.node.match(/20\.[0-2]\.0/)) {
-    // @ts-ignore
-    if (net.setDefaultAutoSelectFamily) net.setDefaultAutoSelectFamily(false);
-}
-
-const cliArgs = new CommandLineParser().parse(process.argv);
-globalThis.DATA_ROOT = cliArgs.dataRoot;
-globalThis.COMMAND_LINE_ARGS = cliArgs;
-
 if (!cliArgs.enableIPv6 && !cliArgs.enableIPv4) {
     console.error('error: You can\'t disable all internet protocols: at least IPv6 or IPv4 must be enabled.');
     process.exit(1);
diff --git a/src/command-line.js b/src/command-line.js
index 002f46926..c7d4d9d9b 100644
--- a/src/command-line.js
+++ b/src/command-line.js
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import yargs from 'yargs/yargs';
 import { hideBin } from 'yargs/helpers';
 import ipRegex from 'ip-regex';
-import { canResolve, color, getConfigValue, stringToBool } from './util.js';
+import { canResolve, color, getConfigValue, setConfigFilePath, stringToBool } from './util.js';
 
 /**
  * @typedef {object} CommandLineArguments Parsed command line arguments
+ * @property {string} configPath Path to the config file
  * @property {string} dataRoot Data root directory
  * @property {number} port Port number
  * @property {boolean} listen If SillyTavern is listening on all network interfaces
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ export class CommandLineParser {
     constructor() {
         /** @type {CommandLineArguments} */
         this.default = Object.freeze({
+            configPath: './config.yaml',
             dataRoot: './data',
             port: 8000,
             listen: false,
@@ -88,6 +90,11 @@ export class CommandLineParser {
     parse(args) {
         const cliArguments = yargs(hideBin(args))
             .usage('Usage: <your-start-script> [options]\nOptions that are not provided will be filled with config values.')
+            .option('configPath', {
+                type: 'string',
+                default: null,
+                describe: 'Path to the config file',
+            })
             .option('enableIPv6', {
                 type: 'string',
                 default: null,
@@ -177,8 +184,11 @@ export class CommandLineParser {
                 describe: 'Request proxy bypass list (space separated list of hosts)',
             }).parseSync();
 
+        const configPath = cliArguments.configPath ?? this.default.configPath;
+        setConfigFilePath(configPath);
         /** @type {CommandLineArguments} */
         const result = {
+            configPath: configPath,
             dataRoot: cliArguments.dataRoot ?? getConfigValue('dataRoot', this.default.dataRoot),
             port: cliArguments.port ?? getConfigValue('port', this.default.port, 'number'),
             listen: cliArguments.listen ?? getConfigValue('listen', this.default.listen, 'boolean'),
diff --git a/src/util.js b/src/util.js
index 45cc3f1f7..c12091910 100644
--- a/src/util.js
+++ b/src/util.js
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import { serverDirectory } from './server-directory.js';
  * Parsed config object.
  */
 let CACHED_CONFIG = null;
+let CONFIG_FILE = null;
 
 /**
  * Converts a configuration key to an environment variable key.
@@ -32,23 +33,38 @@ let CACHED_CONFIG = null;
  */
 export const keyToEnv = (key) => 'SILLYTAVERN_' + String(key).toUpperCase().replace(/\./g, '_');
 
+/**
+ * Set the config file path.
+ * @param {string} configFilePath Path to the config file
+ */
+export function setConfigFilePath(configFilePath) {
+    if (CONFIG_FILE !== null) {
+        console.error(color.red('Config file path already set. Please restart the server to change the config file path.'));
+    }
+    CONFIG_FILE = path.resolve(configFilePath);
+}
+
 /**
  * Returns the config object from the config.yaml file.
  * @returns {object} Config object
  */
 export function getConfig() {
+    if (CONFIG_FILE === null) {
+        console.trace();
+        console.error(color.red('No config file path set. Please set the config file path using setConfigFilePath().'));
+        process.exit(1);
+    }
     if (CACHED_CONFIG) {
         return CACHED_CONFIG;
     }
-
-    if (!fs.existsSync('./config.yaml')) {
+    if (!fs.existsSync(CONFIG_FILE)) {
         console.error(color.red('No config file found. Please create a config.yaml file. The default config file can be found in the /default folder.'));
         console.error(color.red('The program will now exit.'));
         process.exit(1);
     }
 
     try {
-        const config = yaml.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(process.cwd(), './config.yaml'), 'utf8'));
+        const config = yaml.parse(fs.readFileSync(CONFIG_FILE, 'utf8'));
         CACHED_CONFIG = config;
         return config;
     } catch (error) {