diff --git a/src/defaultsettings.cpp b/src/defaultsettings.cpp
index 3154d8d..c721932 100644
--- a/src/defaultsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/defaultsettings.cpp
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ void set_default_settings(Settings *settings)
 	settings->setDefault("server_unload_unused_data_timeout", "19");
 	settings->setDefault("server_map_save_interval", "1.238");
 	settings->setDefault("full_block_send_enable_min_time_from_building", "2.0");
+	settings->setDefault("onload_ignore_objects","false");
 	settings->setDefault("enable_experimental", "false");
 	settings->setDefault("enable_lavabuckets", "true");
 	settings->setDefault("enable_tnt", "true");
diff --git a/src/staticobject.h b/src/staticobject.h
index fcbc0f9..17d01a7 100644
--- a/src/staticobject.h
+++ b/src/staticobject.h
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 #include <string>
 #include <sstream>
 #include "utility.h"
+#include "settings.h"
+#include "main.h"
 
 struct StaticObject
 {
@@ -137,6 +139,7 @@ public:
 	}
 	void deSerialize(std::istream &is)
 	{
+		bool drop = g_settings->getBool("onload_ignore_objects");
 		char buf[12];
 		// version
 		is.read(buf, 1);
@@ -148,7 +151,8 @@ public:
 		{
 			StaticObject s_obj;
 			s_obj.deSerialize(is, version);
-			m_stored.push_back(s_obj);
+			if (!drop)
+				m_stored.push_back(s_obj);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/voxelands.conf.example b/voxelands.conf.example
index 2c71acd..6e0c78e 100644
--- a/voxelands.conf.example
+++ b/voxelands.conf.example
@@ -179,4 +179,6 @@
 # Set to true to enable experimental features or stuff that is tested
 # (varies from version to version, usually not useful at all)
 #enable_experimental = false
+# a slow delete for objects, stops them being loaded from disk
+#onload_ignore_objects = false