diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index af3747e21..d5b2ca144 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ package config
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"io/ioutil"
-	"os/exec"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/gabek/owncast/utils"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -13,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 //Config contains a reference to the configuration
 var Config *config
+var _default config
 
 type config struct {
 	ChatDatabaseFilePath string          `yaml:"chatDatabaseFile"`
@@ -116,6 +115,10 @@ func (c *config) load(filePath string) error {
 }
 
 func (c *config) verifySettings() error {
+	if c.VideoSettings.StreamingKey == "" {
+		return errors.New("No stream key set. Please set one in your config file.")
+	}
+
 	if c.S3.Enabled && c.IPFS.Enabled {
 		return errors.New("s3 and IPFS support cannot be enabled at the same time; choose one")
 	}
@@ -137,32 +140,12 @@ func (c *config) verifySettings() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *config) GetFFMpegPath() string {
-	if c.FFMpegPath != "" {
-		return c.FFMpegPath
-	}
-
-	cmd := exec.Command("which", "ffmpeg")
-	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Panicln("Unable to determine path to ffmpeg. Please specify it in the config file.")
-	}
-
-	path := strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
-
-	// Memoize it for future access
-	c.FFMpegPath = path
-
-	return path
-}
-
 func (c *config) GetVideoSegmentSecondsLength() int {
 	if c.VideoSettings.ChunkLengthInSeconds != 0 {
 		return c.VideoSettings.ChunkLengthInSeconds
 	}
 
-	// Default
-	return 4
+	return _default.GetVideoSegmentSecondsLength()
 }
 
 func (c *config) GetPublicHLSSavePath() string {
@@ -170,7 +153,7 @@ func (c *config) GetPublicHLSSavePath() string {
 		return c.PublicHLSPath
 	}
 
-	return "webroot/hls"
+	return _default.PublicHLSPath
 }
 
 func (c *config) GetPrivateHLSSavePath() string {
@@ -178,7 +161,7 @@ func (c *config) GetPrivateHLSSavePath() string {
 		return c.PrivateHLSPath
 	}
 
-	return "hls"
+	return _default.PrivateHLSPath
 }
 
 func (c *config) GetPublicWebServerPort() int {
@@ -186,8 +169,7 @@ func (c *config) GetPublicWebServerPort() int {
 		return c.WebServerPort
 	}
 
-	// Default web server port
-	return 8080
+	return _default.WebServerPort
 }
 
 func (c *config) GetMaxNumberOfReferencedSegmentsInPlaylist() int {
@@ -195,7 +177,7 @@ func (c *config) GetMaxNumberOfReferencedSegmentsInPlaylist() int {
 		return c.Files.MaxNumberInPlaylist
 	}
 
-	return 20
+	return _default.GetMaxNumberOfReferencedSegmentsInPlaylist()
 }
 
 func (c *config) GetOfflineContentPath() string {
@@ -204,12 +186,29 @@ func (c *config) GetOfflineContentPath() string {
 	}
 
 	// This is relative to the webroot, not the project root.
-	return "static/offline.m4v"
+	return _default.VideoSettings.OfflineContent
+}
+
+func (c *config) GetFFMpegPath() string {
+	if c.FFMpegPath != "" {
+		return c.FFMpegPath
+	}
+
+	return _default.FFMpegPath
+}
+
+func (c *config) GetVideoStreamQualities() []StreamQuality {
+	if len(c.VideoSettings.StreamQualities) > 0 {
+		return c.VideoSettings.StreamQualities
+	}
+
+	return _default.VideoSettings.StreamQualities
 }
 
 //Load tries to load the configuration file
 func Load(filePath string, versionInfo string) error {
 	Config = new(config)
+	_default = getDefaults()
 
 	if err := Config.load(filePath); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -220,8 +219,10 @@ func Load(filePath string, versionInfo string) error {
 	// Defaults
 
 	// This is relative to the webroot, not the project root.
+	// Has to be set here instead of pulled from a getter
+	// since it's serialized to JSON.
 	if Config.InstanceDetails.ExtraInfoFile == "" {
-		Config.InstanceDetails.ExtraInfoFile = "/static/content.md"
+		Config.InstanceDetails.ExtraInfoFile = _default.InstanceDetails.ExtraInfoFile
 	}
 
 	return Config.verifySettings()
diff --git a/config/defaults.go b/config/defaults.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ded829273
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/defaults.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package config
+
+import (
+	"log"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+func getDefaults() config {
+	defaults := config{}
+	defaults.WebServerPort = 8080
+	defaults.FFMpegPath = getDefaultFFMpegPath()
+	defaults.VideoSettings.ChunkLengthInSeconds = 4
+	defaults.Files.MaxNumberInPlaylist = 5
+	defaults.PublicHLSPath = "webroot/hls"
+	defaults.PrivateHLSPath = "hls"
+	defaults.VideoSettings.OfflineContent = "static/offline.m4v"
+	defaults.InstanceDetails.ExtraInfoFile = "/static/content.md"
+
+	defaultQuality := StreamQuality{
+		IsAudioPassthrough: true,
+		VideoBitrate:       1200,
+		EncoderPreset:      "veryfast",
+	}
+	defaults.VideoSettings.StreamQualities = []StreamQuality{defaultQuality}
+
+	return defaults
+}
+
+func getDefaultFFMpegPath() string {
+	cmd := exec.Command("which", "ffmpeg")
+	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Panicln("Unable to determine path to ffmpeg. Please specify it in the config file.")
+	}
+
+	path := strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
+
+	return path
+}
diff --git a/controllers/status.go b/controllers/status.go
index b372651a5..78e62f1dc 100644
--- a/controllers/status.go
+++ b/controllers/status.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ func GetStatus(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	middleware.EnableCors(&w)
 
 	status := core.GetStatus()
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
 
 	json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(status)
 }
diff --git a/core/chat/client.go b/core/chat/client.go
index 7436336fb..2c5553047 100644
--- a/core/chat/client.go
+++ b/core/chat/client.go
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ func (c *Client) listenRead() {
 			msg.ID = id
 			msg.MessageType = "CHAT"
 			msg.Timestamp = time.Now()
+			msg.Visible = true
 
 			if err := websocket.JSON.Receive(c.ws, &msg); err == io.EOF {
 				c.doneCh <- true
diff --git a/core/chat/server.go b/core/chat/server.go
index 62e9f4bf6..2d3c20afc 100644
--- a/core/chat/server.go
+++ b/core/chat/server.go
@@ -56,12 +56,6 @@ func (s *server) err(err error) {
 	s.errCh <- err
 }
 
-func (s *server) sendPastMessages(c *Client) {
-	for _, msg := range s.Messages {
-		c.Write(msg)
-	}
-}
-
 func (s *server) sendAll(msg models.ChatMessage) {
 	for _, c := range s.Clients {
 		c.Write(msg)
@@ -104,7 +98,6 @@ func (s *server) Listen() {
 			s.Clients[c.id] = c
 
 			s.listener.ClientAdded(c.id)
-			s.sendPastMessages(c)
 
 		// remove a client
 		case c := <-s.delCh:
diff --git a/doc/config-example-full.yaml b/doc/config-example-full.yaml
index ac7bca6dc..9edcaf821 100644
--- a/doc/config-example-full.yaml
+++ b/doc/config-example-full.yaml
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ videoSettings:
       audioPassthrough: true
       # The slower the preset the higher quality the video is.
       # Select a preset from https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/H.264
-      encoderPreset: superfast
+      # "superfast" and "ultrafast" are generally not recommended since they look bad.
+      encoderPreset: veryfast
 
     - medium:
       videoBitrate: 800
diff --git a/webroot/js/app.js b/webroot/js/app.js
index 3bde2eef5..06a38206f 100644
--- a/webroot/js/app.js
+++ b/webroot/js/app.js
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ class Owncast {
       onError: this.handlePlayerError,
     });
     this.player.init();
+
+    this.getChatHistory();
   };
 
   setConfigData(data) {
@@ -131,17 +133,21 @@ class Owncast {
         return; 
       }
       const message = new Message(model);
-      const existing = this.vueApp.messages.filter(function (item) {
-        return item.id === message.id;
-      })
-      if (existing.length === 0 || !existing) {
-        this.vueApp.messages = [...this.vueApp.messages, message];
-      }
+      this.addMessage(message);
     };
     this.websocket = ws;
     this.messagingInterface.setWebsocket(this.websocket);
   };
 
+  addMessage(message) {
+    const existing = this.vueApp.messages.filter(function (item) {
+      return item.id === message.id;
+    })
+    if (existing.length === 0 || !existing) {
+      this.vueApp.messages = [...this.vueApp.messages, message];
+    }
+  }
+
   // fetch /config data
   getConfig() {
     fetch(URL_CONFIG)
@@ -275,4 +281,18 @@ class Owncast {
     this.handleOfflineMode();
     // stop timers?
   };
+
+  async getChatHistory() {
+    const url = "/chat";
+    const response = await fetch(url);
+    const data = await response.json();
+    const messages = data.map(function (message) {
+      return new Message(message);
+    })
+    this.setChatHistory(messages);
+  }
+
+  setChatHistory(messages) {
+    this.vueApp.messages = messages;
+  }
 };
diff --git a/webroot/js/message.js b/webroot/js/message.js
index 8d36188f6..85a6aab4e 100644
--- a/webroot/js/message.js
+++ b/webroot/js/message.js
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ class MessagingInterface {
 			window.addEventListener("orientationchange", setVHvar);
 			this.tagAppContainer.classList.add('touch-screen');
 		}
+
 	}
 
 	setWebsocket(socket) {
diff --git a/webroot/js/utils.js b/webroot/js/utils.js
index 15cb657ac..4bd224b63 100644
--- a/webroot/js/utils.js
+++ b/webroot/js/utils.js
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ const VIDEO_SRC = {
 const VIDEO_OPTIONS = {
   autoplay: false,
   liveui: true, // try this
+  liveTracker: {
+    trackingThreshold: 0,
+  },
   sources: [VIDEO_SRC],
 };