diff --git a/tools/arkmanager b/tools/arkmanager
index dc6089f..cfc8445 100755
--- a/tools/arkmanager
+++ b/tools/arkmanager
@@ -678,6 +678,12 @@ doStart() {
   if isTheServerRunning; then
     echo "The server is already running"
   else
+    if [ "$arkAutoUpdateOnStart" == "true" ]; then
+      if ! [[ " $* " =~ " --noautoupdate " ]]; then
+        echo "Updating server"
+        doUpdate --update-mods
+      fi
+    fi
     tput sc
     echo "The server is starting..."
 
@@ -1092,7 +1098,7 @@ doUpdate() {
 
     # we restart the server only if it was started before the update
     if [ $serverWasAlive -eq 1 ]; then
-      doStart
+      doStart --noautoupdate
     fi
   else
     echo "Your server is already up to date! The most recent version is ${bnumber}."
@@ -1739,7 +1745,7 @@ while true; do
         doRun
       ;;
       start)
-        doStart
+        doStart "${options[@]}"
       ;;
       stop)
         doStop shutdown "${options[@]}"
@@ -1796,7 +1802,7 @@ while true; do
     for instance in "${instances[@]}"; do
     (
       useConfig "$instance"
-      doStart
+      doStart "${options[@]}"
       echo "`timestamp`: start" >> "$logdir/$arkmanagerLog"
       echo "`timestamp`: restart" >> "$logdir/$arkmanagerLog"
     )
diff --git a/tools/arkmanager.cfg b/tools/arkmanager.cfg
index ed26f0d..b199a93 100644
--- a/tools/arkmanager.cfg
+++ b/tools/arkmanager.cfg
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ arkserverexec="ShooterGame/Binaries/Linux/ShooterGameServer"        # name of AR
 arkbackupdir="/home/steam/ARK-Backups"                              # path to backup directory
 arkwarnminutes="60"                                                 # number of minutes to warn players when using update --warn
 arkautorestartfile="ShooterGame/Saved/.autorestart"                 # path to autorestart file
+arkAutoUpdateOnStart="false"                                        # set this to true if you want to always update before startup
 arkBackupPreUpdate="false"                                          # set this to true if you want to perform a backup before updating
 #arkStagingDir="/home/steam/ARK-Staging"                            # Uncomment to enable updates to be fully downloaded before restarting the server (reduces downtime while updating)