diff --git a/tools/arkmanager b/tools/arkmanager
index 4967dec..169dd54 100755
--- a/tools/arkmanager
+++ b/tools/arkmanager
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@ fi
 #---------------------
 
 # Global variables
-source /etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg
+if [ -f "/etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg" ]; then
+    source /etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg
+fi
+
+if [ -f "${HOME}/.arkmanager.cfg" ]; then
+    source "${HOME}/.arkmanager.cfg"
+fi
 
 # Local variables
 info=""
@@ -122,10 +128,33 @@ doStart() {
   if isTheServerRunning; then
     echo "The server is already running"
   else
-    arkserveropts="TheIsland?SessionName=$sessioname?QueryPort=$arkqueryport?ServerPassword=$arkserverpass?ServerAdminPassword=$arkserverapass?listen"
-    thejob="$arkserverroot/$arkserverexec $arkserveropts"
+    ark_SessionName="${ark_SessionName:-${sessionname}}"
+    ark_Port="${ark_Port:-${arkserverport}}"
+    ark_QueryPort="${ark_QueryPort:-${arkqueryport}}"
+    ark_ServerPassword="${ark_ServerPassword:-${arkserverpass}}"
+    ark_ServerAdminPassword="${ark_ServerAdminPassword:-${arkserverapass}}"
+    arkserveropts="TheIsland"
+
+    # bring in ark_... options
+    for varname in "${!ark_@}"; do
+      name="${varname#ark_}"
+      val="${!varname}"
+
+      # Port is actually one higher than specified
+      # i.e. specifying port 7777 will have the server
+      # use port 7778
+      if [ "$name" == "Port" ]; then
+        (( val = val - 1 ))
+      fi
+
+      if [ -n "$val" ]; then
+        arkserveropts="${arkserveropts}?${name}=${val}"
+      fi
+    done
+
+    arkserveropts="${arkserveropts}?listen"
     # run the server in background
-    $thejob >/dev/null 2>&1 &
+    nohup "$arkserverroot/$arkserverexec" "$arkserveropts" </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1 &
     echo "$timestamp: start" >> "$logdir/arkserver.log"
   fi
 }
@@ -149,7 +178,7 @@ doStop() {
 # install of ARK server
 #
 doInstall() {
-  mkdir -p $arkserverroot
+  mkdir -p "$arkserverroot"
 
   cd "$steamcmdroot"
   # install the server
@@ -174,9 +203,7 @@ doUpdate() {
     doStop
     cd "$steamcmdroot"
     ./$steamcmdexec +login anonymous +force_install_dir "$arkserverroot" +app_update $appid +quit
-    cd "$logdir"
     echo "$bnumber" > "$arkserverroot/arkversion"
-    cd "$steamcmdroot"
     echo "$timestamp: update to $bnumber complete" >> "$logdir/update.log"
     
     # we restart the server only if it was started before the update
diff --git a/tools/arkmanager.cfg b/tools/arkmanager.cfg
index e807853..b3af50c 100644
--- a/tools/arkmanager.cfg
+++ b/tools/arkmanager.cfg
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ arkserverport="7778"                                                # ARK server
 arkserverpass="SERVERPASSWORD"                                      # ARK server password, empty: no password required to login
 arkserverapass="ADMINPASSWORD"                                      # ARK server admin password, KEEP IT SAFE!
 
+# other options - use ark_<optionname>=<value>
+ark_MaxPlayers="70"
+
 # config Service
 servicename="arkserv"                                               # Name of the service (don't change if you don't know what are you doing)
 logdir="/var/log/arktools"                                          # Logs path (default /var/log/arktools)
diff --git a/tools/install.sh b/tools/install.sh
index 24a34e7..47c1c73 100644
--- a/tools/install.sh
+++ b/tools/install.sh
@@ -1,31 +1,34 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-if [ ! -z $1 ]; then
+EXECPREFIX="${EXECPREFIX:-/usr/local}"
+
+if [ ! -z "$1" ]; then
     # Copy arkmanager to /usr/bin and set permissions
-    cp arkmanager /usr/bin/arkmanager
-    chmod +x /usr/bin/arkmanager
+    cp arkmanager "${INSTALL_ROOT}${EXECPREFIX}/bin/arkmanager"
+    chmod +x "${INSTALL_ROOT}${EXECPREFIX}/bin/arkmanager"
 
     # Copy arkdaemon to /etc/init.d ,set permissions and add it to boot
-    cp arkdaemon /etc/init.d/arkdaemon
-    chmod +x /etc/init.d/arkdaemon
+    cp arkdaemon "${INSTALL_ROOT}/etc/init.d/arkdaemon"
+    chmod +x "${INSTALL_ROOT}/etc/init.d/arkdaemon"
     # add to startup if the system use sysinit
-    if [ -x /usr/sbin/update-rc.d ]; then
+    if [ -x /usr/sbin/update-rc.d -a -z "${INSTALL_ROOT}" ]; then
       update-rc.d arkdaemon defaults
       echo "Ark server will now start on boot, if you want to remove this feature run the following line"
       echo "update-rc.d -f arkdaemon remove"
     fi
 
     # Create a folder in /var/log to let Ark tools write its own log files
-    mkdir -p /var/log/arktools
-    chown $1 /var/log/arktools
+    mkdir -p "${INSTALL_ROOT}/var/log/arktools"
+    chown "$1" "${INSTALL_ROOT}/var/log/arktools"
 
     # Copy arkmanager.cfg inside linux configuation folder if it doesn't already exists
-    if [ -f /etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg ]; then
+    mkdir -p "${INSTALL_ROOT}/etc/arkmanager"
+    if [ -f "${INSTALL_ROOT}/etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg" ]; then
       echo "A previous version of ARK Server Tools was detected in your system, your old configuration was not overwritten. You may need to manually update it."
       exit 2
     else
-      cp -n arkmanager.cfg /etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg
-      chown $1 /etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg
+      cp -n arkmanager.cfg "${INSTALL_ROOT}/etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg"
+      chown "$1" "${INSTALL_ROOT}/etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg"
     fi
 
 else