diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 82bb0562f..8cd778f12 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ ENV HOME=/home/steam \
     RCON_ENABLED=true \
     RCON_PORT=25575 \
     QUERY_PORT=27015 \
+    REST_API_PORT=8212 \
     TZ=UTC \
     SERVER_DESCRIPTION= \
     BACKUP_ENABLED=true \
diff --git a/scripts/helper_functions.sh b/scripts/helper_functions.sh
index c0a6ce42a..4a2c3c4cd 100644
--- a/scripts/helper_functions.sh
+++ b/scripts/helper_functions.sh
@@ -76,16 +76,31 @@ isExecutable() {
     return "$return_val"
 }
 
+# Convert player list from JSON format
+convert_JSON_to_CSV_players(){
+    echo 'name,playeruid,steamid'
+    echo -n "${1}" | \
+        jq -r '.players[] | [ .name, .playerId, .userId ] | @csv' | \
+        sed -re 's/"None"/"00000000000000000000000000000000"/' \
+        -re 's/"steam_/"/' \
+        -re 's/"//g'
+}
+
 # Lists players
-# Outputs nothing if RCON is not enabled and returns 1
-# Outputs player list if RCON is enabled and returns 0
+# Outputs nothing if REST API or RCON is not enabled and returns 1
+# Outputs player list if REST API or RCON is enabled and returns 0
 get_players_list() {
     local return_val=0
-    if [ "${RCON_ENABLED,,}" != true ]; then
-        return_val=1
-    fi
+    # Prefer REST API
+    if [ "${REST_API_ENABLED,,}" != true ]; then
+        if [ "${RCON_ENABLED,,}" != true ]; then
+            return_val=1
+        fi
 
-    RCON "ShowPlayers"
+        RCON "ShowPlayers"
+        return "$return_val"
+    fi
+    convert_JSON_to_CSV_players "$(REST_API players)"
     return "$return_val"
 }
 
@@ -155,6 +170,19 @@ DiscordMessage() {
   fi
 }
 
+# REST API Call
+REST_API(){
+  local DATA="${2}"
+  local URL="http://localhost:${REST_API_PORT}/v1/api/${1}"
+  local ACCEPT="Accept: application/json"
+  local USERPASS="admin:${ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
+  if [ "${DATA}" = "" ]; then
+    curl -s -L -X GET  "${URL}" -H "${ACCEPT}" -u "${USERPASS}"
+  else
+    curl -s -L -X POST "${URL}" -H "${ACCEPT}" -u "${USERPASS}" --json "${DATA}"
+  fi
+}
+
 # RCON Call
 RCON() {
   local args="$1"
@@ -167,6 +195,13 @@ RCON() {
 # Returns 1 if not able to broadcast
 broadcast_command() {
     local return_val=0
+    if [ "${REST_API_ENABLED,,}" = true ]; then
+        local json="{\"message\":\"${1}\"}"
+        if ! REST_API announce "${json}"; then
+	    return_val=1
+        fi
+        return "$return_val"
+    fi
     # Replaces spaces with underscore
     local message="${1// /_}"
     if [[ $TEXT = *[![:ascii:]]* ]]; then
@@ -283,4 +318,5 @@ get_latest_version() {
     latest_version=$(curl https://api.github.com/repos/thijsvanloef/palworld-server-docker/releases/latest -s | jq .name -r)
 
     echo "$latest_version"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
diff --git a/scripts/player_logging.sh b/scripts/player_logging.sh
index 5ae80b934..a76360873 100644
--- a/scripts/player_logging.sh
+++ b/scripts/player_logging.sh
@@ -9,21 +9,30 @@ get_steamid(){
 
 get_playername(){
     local player_info="${1}"
-    echo "${player_info}" | sed -E 's/,([0-9]+),[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]//g'
+    echo "${player_info}" | sed -E 's/,([0-9A-Z]+),[0-9]+//g'
 }
 
-# Wait until rcon port is open
-while ! nc -z 127.0.0.1 "${RCON_PORT}"; do
+# Prefer REST API
+if [ "${REST_API_ENABLED,,}" = true ]; then
+    _PORT=${REST_API_PORT}
+    _LABEL="REST API"
+else
+    _PORT=${RCON_PORT}
+    _LABEL="RCON"
+fi
+
+# Wait until rcon/rest-api port is open
+while ! nc -z localhost "${_PORT}"; do
     sleep 5
-    LogInfo "Waiting for RCON port to open to show player logging..."
+    LogInfo "Waiting for ${_LABEL}(${_PORT}) port to open to show player logging..."
 done
 
 while true; do
     server_pid=$(pidof PalServer-Linux-Shipping)
     if [ -n "${server_pid}" ]; then
-        # Player IDs are usally 9 or 10 digits however when a player joins for the first time for a given boot their ID is temporary 00000000 (8x zeros) while loading
-        # Player ID is also 00000000 (8x zeros) when in character creation
-        mapfile -t current_player_list < <( get_players_list | tail -n +2 | sed '/,00000000,[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]/d' | sort )
+        # Player IDs are usally 9 or 10 digits however when a player joins for the first time for a given boot their ID is temporary 00000000 (8x zeros or 32x zeros) while loading
+        # Player ID is also 00000000 (8x zeros or 32x zeros) when in character creation
+        mapfile -t current_player_list < <( get_players_list | tail -n +2 | sed -E '/,(0{8}|0{32}),[0-9]+/d' | sort )
 
         # If there are current players then some may have joined
         if [ "${#current_player_list[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
diff --git a/scripts/start.sh b/scripts/start.sh
index 2063f9419..8563f76a4 100644
--- a/scripts/start.sh
+++ b/scripts/start.sh
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ default:
   password: "${ADMIN_PASSWORD}"
 EOL
 
-if [ "${ENABLE_PLAYER_LOGGING,,}" = true ] && [[ "${PLAYER_LOGGING_POLL_PERIOD}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] && [ "${RCON_ENABLED,,}" = true ]; then
+if [ "${ENABLE_PLAYER_LOGGING,,}" = true ] && [[ "${PLAYER_LOGGING_POLL_PERIOD}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] && { [ "${REST_API_ENABLED,,}" = true ] || [ "${RCON_ENABLED,,}" = true ] ;} then
     if [[ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]]; then
         su steam -c /home/steam/server/player_logging.sh &
     else