diff --git a/server/src/autoupdater.ts b/server/src/autoupdater.ts
index deb978f..a6c72cb 100644
--- a/server/src/autoupdater.ts
+++ b/server/src/autoupdater.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ https.get(
 function start() {
     console.log(chalk.blue(`Starting adrift...`));
 
-    let child = spawn(`${dir}/${appname}`, [], { stdio: ["inherit", "inherit", "pipe"] });
+    let child = spawn(`${dir}/${appname}`, ["--start"], { stdio: ["inherit", "inherit", "pipe"] });
 
     let errbuf = "";
 
diff --git a/server/src/main.ts b/server/src/main.ts
index 3627bc1..b95738f 100644
--- a/server/src/main.ts
+++ b/server/src/main.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import fs from "fs";
 import { exit } from "process";
 import { datadir } from "./lib";
 
+
 async function config() {
     let dir = datadir();
 
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ async function login(credentials: any) {
         }
     }
 }
-(async () => {
+async function start() {
     let dir = datadir();
 
     let conf;
@@ -152,4 +153,12 @@ async function login(credentials: any) {
             }
         });
     }
-})();
+}
+
+
+if (process.argv[2] != "--start") {
+    console.error(chalk.red.bold("DO NOT LAUNCH THIS DIRECTLY, YOU SHOULD HAVE DOWNLOADED THE 'autoupdater' BINARY"))
+    setTimeout(() => process.exit(1), 5000);
+} else {
+    start();
+}
\ No newline at end of file