diff --git a/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/ImageFrame.java b/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/ImageFrame.java
index a2f7d4b2..245bf09e 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/ImageFrame.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/ImageFrame.java
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ public class ImageFrame extends JavaPlugin {
 
     public static String language;
 
+    public static boolean downloadLanguagesOnStartup;
+
     public static SimpleDateFormat dateFormat;
 
     public static String mapItemFormat;
@@ -325,6 +327,7 @@ public void reloadConfig() {
         viaDisableSmoothAnimationForLegacyPlayers = config.getConfiguration().getBoolean("Hooks.ViaVersion.DisableSmoothAnimationForLegacyPlayers");
 
         language = config.getConfiguration().getString("Settings.Language");
+        downloadLanguagesOnStartup = config.getConfiguration().getBoolean("Settings.DownloadLanguagesOnStartup");
 
         dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat(config.getConfiguration().getString("Settings.DateFormat"));
 
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/language/LanguageManager.java b/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/language/LanguageManager.java
index 02d4ff6e..208f6045 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/language/LanguageManager.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/com/loohp/imageframe/language/LanguageManager.java
@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ public Set<String> getLoadedLanguages() {
     }
 
     public void downloadTranslations() {
+        if (!ImageFrame.downloadLanguagesOnStartup) {
+            ImageFrame.plugin.getLogger().info("DownloadLanguagesOnStartup is disabled. Skipped downloading language files from the internet; using the locally installed language files.");
+            return;
+        }
         try {
             File languageHashFile = new File(ImageFrame.plugin.getDataFolder(), "language_hashes.json");
             JsonObject languageHashes;
@@ -129,6 +133,7 @@ public void downloadTranslations() {
                 new IOException("Unable to save language hashes to " + languageHashFile.getAbsolutePath(), e).printStackTrace();
             }
         } catch (Throwable e) {
+            ImageFrame.plugin.getLogger().warning("Failed to fetch language files from the internet. The plugin will use the locally installed language files. If your server cannot reach api.loohpjames.com, or you intend to run it offline, set \"Settings.DownloadLanguagesOnStartup\" to false in config.yml to skip this network request on startup.");
             e.printStackTrace();
         }
     }
diff --git a/common/src/main/resources/config.yml b/common/src/main/resources/config.yml
index d0731d3e..1aea2a40 100644
--- a/common/src/main/resources/config.yml
+++ b/common/src/main/resources/config.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ Settings:
   #For supported languages, see https://loohpjames.com/imageframe/languages/
   #To contribute your language, visit https://crowdin.com/project/imageframe/
   Language: "en_us"
+  #Whether ImageFrame should look for updated language files from the internet on startup
+  #Set to false to skip the network request and only use the locally installed language files
+  #Useful if the server cannot reach api.loohpjames.com, or you intend to run the server offline
+  DownloadLanguagesOnStartup: true
   #Date format used where a time based variable is displayed
   DateFormat: "dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss zzz"
   MapItemFormat: "&f{Name} &7({X}, {Y})"