diff --git a/httpd.c b/httpd.c
index 14e9565..ecb64b4 100644
--- a/httpd.c
+++ b/httpd.c
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@
 
 #include <sys/resource.h> // for getrlimit()
 
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+
 #ifdef USE_POLL_FOR_SLEEP
 #include <poll.h>
 #endif
 
-/** server stat **/
-
-srv_state s_state = {0};
+/** server state **/
 srv_state *p_state = NULL;
 
 
@@ -622,6 +622,74 @@ void term_handler(int s)
 }
 
 
+srv_state *srv_state_op(xs_str **fname, int op)
+/* opens or deletes the shared memory object */
+{
+    int fd;
+    srv_state *ss = NULL;
+
+    if (*fname == NULL)
+        *fname = xs_fmt("/%s_snac_state", xs_dict_get(srv_config, "host"));
+
+    switch (op) {
+    case 0: /* open for writing */
+        if ((fd = shm_open(*fname, O_CREAT | O_RDWR, 0666)) != -1) {
+            ftruncate(fd, sizeof(*ss));
+
+            if ((ss = mmap(0, sizeof(*ss), PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
+                 MAP_SHARED, fd, 0)) == MAP_FAILED)
+                ss = NULL;
+
+            close(fd);
+        }
+
+        if (ss == NULL) {
+            /* shared memory error: just create a plain structure */
+            srv_log(xs_fmt("warning: shm object error (%s)", strerror(errno)));
+            ss = malloc(sizeof(*ss));
+        }
+
+        /* init structure */
+        *ss = (srv_state){0};
+        ss->s_size = sizeof(*ss);
+
+        break;
+
+    case 1: /* open for reading */
+        if ((fd = shm_open(*fname, O_RDONLY, 0666)) != -1) {
+            if ((ss = mmap(0, sizeof(*ss), PROT_READ, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0)) == MAP_FAILED)
+                ss = NULL;
+
+            close(fd);
+        }
+
+        if (ss == NULL) {
+            /* shared memory error */
+            srv_log(xs_fmt("error: shm object error (%s) server not running?", strerror(errno)));
+        }
+        else
+        if (ss->s_size != sizeof(*ss)) {
+            srv_log(xs_fmt("error: struct size mismatch (%d != %d)",
+                ss->s_size, sizeof(*ss)));
+
+            munmap(ss, sizeof(*ss));
+
+            ss = NULL;
+        }
+
+        break;
+
+    case 2: /* unlink */
+        if (*fname)
+            shm_unlink(*fname);
+
+        break;
+    }
+
+    return ss;
+}
+
+
 void httpd(void)
 /* starts the server */
 {
@@ -631,12 +699,11 @@ void httpd(void)
     pthread_t threads[MAX_THREADS] = {0};
     int n;
     xs *sem_name = NULL;
+    xs *shm_name = NULL;
     sem_t anon_job_sem;
 
     /* setup the server stat structure */
-    {
-        p_state = &s_state;
-    }
+    p_state = srv_state_op(&shm_name, 0);
 
     p_state->srv_start_time = time(NULL);
 
@@ -736,6 +803,8 @@ void httpd(void)
     sem_close(job_sem);
     sem_unlink(sem_name);
 
+    srv_state_op(&shm_name, 2);
+
     xs *uptime = xs_str_time_diff(time(NULL) - p_state->srv_start_time);
 
     srv_log(xs_fmt("httpd%s stop %s:%s (run time: %s)",
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index f5fb0e9..08f23d5 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "xs.h"
 #include "xs_io.h"
 #include "xs_json.h"
+#include "xs_time.h"
 
 #include "snac.h"
 
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ int usage(void)
     printf("deluser {basedir} {uid}             Deletes a user\n");
     printf("httpd {basedir}                     Starts the HTTPD daemon\n");
     printf("purge {basedir}                     Purges old data\n");
+    printf("state {basedir}                     Prints server state\n");
     printf("webfinger {basedir} {actor}         Queries about an actor (@user@host or actor url)\n");
     printf("queue {basedir} {uid}               Processes a user queue\n");
     printf("follow {basedir} {uid} {actor}      Follows an actor\n");
@@ -138,6 +140,29 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         return 0;
     }
 
+    if (strcmp(cmd, "state") == 0) { /** **/
+        xs *shm_name = NULL;
+        srv_state *p_state = srv_state_op(&shm_name, 1);
+
+        if (p_state == NULL)
+            return 1;
+
+        srv_state ss = *p_state;
+        int n;
+
+        printf("server: %s (%s)\n", xs_dict_get(srv_config, "host"), USER_AGENT);
+        xs *uptime = xs_str_time_diff(time(NULL) - ss.srv_start_time);
+        printf("uptime: %s\n", uptime);
+        printf("job fifo size (cur): %d\n", ss.job_fifo_size);
+        printf("job fifo size (peak): %d\n", ss.peak_job_fifo_size);
+        char *th_states[] = { "stopped", "waiting", "input", "output" };
+
+        for (n = 0; n < ss.n_threads; n++)
+            printf("thread #%d state: %s\n", n, th_states[ss.th_state[n]]);
+
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     if ((user = GET_ARGV()) == NULL)
         return usage();