diff --git a/MinecraftClient/Program.cs b/MinecraftClient/Program.cs
index af0716e5..629520bf 100644
--- a/MinecraftClient/Program.cs
+++ b/MinecraftClient/Program.cs
@@ -138,9 +138,35 @@ namespace MinecraftClient
                 }
 
                 //Get server version
-                Console.WriteLine("Retrieving Server Info...");
-                int protocolversion = 0; string version = "";
-                if (ProtocolHandler.GetServerInfo(Settings.ServerIP, ref protocolversion, ref version))
+                int protocolversion = 0;
+
+                if (Settings.ServerVersion != "" && Settings.ServerVersion.ToLower() != "auto")
+                {
+                    protocolversion = Protocol.ProtocolHandler.MCVer2ProtocolVersion(Settings.ServerVersion);
+                    if (protocolversion != 0)
+                    {
+                        ConsoleIO.WriteLineFormatted("§8Using Minecraft version " + Settings.ServerVersion + " (protocol v" + protocolversion + ')');
+                    }
+                    else ConsoleIO.WriteLineFormatted("§8Unknown or not supported MC version '" + Settings.ServerVersion + "'.\nSwitching to autodetection mode.");
+                }
+
+                if (protocolversion == 0)
+                {
+                    Console.WriteLine("Retrieving Server Info...");
+                    if (!ProtocolHandler.GetServerInfo(Settings.ServerIP, Settings.ServerPort, ref protocolversion))
+                    {
+                        Console.WriteLine("Failed to ping this IP.");
+                        if (Settings.AutoRelog_Enabled)
+                        {
+                            ChatBots.AutoRelog bot = new ChatBots.AutoRelog(Settings.AutoRelog_Delay, Settings.AutoRelog_Retries);
+                            if (!bot.OnDisconnect(ChatBot.DisconnectReason.ConnectionLost, "Failed to ping this IP.")) { ReadLineReconnect(); }
+                        }
+                        else ReadLineReconnect();
+                        return;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if (protocolversion != 0)
                 {
                     try
                     {
@@ -159,13 +185,8 @@ namespace MinecraftClient
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    Console.WriteLine("Failed to ping this IP.");
-                    if (Settings.AutoRelog_Enabled)
-                    {
-                        ChatBots.AutoRelog bot = new ChatBots.AutoRelog(Settings.AutoRelog_Delay, Settings.AutoRelog_Retries);
-                        if (!bot.OnDisconnect(ChatBot.DisconnectReason.ConnectionLost, "Failed to ping this IP.")) { ReadLineReconnect(); }
-                    }
-                    else ReadLineReconnect();
+                    Console.WriteLine("Failed to determine server version.");
+                    ReadLineReconnect();
                 }
             }
             else
diff --git a/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol16.cs b/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol16.cs
index 1dc83fed..16cd92a1 100644
--- a/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol16.cs
+++ b/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol16.cs
@@ -647,10 +647,11 @@ namespace MinecraftClient.Protocol.Handlers
             return packet_data;
         }
 
-        public static bool doPing(string host, int port, ref int protocolversion, ref string version)
+        public static bool doPing(string host, int port, ref int protocolversion)
         {
             try
             {
+                string version = "";
                 TcpClient tcp = ProxyHandler.newTcpClient(host, port);
                 tcp.ReceiveTimeout = 5000; //MC 1.7.2+ SpigotMC servers won't answer, so we need a reasonable timeout.
                 byte[] ping = new byte[2] { 0xfe, 0x01 };
diff --git a/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol17.cs b/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol17.cs
index a0eb33ab..42fa4a8d 100644
--- a/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol17.cs
+++ b/MinecraftClient/Protocol/Handlers/Protocol17.cs
@@ -496,8 +496,9 @@ namespace MinecraftClient.Protocol.Handlers
         /// </summary>
         /// <returns>True if ping was successful</returns>
 
-        public static bool doPing(string host, int port, ref int protocolversion, ref string version)
+        public static bool doPing(string host, int port, ref int protocolversion)
         {
+            string version = "";
             TcpClient tcp = ProxyHandler.newTcpClient(host, port);
             tcp.ReceiveBufferSize = 1024 * 1024;
 
diff --git a/MinecraftClient/Protocol/ProtocolHandler.cs b/MinecraftClient/Protocol/ProtocolHandler.cs
index b715fda8..a35fa072 100644
--- a/MinecraftClient/Protocol/ProtocolHandler.cs
+++ b/MinecraftClient/Protocol/ProtocolHandler.cs
@@ -19,36 +19,19 @@ namespace MinecraftClient.Protocol
         /// Retrieve information about a Minecraft server
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="serverIP">Server IP to ping</param>
+        /// <param name="serverPort">Server Port to ping</param>
         /// <param name="protocolversion">Will contain protocol version, if ping successful</param>
-        /// <param name="version">Will contain minecraft version, if ping successful</param>
         /// <returns>TRUE if ping was successful</returns>
 
-        public static bool GetServerInfo(string serverIP, ref int protocolversion, ref string version)
+        public static bool GetServerInfo(string serverIP, short serverPort, ref int protocolversion)
         {
             try
             {
-                string host; int port;
-                string[] sip = serverIP.Split(':');
-                host = sip[0];
-
-                if (sip.Length == 1)
-                {
-                    port = 25565;
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    try
-                    {
-                        port = Convert.ToInt32(sip[1]);
-                    }
-                    catch (FormatException) { port = 25565; }
-                }
-
-                if (Protocol16Handler.doPing(host, port, ref protocolversion, ref version))
+                if (Protocol16Handler.doPing(serverIP, serverPort, ref protocolversion))
                 {
                     return true;
                 }
-                else if (Protocol17Handler.doPing(host, port, ref protocolversion, ref version))
+                else if (Protocol17Handler.doPing(serverIP, serverPort, ref protocolversion))
                 {
                     return true;
                 }
@@ -81,7 +64,60 @@ namespace MinecraftClient.Protocol
             int[] supportedVersions_Protocol17 = { 4, 5 };
             if (Array.IndexOf(supportedVersions_Protocol17, ProtocolVersion) > -1)
                 return new Protocol17Handler(Client, ProtocolVersion, Handler);
-            throw new NotSupportedException("The protocol version '" + ProtocolVersion + "' is not supported.");
+            throw new NotSupportedException("The protocol version no." + ProtocolVersion + " is not supported.");
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Convert a human-readable Minecraft version number to network protocol version number
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="MCVersion">The Minecraft version number</param>
+        /// <returns>The protocol version number or 0 if could not determine protocol version: error, unknown, not supported</returns>
+
+        public static int MCVer2ProtocolVersion(string MCVersion)
+        {
+            if (MCVersion.Contains('.'))
+            {
+                switch (MCVersion.Split(' ')[0].Trim())
+                {
+                    case "1.4.6":
+                    case "1.4.7":
+                        return 51;
+                    case "1.5.1":
+                        return 60;
+                    case "1.5.2":
+                        return 61;
+                    case "1.6.0":
+                        return 72;
+                    case "1.6.1":
+                    case "1.6.2":
+                    case "1.6.3":
+                    case "1.6.4":
+                        return 73;
+                    case "1.7.2":
+                    case "1.7.3":
+                    case "1.7.4":
+                    case "1.7.5":
+                        return 4;
+                    case "1.7.6":
+                    case "1.7.7":
+                    case "1.7.8":
+                    case "1.7.9":
+                        return 5;
+                    default:
+                        return 0;
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    return Int32.Parse(MCVersion);
+                }
+                catch
+                {
+                    return -1;
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         public enum LoginResult { OtherError, ServiceUnavailable, SSLError, Success, WrongPassword, AccountMigrated, NotPremium };
diff --git a/MinecraftClient/Settings.cs b/MinecraftClient/Settings.cs
index 6a7d11d6..f13d5f12 100644
--- a/MinecraftClient/Settings.cs
+++ b/MinecraftClient/Settings.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ namespace MinecraftClient
         public static string Password = "";
         public static string ServerIP = "";
         public static short ServerPort = 25565;
+        public static string ServerVersion  = "";
         public static string SingleCommand = "";
         public static string ConsoleTitle = "";
 
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ namespace MinecraftClient
         //Remote Control
         public static bool RemoteCtrl_Enabled = false;
 
-        //App variables
+        //Custom app variables
         private static Dictionary<string, string> AppVars = new Dictionary<string, string>();
 
         private enum ParseMode { Default, Main, AppVars, Proxy, AntiAFK, Hangman, Alerts, ChatLog, AutoRelog, ScriptScheduler, RemoteControl };
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@ namespace MinecraftClient
                                                 case "consoletitle": ConsoleTitle = argValue; break;
                                                 case "timestamps": chatTimeStamps = str2bool(argValue); break;
                                                 case "exitonfailure": exitOnFailure = str2bool(argValue); break;
+                                                case "mcversion": ServerVersion = argValue; break;
                                                 case "botowners":
                                                     Bots_Owners.Clear();
                                                     foreach (string name in argValue.ToLower().Replace(" ", "").Split(','))
@@ -270,6 +272,7 @@ namespace MinecraftClient
                 + "language=en_GB\r\n"
                 + "botowners=Player1,Player2,Player3\r\n"
                 + "consoletitle=%username% - Minecraft Console Client\r\n"
+                + "mcversion=auto #use 'auto' or '1.X.X' values\r\n"
                 + "exitonfailure=false\r\n"
                 + "timestamps=false\r\n"
                 + "\r\n"