diff --git a/evennia/game_template/server/conf/settings.py b/evennia/game_template/server/conf/settings.py
index b2cb4274b..577639844 100644
--- a/evennia/game_template/server/conf/settings.py
+++ b/evennia/game_template/server/conf/settings.py
@@ -1,18 +1,27 @@
 """
 Evennia settings file.
 
-The full options are found in the default settings file found here:
+The available options are found in the default settings file found
+here:
 
 {settings_default}
 
-Note: Don't copy more from the default file than you actually intend to
+Remember:
+
+Don't copy more from the default file than you actually intend to
 change; this will make sure that you don't overload upstream updates
 unnecessarily.
 
+When changing a setting requiring a file system path (like
+path/to/actual/file.py), use GAME_DIR and EVENNIA_DIR to reference
+your game folder and the Evennia library folders respectively. Python
+paths (path.to.module) should be given relative to the game's root
+folder (typeclasses.foo) whereas paths within the Evennia library
+needs to be given explicitly (evennia.foo).
+
 """
 
 # Use the defaults from Evennia unless explicitly overridden
-import os
 from evennia.settings_default import *
 
 ######################################################################
@@ -22,91 +31,10 @@ from evennia.settings_default import *
 # This is the name of your game. Make it catchy!
 SERVERNAME = {servername}
 
-# Path to the game directory (use EVENNIA_DIR to refer to the
-# core evennia library)
-GAME_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
-
-# Place to put log files
-LOG_DIR = os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "server", "logs")
-SERVER_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'server.log')
-PORTAL_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'portal.log')
-HTTP_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'http_requests.log')
-
-# Other defaults
-PROTOTYPE_MODULES = ("world.prototypes",)
-
-######################################################################
-# Evennia Database config
-######################################################################
-
-# Database config syntax:
-# ENGINE - path to the the database backend. Possible choices are:
-#            'django.db.backends.sqlite3', (default)
-#            'django.db.backends.mysql',
-#            'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',
-#            'django.db.backends.oracle' (untested).
-# NAME - database name, or path to the db file for sqlite3
-# USER - db admin (unused in sqlite3)
-# PASSWORD - db admin password (unused in sqlite3)
-# HOST - empty string is localhost (unused in sqlite3)
-# PORT - empty string defaults to localhost (unused in sqlite3)
-DATABASES = {{
-    'default': {{
-        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
-        'NAME': os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "server", "evennia.db3"),
-        'USER': '',
-        'PASSWORD': '',
-        'HOST': '',
-        'PORT': ''
-        }}}}
-
 ######################################################################
 # Django web features
-# (don't remove these entries, they are needed to override the default
-# locations with your actual GAME_DIR locations at run-time)
 ######################################################################
 
-# Absolute path to the directory that holds file uploads from web apps.
-# Example: "/home/media/media.lawrence.com"
-MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "web", "media")
-
-# The master urlconf file that contains all of the sub-branches to the
-# applications. Change this to add your own URLs to the website.
-ROOT_URLCONF = 'web.urls'
-
-# URL prefix for admin media -- CSS, JavaScript and images. Make sure
-# to use a trailing slash. Django1.4+ will look for admin files under
-# STATIC_URL/admin.
-STATIC_URL = '/static/'
-STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "web", "static")
-
-# Directories from which static files will be gathered from.
-STATICFILES_DIRS = (
-    os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "web", "static_overrides"),
-    os.path.join(EVENNIA_DIR, "web", "website", "static"),)
-
-# We setup the location of the website template as well as the admin site.
-TEMPLATES = [{
-        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
-        'DIRS': [
-            os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "web", "template_overrides", WEBSITE_TEMPLATE),
-            os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "web", "template_overrides", WEBCLIENT_TEMPLATE),
-            os.path.join(GAME_DIR, "web", "template_overrides"),
-            os.path.join(EVENNIA_DIR, "web", "website", "templates", WEBSITE_TEMPLATE),
-            os.path.join(EVENNIA_DIR, "web", "website", "templates"),
-            os.path.join(EVENNIA_DIR, "web", "webclient", "templates", WEBCLIENT_TEMPLATE),
-            os.path.join(EVENNIA_DIR, "web", "webclient", "templates")],
-        'APP_DIRS': True,
-        'OPTIONS': {
-            "context_processors": [
-                'django.template.context_processors.i18n',
-                'django.template.context_processors.request',
-                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
-                'django.template.context_processors.media',
-                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
-                'evennia.web.utils.general_context.general_context']
-            }
-        }]
 
 # The secret key is randomly seeded upon creation. It is used to sign
 # Django's cookies. Do not share this with anyone. Changing it will
diff --git a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
index 6d6b456c4..b7bb711b8 100644
--- a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
+++ b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import shutil
 import importlib
 from argparse import ArgumentParser
 from subprocess import Popen, check_output, call, CalledProcessError, STDOUT
-import twisted
 import django
 
 # Signal processing
@@ -421,24 +420,19 @@ def set_gamedir(path):
     is inside the directory tree.
 
     """
-
     global GAMEDIR
-    if os.path.exists(os.path.join(path, SETTINGS_PATH)):
-        # path at root of game dir
-        GAMEDIR = os.path.abspath(path)
-    elif os.path.exists(os.path.join(path, os.path.pardir, SETTINGS_PATH)):
-        # path given to somewhere one level down
-        GAMEDIR = os.path.dirname(path)
-    elif os.path.exists(os.path.join(path, os.path.pardir, os.path.pardir, SETTINGS_PATH)):
-        # path given to somwhere two levels down
-        GAMEDIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(path))
-    elif os.path.exists(os.path.join(path, os.path.pardir, os.path. pardir, os.path.pardir, SETTINGS_PATH)):
-        # path given to somewhere three levels down (custom directories)
-        GAMEDIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(path)))
-    else:
-        # we don't look further down than this ...
-        print(ERROR_NO_GAMEDIR)
-        sys.exit()
+
+    Ndepth = 10
+    settings_path = os.path.join("server", "conf", "settings.py")
+    for i in range(Ndepth):
+        gpath = os.getcwd()
+        if "server" in os.listdir(gpath):
+            if os.path.isfile(settings_path):
+                GAMEDIR = gpath
+                return
+        os.chdir(os.pardir)
+    print(ERROR_NO_GAMEDIR)
+    sys.exit()
 
 
 def create_secret_key():
@@ -471,7 +465,6 @@ def create_settings_file():
         "servername": "\"%s\"" % GAMEDIR.rsplit(os.path.sep, 1)[1].capitalize(),
         "secret_key": "\'%s\'" % create_secret_key()}
 
-    # modify the settings
     settings_string = settings_string.format(**setting_dict)
 
     with open(settings_path, 'w') as f:
diff --git a/evennia/settings_default.py b/evennia/settings_default.py
index 6733440c7..e8e7bd5f8 100644
--- a/evennia/settings_default.py
+++ b/evennia/settings_default.py
@@ -103,13 +103,21 @@ WEBSOCKET_INTERFACES = ['0.0.0.0']
 EVENNIA_ADMIN = True
 # Path to the lib directory containing the bulk of the codebase's code.
 EVENNIA_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-# Path to the game directory (containing the database file if using sqlite).
+# Path to the game directory (containing the server/conf/settings.py file)
+# This is dynamically created- there is generally no need to change this!
 if sys.argv[1] == 'test' if len(sys.argv)>1 else False:
     # unittesting mode
     GAME_DIR = os.getcwd()
 else:
     # Fallback location (will be replaced by the actual game dir at runtime)
     GAME_DIR = os.path.join(EVENNIA_DIR, 'game_template')
+    for i in range(10):
+        gpath = os.getcwd()
+        if "server" in os.listdir(gpath):
+            if os.path.isfile(os.path.join("server", "conf", "settings.py")):
+                GAME_DIR = gpath
+                break
+        os.chdir(os.pardir)
 
 # Place to put log files
 LOG_DIR = os.path.join(GAME_DIR, 'server', 'logs')
diff --git a/evennia/utils/utils.py b/evennia/utils/utils.py
index 4e79bd107..25f95c776 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/utils.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/utils.py
@@ -1605,3 +1605,22 @@ class LimitedSizeOrderedDict(OrderedDict):
     def update(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super(LimitedSizeOrderedDict, self).update(*args, **kwargs)
         self._check_size()
+
+def get_game_dir_path():
+    """
+    This is called by settings_default in order to determine the path
+    of the game directory.
+
+    Returns:
+        path (str): Full OS path to the game dir
+
+    """
+    # current working directory, assumed to be somewhere inside gamedir.
+    for i in range(10):
+        gpath = os.getcwd()
+        if "server" in os.listdir(gpath):
+            if os.path.isfile(os.path.join("server", "conf", "settings.py")):
+                return gpath
+        else:
+            os.chdir(os.pardir)
+    raise RuntimeError("server/conf/settings.py not found: Must start from inside game dir.")