diff --git a/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.cpp b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9cdb6427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+#include "DebuggingServer.hpp"
+
+#include "engine/Engine.hpp"
+#include "network/Network.hpp"
+#include "debug/Logger.hpp"
+
+using namespace devtools;
+
+static debug::Logger logger("debug-server");
+
+static network::Server& create_tcp_server(
+    DebuggingServer& dbgServer, Engine& engine, int port
+) {
+    auto& network = engine.getNetwork();
+    u64id_t serverId = network.openTcpServer(
+        port,
+        [&network, &dbgServer](u64id_t sid, u64id_t id) {
+            auto& connection = *network.getConnection(id, true);
+            connection.setPrivate(true);
+            logger.info() << "connected client " << id << ": "
+                          << connection.getAddress() << ":"
+                          << connection.getPort();
+            dbgServer.setClient(connection);
+        }
+    );
+    auto& server = *network.getServer(serverId, true);
+    server.setPrivate(true);
+
+    auto& tcpServer = dynamic_cast<network::TcpServer&>(server);
+    tcpServer.setMaxClientsConnected(1);
+
+    logger.info() << "tcp debugging server open at port " << server.getPort();
+
+    return tcpServer;
+}
+
+static network::Server& create_server(
+    DebuggingServer& dbgServer, Engine& engine, const std::string& serverString
+) {
+    logger.info() << "starting debugging server";
+
+    size_t sepPos = serverString.find(':');
+    if (sepPos == std::string::npos) {
+        throw std::runtime_error("invalid debugging server configuration string");
+    }
+    auto transport = serverString.substr(0, sepPos);
+    if (transport == "tcp") {
+        int port;
+        try {
+            port = std::stoi(serverString.substr(sepPos + 1));
+        } catch (const std::exception& err) {
+            throw std::runtime_error("invalid tcp port");
+        }
+        return create_tcp_server(dbgServer, engine, port);
+    } else {
+        throw std::runtime_error(
+            "unsupported debugging server transport '" + transport + "'"
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+DebuggingServer::DebuggingServer(
+    Engine& engine, const std::string& serverString
+)
+    : engine(engine),
+      server(create_server(*this, engine, serverString)),
+      client(nullptr) {
+}
+
+DebuggingServer::~DebuggingServer() {
+    logger.info() << "stopping debugging server";
+}
+
+
+bool DebuggingServer::update() {
+    return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7f557935
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+
+namespace network {
+    class Server;
+    class Connection;
+}
+
+class Engine;
+
+namespace devtools {
+    class DebuggingServer {
+    public:
+        DebuggingServer(Engine& engine, const std::string& serverString);
+        ~DebuggingServer();
+
+        bool update();
+
+        void setClient(network::Connection& client) {
+            this->client = &client;
+        }
+    private:
+        Engine& engine;
+        network::Server& server;
+        network::Connection* client;
+    };
+}
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.cpp b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
index d2a4eb20..23018946 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include "coders/commons.hpp"
 #include "devtools/Editor.hpp"
 #include "devtools/Project.hpp"
+#include "devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp"
 #include "content/ContentControl.hpp"
 #include "core_defs.hpp"
 #include "io/io.hpp"
@@ -115,6 +116,9 @@ void Engine::initializeClient() {
     if (ENGINE_DEBUG_BUILD) {
         title += " [debug]";
     }
+    if (debuggingServer) {
+        title = "[debugging] " + title;
+    }
     auto [window, input] = Window::initialize(&settings.display, title);
     if (!window || !input){
         throw initialize_error("could not initialize window");
@@ -173,6 +177,18 @@ void Engine::initialize(CoreParameters coreParameters) {
     cmd = std::make_unique<cmd::CommandsInterpreter>();
     network = network::Network::create(settings.network);
 
+    if (!params.debugServerString.empty()) {
+        try {
+            debuggingServer = std::make_unique<devtools::DebuggingServer>(
+                *this, params.debugServerString
+            );
+        } catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
+            throw initialize_error(
+                "debugging server error: " + std::string(err.what())
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
     if (!params.scriptFile.empty()) {
         paths.setScriptFolder(params.scriptFile.parent_path());
     }
@@ -299,7 +315,11 @@ void Engine::saveSettings() {
     io::write_string(EnginePaths::SETTINGS_FILE, toml::stringify(*settingsHandler));
     if (!params.headless) {
         logger.info() << "saving bindings";
-        io::write_string(EnginePaths::CONTROLS_FILE, input->getBindings().write());
+        if (input) {
+            io::write_string(
+                EnginePaths::CONTROLS_FILE, input->getBindings().write()
+            );
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -318,6 +338,7 @@ void Engine::close() {
         logger.info() << "gui finished";
     }
     audio::close();
+    debuggingServer.reset();
     network.reset();
     clearKeepedObjects();
     project.reset();
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.hpp b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
index 1f9438c0..c523acb8 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.hpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ namespace network {
 
 namespace devtools {
     class Editor;
+    class DebuggingServer;
 }
 
 class initialize_error : public std::runtime_error {
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ struct CoreParameters {
     std::filesystem::path userFolder = ".";
     std::filesystem::path scriptFile;
     std::filesystem::path projectFolder;
+    std::string debugServerString;
     int tps = 20;
 };
 
@@ -72,6 +74,7 @@ class Engine : public util::ObjectsKeeper {
     std::unique_ptr<Input> input;
     std::unique_ptr<gui::GUI> gui;
     std::unique_ptr<devtools::Editor> editor;
+    std::unique_ptr<devtools::DebuggingServer> debuggingServer;
     PostRunnables postRunnables;
     Time time;
     OnWorldOpen levelConsumer;
diff --git a/src/logic/scripting/lua/lua_util.hpp b/src/logic/scripting/lua/lua_util.hpp
index d7aed664..e72b56eb 100644
--- a/src/logic/scripting/lua/lua_util.hpp
+++ b/src/logic/scripting/lua/lua_util.hpp
@@ -617,7 +617,9 @@ namespace lua {
     void remove_environment(lua::State*, int id);
 
     inline void close(lua::State* L) {
-        lua_close(L);
+        if (L) {
+            lua_close(L);
+        }
     }
 
     inline void addfunc(
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 40e9665a..256818c3 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     }
     std::signal(SIGTERM, sigterm_handler);
     
-    debug::Logger::init(coreParameters.userFolder.string()+"/latest.log");
+    debug::Logger::init(coreParameters.userFolder.string() + "/latest.log");
     platform::configure_encoding();
 
     auto& engine = Engine::getInstance();
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
         engine.initialize(std::move(coreParameters));
         engine.run();
     } catch (const initialize_error& err) {
-        logger.error() << "could not to initialize engine\n" << err.what();
+        logger.error() << err.what();
+        logger.error() << "could not to initialize engine";
     }
 #if defined(NDEBUG) and defined(_WIN32)
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
diff --git a/src/util/command_line.cpp b/src/util/command_line.cpp
index 6d84ab28..3691b77b 100644
--- a/src/util/command_line.cpp
+++ b/src/util/command_line.cpp
@@ -70,11 +70,15 @@ static bool perform_keyword(
             std::cout << ENGINE_VERSION_STRING << std::endl;
             return false;
         }, "", "display the engine version."),
+        ArgC("--dbg-server", [&params, &reader]() -> bool {
+            params.debugServerString = reader.next();
+            return true;
+        }, "<serv>", "open debugging server where <serv> is {transport}:{port}"),
         ArgC("--help", []() -> bool {
             std::cout << "VoxelCore v" << ENGINE_VERSION_STRING << "\n\n";
             std::cout << "Command-line arguments:\n";
             for (auto& a : argumentsCommandline) {
-                std::cout << std::setw(20) << std::left << (a.keyword + " " + a.args);
+                std::cout << std::setw(24) << std::left << (a.keyword + " " + a.args);
                 std::cout << "- " << a.help << std::endl;
             }
             std::cout << std::endl;