diff --git a/TShockAPI/ConfigFile.cs b/TShockAPI/ConfigFile.cs
index 909c3a16..0071a5d8 100644
--- a/TShockAPI/ConfigFile.cs
+++ b/TShockAPI/ConfigFile.cs
@@ -99,6 +99,12 @@ namespace TShockAPI
         public bool EnableBanOnUsernames = false;
 
         public bool EnableAntiLag = true;
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Valid types are "sha512", "sha256", "md5"
+        /// </summary>
+        public string HashAlgorithm = "sha512";
+
         public static ConfigFile Read(string path)
         {
             if (!File.Exists(path))
diff --git a/TShockAPI/TShock.cs b/TShockAPI/TShock.cs
index 6c7b555a..441b089f 100755
--- a/TShockAPI/TShock.cs
+++ b/TShockAPI/TShock.cs
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Net;
 using System.Reflection;
+using System.Security.Cryptography;
 using System.Threading;
 using MySql.Data.MySqlClient;
 using Community.CsharpSqlite.SQLiteClient;
@@ -240,7 +241,7 @@ namespace TShockAPI
                 }
                 Log.Error(string.Join(", ", sb));
             }
-            
+
             if (e.IsTerminating)
             {
                 if (Main.worldPathName != null)
@@ -318,7 +319,8 @@ namespace TShockAPI
                 TextWriter tw = new StreamWriter(Path.Combine(SavePath, "authcode.txt"));
                 tw.WriteLine(AuthToken);
                 tw.Close();
-            } else if (File.Exists(Path.Combine(SavePath, "authcode.txt")))
+            }
+            else if (File.Exists(Path.Combine(SavePath, "authcode.txt")))
             {
                 TextReader tr = new StreamReader(Path.Combine(SavePath, "authcode.txt"));
                 AuthToken = Convert.ToInt32(tr.ReadLine());
@@ -328,7 +330,8 @@ namespace TShockAPI
                 Console.WriteLine("To become superadmin, join the game and type /auth " + AuthToken);
                 Console.WriteLine("This token will display until disabled by verification. (/auth-verify)");
                 Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Gray;
-            } else
+            }
+            else
             {
                 AuthToken = 0;
             }
@@ -392,7 +395,8 @@ namespace TShockAPI
             if (Config.EnableDNSHostResolution)
             {
                 player.Group = TShock.Users.GetGroupForIPExpensive(player.IP);
-            } else
+            }
+            else
             {
                 player.Group = TShock.Users.GetGroupForIP(player.IP);
             }
@@ -570,7 +574,7 @@ namespace TShockAPI
             }
 
             //if (type == PacketTypes.SyncPlayers)
-                //Debug.WriteLine("Recv: {0:X} ({2}): {3} ({1:XX})", player.Index, (byte)type, player.TPlayer.dead ? "dead " : "alive", type.ToString());
+            //Debug.WriteLine("Recv: {0:X} ({2}): {3} ({1:XX})", player.Index, (byte)type, player.TPlayer.dead ? "dead " : "alive", type.ToString());
 
             // Stop accepting updates from player as this player is going to be kicked/banned during OnUpdate (different thread so can produce race conditions)
             if ((TShock.Config.BanKillTileAbusers || TShock.Config.KickKillTileAbusers) && player.TileThreshold >= TShock.Config.TileThreshold && !player.Group.HasPermission("ignoregriefdetection"))
@@ -750,6 +754,23 @@ namespace TShockAPI
 
             RconHandler.Password = file.RconPassword;
             RconHandler.ListenPort = file.RconPort;
+
+            Type hash;
+            if (Tools.HashTypes.TryGetValue(file.HashAlgorithm, out hash))
+            {
+                lock (Tools.HashAlgo)
+                {
+                    if (!Tools.HashAlgo.GetType().Equals(hash))
+                    {
+                        Tools.HashAlgo.Dispose();
+                        Tools.HashAlgo = (HashAlgorithm) Activator.CreateInstance(Tools.HashTypes[file.HashAlgorithm]);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                Log.ConsoleError("Invalid or not supported hashing algorithm: " + file.HashAlgorithm);
+            }
         }
 
 
diff --git a/TShockAPI/Tools.cs b/TShockAPI/Tools.cs
index 16cbf6ef..785340af 100755
--- a/TShockAPI/Tools.cs
+++ b/TShockAPI/Tools.cs
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ namespace TShockAPI
         /// <param name="reason">string reason</param>
         public static void ForceKickAll(string reason)
         {
-            foreach(TSPlayer player in TShock.Players)
+            foreach (TSPlayer player in TShock.Players)
             {
                 if (player != null && player.Active)
                 {
@@ -486,6 +486,15 @@ namespace TShockAPI
             return ip != null ? ip.ToString() : "";
         }
 
+        public static HashAlgorithm HashAlgo = new MD5Cng();
+
+        public static readonly Dictionary<string, Type> HashTypes = new Dictionary<string, Type>()
+        {
+            {"sha512", typeof(SHA512Managed)},
+            {"sha256", typeof(SHA256Managed)},
+            {"md5", typeof(MD5Cng)},
+        };
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Returns a Sha256 string for a given string
         /// </summary>
@@ -493,15 +502,10 @@ namespace TShockAPI
         /// <returns>string sha256</returns>
         public static string HashPassword(string password)
         {
-            using (var sha = new SHA512CryptoServiceProvider())
-            {
-                if (password == "")
-                {
-                    return "nonexistent-password";
-                }
-                var bytes = sha.ComputeHash(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(password));
-                return bytes.Aggregate("", (s, b) => s + b.ToString("X2"));
-            }
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(password))
+                throw new NullReferenceException("Password can not be null/empty");
+            var bytes = HashAlgo.ComputeHash(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(password));
+            return bytes.Aggregate("", (s, b) => s + b.ToString("X2"));
         }
 
         /// <summary>