diff --git a/empire/server/common/config.py b/empire/server/common/config.py
index b04bb3fab..680c8f757 100644
--- a/empire/server/common/config.py
+++ b/empire/server/common/config.py
@@ -1,30 +1,68 @@
 import sys
-from typing import Dict
+from typing import Dict, Union
 
 import yaml
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
 
 from empire.server.common import helpers
 
 
-class EmpireConfig(object):
-    def __init__(self):
-        self.yaml: Dict = {}
-        if "--config" in sys.argv:
-            location = sys.argv[sys.argv.index("--config") + 1]
-            print(f"Loading config from {location}")
-            self.set_yaml(location)
-        if len(self.yaml.items()) == 0:
-            print(helpers.color("[*] Loading default config"))
-            self.set_yaml("./empire/server/config.yaml")
-
-    def set_yaml(self, location: str):
-        try:
-            with open(location, "r") as stream:
-                self.yaml = yaml.safe_load(stream)
-        except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
-            print(exc)
-        except FileNotFoundError as exc:
-            print(exc)
-
-
-empire_config = EmpireConfig()
+class DatabaseConfig(BaseModel):
+    type: str
+    defaults: Dict[str, Union[bool, int, str]]
+
+    # sqlite
+    location: str = "empire/server/data/empire.db"
+
+    # mysql
+    url: str = "localhost:3306"
+    username: str = ""
+    password: str = ""
+
+
+class ModulesConfig(BaseModel):
+    # todo vr In 5.0 we should pick a single naming convention for config.
+    retain_last_value: bool = Field(alias="retain-last-value")
+
+
+class DirectoriesConfig(BaseModel):
+    downloads: str
+    module_source: str
+    obfuscated_module_source: str
+
+
+class EmpireConfig(BaseModel):
+    supress_self_cert_warning: bool = Field(
+        alias="supress-self-cert-warning", default=True
+    )
+    database: DatabaseConfig
+    modules: ModulesConfig
+    plugins: Dict[str, Dict[str, str]] = {}
+    directories: DirectoriesConfig
+
+    # For backwards compatibility
+    @property
+    def yaml(self):
+        return self.dict()
+
+
+def set_yaml(location: str):
+    try:
+        with open(location, "r") as stream:
+            return yaml.safe_load(stream)
+    except yaml.YAMLError as exc:
+        print(exc)
+    except FileNotFoundError as exc:
+        print(exc)
+
+
+config_dict = {}
+if "--config" in sys.argv:
+    location = sys.argv[sys.argv.index("--config") + 1]
+    print(f"Loading config from {location}")
+    config_dict = set_yaml(location)
+if len(config_dict.items()) == 0:
+    print(helpers.color("[*] Loading default config"))
+    config_dict = set_yaml("./empire/server/config.yaml")
+
+empire_config = EmpireConfig(**config_dict)
diff --git a/empire/server/common/modules.py b/empire/server/common/modules.py
index a8344f638..2a93a2fc8 100644
--- a/empire/server/common/modules.py
+++ b/empire/server/common/modules.py
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ def execute_module(
         msg = f"tasked agent {session_id} to run module {module.name}"
         self.main_menu.agents.save_agent_log(session_id, msg)
 
-        if empire_config.yaml.get("modules", {}).get("retain-last-value", True):
+        if empire_config.modules.retain_last_value:
             self._set_default_values(module, cleaned_options)
 
         return {"success": True, "taskID": task_id, "msg": msg}, None
@@ -160,9 +160,9 @@ def get_module_source(
         """
         try:
             if obfuscate:
-                obfuscated_module_source = empire_config.yaml.get("directories", {})[
-                    "obfuscated_module_source"
-                ]
+                obfuscated_module_source = (
+                    empire_config.directories.obfuscated_module_source
+                )
                 module_path = os.path.join(obfuscated_module_source, module_name)
                 # If pre-obfuscated module exists then return code
                 if os.path.exists(module_path):
@@ -172,9 +172,7 @@ def get_module_source(
 
                 # If pre-obfuscated module does not exist then generate obfuscated code and return it
                 else:
-                    module_source = empire_config.yaml.get("directories", {})[
-                        "module_source"
-                    ]
+                    module_source = empire_config.directories.module_source
                     module_path = os.path.join(module_source, module_name)
                     with open(module_path, "r") as f:
                         module_code = f.read()
@@ -187,9 +185,7 @@ def get_module_source(
 
             # Use regular/unobfuscated code
             else:
-                module_source = empire_config.yaml.get("directories", {})[
-                    "module_source"
-                ]
+                module_source = empire_config.directories.module_source
                 module_path = os.path.join(module_source, module_name)
                 with open(module_path, "r") as f:
                     module_code = f.read()
@@ -334,7 +330,7 @@ def _generate_script_python(
     ) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]:
         if module.script_path:
             script_path = os.path.join(
-                empire_config.yaml.get("directories", {})["module_source"],
+                empire_config.directories.module_source,
                 module.script_path,
             )
             with open(script_path, "r") as stream:
@@ -530,7 +526,7 @@ def _load_module(self, yaml_module, root_path, file_path: str):
         elif my_model.script_path:
             if not path.exists(
                 os.path.join(
-                    empire_config.yaml.get("directories", {})["module_source"],
+                    empire_config.directories.module_source,
                     my_model.script_path,
                 )
             ):
diff --git a/empire/server/database/base.py b/empire/server/database/base.py
index b19409359..5ebbdd5f7 100644
--- a/empire/server/database/base.py
+++ b/empire/server/database/base.py
@@ -13,22 +13,26 @@
 )
 from empire.server.database.models import Base
 
-database_config = empire_config.yaml.get('database', {})
-
-if database_config.get('type') == 'mysql':
-    url = database_config.get('url')
-    username = database_config.get('username') or ''
-    password = database_config.get('password') or ''
-    engine = create_engine(f'mysql+pymysql://{username}:{password}@{url}/empire', echo=False)
+database_config = empire_config.database
+
+if database_config.type == "mysql":
+    url = database_config.url
+    username = database_config.username
+    password = database_config.password
+    engine = create_engine(
+        f"mysql+pymysql://{username}:{password}@{url}/empire", echo=False
+    )
 else:
-    location = database_config.get('location', 'data/empire.db')
-    engine = create_engine(f'sqlite:///{location}?check_same_thread=false', echo=False)
+    location = database_config.location
+    engine = create_engine(f"sqlite:///{location}?check_same_thread=false", echo=False)
 
 Session = scoped_session(sessionmaker(bind=engine))
 
 args = arguments.args
 if args.reset:
-    choice = input("\x1b[1;33m[>] Would you like to reset your Empire instance? [y/N]: \x1b[0m")
+    choice = input(
+        "\x1b[1;33m[>] Would you like to reset your Empire instance? [y/N]: \x1b[0m"
+    )
     if choice.lower() == "y":
         # The reset script will delete the default db file. This will drop tables if connected to MySQL or
         # a different SQLite .db file.
@@ -48,32 +52,32 @@ def color(string, color=None):
     """
     attr = []
     # bold
-    attr.append('1')
+    attr.append("1")
 
     if color:
         if color.lower() == "red":
-            attr.append('31')
+            attr.append("31")
         elif color.lower() == "green":
-            attr.append('32')
+            attr.append("32")
         elif color.lower() == "yellow":
-            attr.append('33')
+            attr.append("33")
         elif color.lower() == "blue":
-            attr.append('34')
-        return '\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m' % (';'.join(attr), string)
+            attr.append("34")
+        return "\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m" % (";".join(attr), string)
 
     else:
         if string.strip().startswith("[!]"):
-            attr.append('31')
-            return '\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m' % (';'.join(attr), string)
+            attr.append("31")
+            return "\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m" % (";".join(attr), string)
         elif string.strip().startswith("[+]"):
-            attr.append('32')
-            return '\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m' % (';'.join(attr), string)
+            attr.append("32")
+            return "\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m" % (";".join(attr), string)
         elif string.strip().startswith("[*]"):
-            attr.append('34')
-            return '\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m' % (';'.join(attr), string)
+            attr.append("34")
+            return "\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m" % (";".join(attr), string)
         elif string.strip().startswith("[>]"):
-            attr.append('33')
-            return '\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m' % (';'.join(attr), string)
+            attr.append("33")
+            return "\x1b[%sm%s\x1b[0m" % (";".join(attr), string)
         else:
             return string
 
@@ -81,20 +85,20 @@ def color(string, color=None):
 # When Empire starts up for the first time, it will create the database and create
 # these default records.
 if len(Session().query(models.User).all()) == 0:
-    print(color('[*] Setting up database.'))
-    print(color('[*] Adding default user.'))
+    print(color("[*] Setting up database."))
+    print(color("[*] Adding default user."))
     Session().add(get_default_user())
     Session().commit()
     Session.remove()
 
 if len(Session().query(models.Config).all()) == 0:
-    print(color('[*] Adding database config.'))
+    print(color("[*] Adding database config."))
     Session().add(get_default_config())
     Session().commit()
     Session.remove()
 
 if len(Session().query(models.Function).all()) == 0:
-    print(color('[*] Adding default keyword obfuscation functions.'))
+    print(color("[*] Adding default keyword obfuscation functions."))
     functions = get_default_functions()
 
     for function in functions:
diff --git a/empire/server/database/defaults.py b/empire/server/database/defaults.py
index 4b31b14c2..e68d0b967 100644
--- a/empire/server/database/defaults.py
+++ b/empire/server/database/defaults.py
@@ -8,55 +8,73 @@
 from empire.server.common.config import empire_config
 from empire.server.database import models
 
-database_config = empire_config.yaml.get('database', {}).get('defaults', {})
+database_config = empire_config.database.defaults
 
 
 def get_default_hashed_password():
-    password = database_config.get('password', 'password123')
-    password = bytes(password, 'UTF-8')
+    password = database_config.get("password", "password123")
+    password = bytes(password, "UTF-8")
     return bcrypt.hashpw(password, bcrypt.gensalt())
 
 
 def get_default_user():
-    return models.User(username=database_config.get('username', 'empireadmin'),
-                       password=get_default_hashed_password(),
-                       enabled=True,
-                       admin=True)
+    return models.User(
+        username=database_config.get("username", "empireadmin"),
+        password=get_default_hashed_password(),
+        enabled=True,
+        admin=True,
+    )
 
 
 def get_default_config():
     # Calculate the install path. We know the project directory will always be two levels up of the current directory.
     # Any modifications of the folder structure will need to be applied here.
     install_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)))
-    return models.Config(staging_key=get_staging_key(),
-                         install_path=install_path,
-                         ip_whitelist=database_config.get('ip-whitelist', ''),
-                         ip_blacklist=database_config.get('ip-blacklist', ''),
-                         autorun_command="",
-                         autorun_data="",
-                         rootuser=True,
-                         obfuscate=database_config.get('obfuscate', False),
-                         obfuscate_command=database_config.get('obfuscate-command', r'Token\All\1'))
+    return models.Config(
+        staging_key=get_staging_key(),
+        install_path=install_path,
+        ip_whitelist=database_config.get("ip-whitelist", ""),
+        ip_blacklist=database_config.get("ip-blacklist", ""),
+        autorun_command="",
+        autorun_data="",
+        rootuser=True,
+        obfuscate=database_config.get("obfuscate", False),
+        obfuscate_command=database_config.get("obfuscate-command", r"Token\All\1"),
+    )
 
 
 def get_default_functions():
     return [
-        models.Function(keyword='Invoke_Empire',
-                        replacement=''.join(random.choice(string.ascii_uppercase + string.digits) for _ in range(5))),
-        models.Function(keyword='Invoke_Mimikatz',
-                        replacement=''.join(random.choice(string.ascii_uppercase + string.digits) for _ in range(5)))
+        models.Function(
+            keyword="Invoke_Empire",
+            replacement="".join(
+                random.choice(string.ascii_uppercase + string.digits) for _ in range(5)
+            ),
+        ),
+        models.Function(
+            keyword="Invoke_Mimikatz",
+            replacement="".join(
+                random.choice(string.ascii_uppercase + string.digits) for _ in range(5)
+            ),
+        ),
     ]
 
 
 def get_staging_key():
     # Staging Key is set up via environmental variable or config.yaml. By setting RANDOM a randomly selected password
     # will automatically be selected.
-    staging_key = os.getenv('STAGING_KEY') or database_config.get('staging-key', 'BLANK')
-    punctuation = '!#%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@[]^_{|}~'
+    staging_key = os.getenv("STAGING_KEY") or database_config.get(
+        "staging-key", "BLANK"
+    )
+    punctuation = "!#%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@[]^_{|}~"
     if staging_key == "BLANK":
-        choice = input("\n [>] Enter server negotiation password, enter for random generation: ")
+        choice = input(
+            "\n [>] Enter server negotiation password, enter for random generation: "
+        )
         if choice != "" and choice != "RANDOM":
-            return hashlib.md5(choice.encode('utf-8')).hexdigest()
+            return hashlib.md5(choice.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
 
-    print('\x1b[1;34m[*] Generating random staging key\x1b[0m')
-    return ''.join(random.sample(string.ascii_letters + string.digits + punctuation, 32))
+    print("\x1b[1;34m[*] Generating random staging key\x1b[0m")
+    return "".join(
+        random.sample(string.ascii_letters + string.digits + punctuation, 32)
+    )
diff --git a/empire/server/server.py b/empire/server/server.py
index 4fd1825d6..264171742 100755
--- a/empire/server/server.py
+++ b/empire/server/server.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 cli.show_server_banner = lambda *x: None
 
 # Disable http warnings
-if empire_config.yaml.get("suppress-self-cert-warning", True):
+if empire_config.supress_self_cert_warning:
     urllib3.disable_warnings(urllib3.exceptions.InsecureRequestWarning)
 
 # Set proxy IDs
@@ -3269,7 +3269,7 @@ def autostart_plugins():
         """
         Autorun plugin commands at server startup.
         """
-        plugins = empire_config.yaml.get("plugins")
+        plugins = empire_config.plugins
         if plugins:
             for plugin in plugins:
                 use_plugin = main.loadedPlugins[plugin]
diff --git a/empire/test/conftest.py b/empire/test/conftest.py
index 6ace22bfd..0f3a778d2 100644
--- a/empire/test/conftest.py
+++ b/empire/test/conftest.py
@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
+import os
 import sys
+from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 
+DEFAULT_ARGV = ["", "server", "--config", "empire/test/test_config.yaml"]
+
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
 def setup_args():
-    sys.argv = ["", "server", "--config", "empire/test/test_config.yaml"]
+    os.chdir(Path(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))).parent.parent)
+    sys.argv = DEFAULT_ARGV
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def default_argv():
+    return DEFAULT_ARGV
diff --git a/empire/test/test_config.py b/empire/test/test_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed3ab5e63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/empire/test/test_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import sys
+from importlib import reload
+
+
+def test_load_sqlite():
+    import empire.server.common.config
+
+    reload(empire.server.common.config)
+    from empire.server.common.config import EmpireConfig, empire_config
+
+    config: EmpireConfig = empire_config
+
+    assert config.database.type == "sqlite"
+    assert config.database.location == "empire/server/data/test_empire.db"
+
+
+def test_load_mysql(default_argv):
+    sys.argv = ["", "server", "--config", "empire/test/test_config_mysql.yaml"]
+    import empire.server.common.config
+
+    reload(empire.server.common.config)
+    from empire.server.common.config import EmpireConfig, empire_config
+
+    config: EmpireConfig = empire_config
+
+    assert config.database.type == "mysql"
+    assert config.database.url == "localhost:3306"
+
+    # set back to sqlite for subsequent tests
+    sys.argv = default_argv
+    reload(empire.server.common.config)
diff --git a/empire/test/test_config_mysql.yaml b/empire/test/test_config_mysql.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..51388b42f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/empire/test/test_config_mysql.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+suppress-self-cert-warning: true
+database:
+  type: mysql
+  url: localhost:3306
+  defaults:
+    # staging key will first look at OS environment variables, then here.
+    # If empty, will be prompted (like Empire <3.7).
+    staging-key: RANDOM
+    username: empireadmin
+    password: password123
+    obfuscate: false
+    # Note the escaped backslashes
+    obfuscate-command: "Token\\All\\1"
+    # an IP white list to ONLY accept clients from
+    #   format is "192.168.1.1,192.168.1.10-192.168.1.100,10.0.0.0/8"
+    ip-whitelist: ""
+    # an IP black list to reject accept clients from
+    #   format is "192.168.1.1,192.168.1.10-192.168.1.100,10.0.0.0/8"
+    ip-blacklist: ""
+modules:
+  retain-last-value: false
+directories:
+  downloads: empire/server/downloads/
+  module_source: empire/server/data/module_source/
+  obfuscated_module_source: empire/server/data/obfuscated_module_source/
\ No newline at end of file