diff --git a/irc/config.go b/irc/config.go
index f191f574..4524c726 100644
--- a/irc/config.go
+++ b/irc/config.go
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ type Config struct {
 	Operator map[string]*PassConfig
 
 	Theater map[string]*PassConfig
+
+	Limits struct {
+		NickLen    int `yaml:"nicklen"`
+		ChannelLen int `yaml:"channellen"`
+	}
 }
 
 func (conf *Config) Operators() map[Name][]byte {
@@ -131,5 +136,8 @@ func LoadConfig(filename string) (config *Config, err error) {
 	if len(config.Server.Listen) == 0 {
 		return nil, errors.New("Server listening addresses missing")
 	}
+	if config.Limits.NickLen < 1 || config.Limits.ChannelLen < 2 {
+		return nil, errors.New("Limits aren't setup properly, check them and make them sane")
+	}
 	return config, nil
 }
diff --git a/irc/server.go b/irc/server.go
index a692dca6..43e4a694 100644
--- a/irc/server.go
+++ b/irc/server.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
+	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
@@ -94,6 +95,10 @@ func NewServer(config *Config) *Server {
 		}
 	}
 
+	//TODO(dan): Hot damn this is an ugly hack. Fix it properly at some point.
+	ChannelNameExpr = regexp.MustCompile(fmt.Sprintf(`^[&!#+][\pL\pN]{1,%d}$`, config.Limits.ChannelLen))
+	NicknameExpr = regexp.MustCompile(fmt.Sprintf("^[\\pL\\pN\\pP\\pS]{1,%d}$", config.Limits.NickLen))
+
 	if config.Server.Password != "" {
 		server.password = config.Server.PasswordBytes()
 	}
@@ -114,7 +119,7 @@ func NewServer(config *Config) *Server {
 	server.isupport = NewISupportList()
 	server.isupport.Add("CASEMAPPING", "ascii")
 	// server.isupport.Add("CHANMODES", "")  //TODO(dan): Channel mode list here
-	// server.isupport.Add("CHANNELLEN", "") //TODO(dan): Support channel length
+	server.isupport.Add("CHANNELLEN", strconv.Itoa(config.Limits.ChannelLen))
 	server.isupport.Add("CHANTYPES", "#")
 	server.isupport.Add("EXCEPTS", "")
 	server.isupport.Add("INVEX", "")
@@ -122,7 +127,7 @@ func NewServer(config *Config) *Server {
 	// server.isupport.Add("MAXLIST", "") //TODO(dan): Support max list length?
 	// server.isupport.Add("MODES", "")   //TODO(dan): Support max modes?
 	server.isupport.Add("NETWORK", config.Network.Name)
-	// server.isupport.Add("NICKLEN", "") //TODO(dan): Support nick length
+	server.isupport.Add("NICKLEN", strconv.Itoa(config.Limits.NickLen))
 	server.isupport.Add("PREFIX", "(qaohv)~&@%+")
 	// server.isupport.Add("STATUSMSG", "@+") //TODO(dan): Autogenerate based on PREFIXes, support STATUSMSG
 	// server.isupport.Add("TARGMAX", "")  //TODO(dan): Support this
diff --git a/irc/strings.go b/irc/strings.go
index 160997cc..6b67ac8c 100644
--- a/irc/strings.go
+++ b/irc/strings.go
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	// regexps
-	ChannelNameExpr = regexp.MustCompile(`^[&!#+][\pL\pN]{1,63}$`)
-	NicknameExpr    = regexp.MustCompile("^[\\pL\\pN\\pP\\pS]{1,32}$")
+	// these get replaced with real regexes at server load time
+
+	ChannelNameExpr = regexp.MustCompile("^$")
+	NicknameExpr    = regexp.MustCompile("^$")
 )
 
 // Names are normalized and canonicalized to remove formatting marks
diff --git a/oragono.yaml b/oragono.yaml
index 98e9d7b7..54808407 100644
--- a/oragono.yaml
+++ b/oragono.yaml
@@ -56,3 +56,11 @@ operator:
         # password to login with /OPER command
         # generated using  "oragono genpasswd"
         password: JDJhJDA0JE1vZmwxZC9YTXBhZ3RWT2xBbkNwZnV3R2N6VFUwQUI0RUJRVXRBRHliZVVoa0VYMnlIaGsu
+
+# limits - these need to be the same across the network
+limits:
+    # nicklen is the max nick length allowed
+    nicklen: 32
+
+    # channellen is the max channel length allowed
+    channellen: 64