diff --git a/libraries/settings/.gitignore b/libraries/settings/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aac65cda7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+.npmrc
+Dockerfile
diff --git a/libraries/settings/LICENSE b/libraries/settings/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..54a584e24f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+The MIT License (MIT)
+
+Copyright (c) 2014-2021 Overleaf
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+THE SOFTWARE.
diff --git a/libraries/settings/README.md b/libraries/settings/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ac5adfc14f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+@overleaf/settings
+===================
+
+A small module to allow global config settings to be set for all services
+within the Overleaf architecture.
+
+Settings file location
+----------------------
+
+You can specify a custom location for the settings file by setting the
+`SHARELATEX_CONFIG` environment variable. E.g.
+
+	$ export SHARELATEX_CONFIG=/home/james/config/settings.development.js
+
+Otherwise, the settings will be loaded from `config/settings.NODE_ENV.js`,
+where `NODE_ENV` is another environment variable, or defaults to `development`.
+
+The config directory is first looked for in the current directory, and then relative
+to the settings module directory.
diff --git a/libraries/settings/Settings.js b/libraries/settings/Settings.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6672803955
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/Settings.js
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+let defaults, possibleConfigFiles, settingsExist;
+const fs = require("fs");
+const path = require("path");
+const env = (process.env.NODE_ENV || "development").toLowerCase();
+const { merge } = require('./merge');
+
+const defaultSettingsPath = path.normalize(__dirname + "/../../../config/settings.defaults");
+
+if (fs.existsSync(`${defaultSettingsPath}.js`)) {
+	console.log(`Using default settings from ${defaultSettingsPath}.js`);
+	defaults = require(`${defaultSettingsPath}.js`);
+	settingsExist = true;
+} else if (fs.existsSync(`${defaultSettingsPath}.coffee`)) {
+	// TODO: remove this in the next major version
+	throw new Error(`CoffeeScript settings file ${defaultSettingsPath}.coffee is no longer supported, please convert to JavaScript`);
+} else {
+	defaults = {};
+	settingsExist = false;
+}
+
+if (process.env.SHARELATEX_CONFIG) {
+	possibleConfigFiles = [process.env.SHARELATEX_CONFIG];
+} else {
+	possibleConfigFiles = [
+		process.cwd() + `/config/settings.${env}.js`,
+		path.normalize(__dirname + `/../../../config/settings.${env}.js`),
+		// TODO: remove these in the next major version
+		process.cwd() + `/config/settings.${env}.coffee`,
+		path.normalize(__dirname + `/../../../config/settings.${env}.coffee`)
+	];
+}
+
+for (let file of possibleConfigFiles) {
+	if (fs.existsSync(file)) {
+		// TODO: remove this in the next major version
+		if (file.endsWith('.coffee')) {
+			throw new Error(`CoffeeScript settings file ${file} is no longer supported, please convert to JavaScript`);
+		}
+		console.log("Using settings from " + file);
+		module.exports = merge(require(file), defaults);
+		settingsExist = true;
+		break;
+	}
+}
+
+if (!settingsExist) {
+	console.warn("No settings or defaults found. I'm flying blind.");
+}
+
+module.exports = defaults;
diff --git a/libraries/settings/index.js b/libraries/settings/index.js
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..1a9043cdaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+module.exports = require('./Settings');
diff --git a/libraries/settings/merge.js b/libraries/settings/merge.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c1b24d2bae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/merge.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+function merge(settings, defaults) {
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(settings)) {
+    if ((typeof(value) === "object") && !(value instanceof Array)) {
+      defaults[key] = merge(value, defaults[key] || {});
+    } else {
+      defaults[key] = value;
+    }
+  }
+  return defaults;
+}
+
+module.exports = { merge };
diff --git a/libraries/settings/package-lock.json b/libraries/settings/package-lock.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de48101b3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/package-lock.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "name": "@overleaf/settings",
+  "version": "2.1.1",
+  "lockfileVersion": 1
+}
diff --git a/libraries/settings/package.json b/libraries/settings/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..27fae668c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/settings/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "name": "@overleaf/settings",
+  "description": "A centralised settings system for Overleaf",
+  "version": "2.1.1",
+  "repository": "overleaf/settings-module"
+}