diff --git a/bitbotd b/bitbotd
index 4c1ef68d..10561b96 100755
--- a/bitbotd
+++ b/bitbotd
@@ -13,19 +13,23 @@ from src import LockFile, Logging, ModuleManager, Timers, utils
 faulthandler.enable()
 
 directory = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
+home = os.path.expanduser("~")
+default_data = os.path.join(home, ".bitbot")
 
 arg_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
     description="Python3 event-driven modular IRC bot")
 
 arg_parser.add_argument("--version", "-v", action="store_true")
 
-arg_parser.add_argument("--config", "-c",
-    help="Location of the JSON config file",
-    default=os.path.join(directory, "bot.conf"))
+arg_parser.add_argument("--config", "-c", help="Location of config file",
+    default=os.path.join(default_data, "bot.conf"))
+
+arg_parser.add_argument("--data-dir", "-x",
+    help="Location of data files (database, lock, socket)",
+    default=default_data)
 
 arg_parser.add_argument("--database", "-d",
-    help="Location of the sqlite3 database file",
-    default=os.path.join(directory, "databases", "bot.db"))
+    help="Location of the sqlite3 database file")
 
 arg_parser.add_argument("--log-dir", "-l",
     help="Location of the log directory",
@@ -56,6 +60,20 @@ if args.version:
     print("BitBot %s" % IRCBot.VERSION)
     sys.exit(0)
 
+database_location = None
+lock_location = None
+sock_locaiton = None
+if not args.database == None:
+    database_location = args.database
+    lock_location = "%s.lock" % args.database
+    sock_location = "%s.sock" % args.database
+else:
+    if not os.path.isdir(args.data_dir):
+        os.mkdir(args.data_dir)
+    database_location = os.path.join(args.data_dir, "bot.db")
+    lock_location = os.path.join(args.data_dir, "bot.lock")
+    sock_location = os.path.join(args.data_dir, "bot.sock")
+
 log_level = args.log_level
 if not log_level:
     log_level = "debug" if args.verbose else "warn"
@@ -65,7 +83,7 @@ log = Logging.Log(not args.no_logging, log_level, args.log_dir)
 log.info("Starting BitBot %s (Python v%s)",
     [IRCBot.VERSION, platform.python_version()])
 
-lock_file = LockFile.LockFile(args.database)
+lock_file = LockFile.LockFile(lock_location)
 if not lock_file.available():
     log.critical("Database is locked. Is BitBot already running?")
     sys.exit(1)
@@ -73,7 +91,7 @@ if not lock_file.available():
 atexit.register(lock_file.unlock)
 lock_file.lock()
 
-database = Database.Database(log, args.database)
+database = Database.Database(log, database_location)
 
 if args.remove_server:
     alias = args.remove_server
@@ -111,7 +129,7 @@ bot.add_poll_hook(cache)
 bot.add_poll_hook(lock_file)
 bot.add_poll_hook(timers)
 
-control = Control.Control(bot, args.database)
+control = Control.Control(bot, sock_location)
 control.bind()
 bot.add_poll_source(control)
 
@@ -121,7 +139,6 @@ if args.module:
     module.module.command_line(args.module_args)
     sys.exit(0)
 
-
 server_configs = bot.database.servers.get_all()
 
 if len(server_configs):
diff --git a/src/Control.py b/src/Control.py
index b57c9048..57f48ea4 100644
--- a/src/Control.py
+++ b/src/Control.py
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@ class ControlClient(object):
 
 
 class Control(PollSource.PollSource):
-    def __init__(self, bot: IRCBot.Bot, database_location: str):
+    def __init__(self, bot: IRCBot.Bot, filename: str):
         self._bot = bot
         self._bot.log.hook(self._on_log)
 
-        self._socket_location = "%s.sock" % database_location
+        self._filename = filename
         self._socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
         self._clients = {}
 
@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@ class Control(PollSource.PollSource):
                 self._send_action(client, "log", line)
 
     def bind(self):
-        if os.path.exists(self._socket_location):
-            os.remove(self._socket_location)
-        self._socket.bind(self._socket_location)
+        if os.path.exists(self._filename):
+            os.remove(self._filename)
+        self._socket.bind(self._filename)
         self._socket.listen(1)
 
     def get_readables(self) -> typing.List[int]:
diff --git a/src/LockFile.py b/src/LockFile.py
index 3436eddf..4bb07726 100644
--- a/src/LockFile.py
+++ b/src/LockFile.py
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@ from src import PollHook, utils
 EXPIRATION = 60 # 1 minute
 
 class LockFile(PollHook.PollHook):
-    def __init__(self, database_location: str):
-        self._lock_location = "%s.lock" % database_location
+    def __init__(self, filename: str):
+        self._filename = filename
         self._next_lock = None
 
     def available(self):
         now = utils.datetime_utcnow()
-        if os.path.exists(self._lock_location):
-            with open(self._lock_location, "r") as lock_file:
+        if os.path.exists(self._filename):
+            with open(self._filename, "r") as lock_file:
                 timestamp_str = lock_file.read().strip().split(" ", 1)[0]
 
             timestamp = utils.iso8601_parse(timestamp_str)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class LockFile(PollHook.PollHook):
         return True
 
     def lock(self):
-        with open(self._lock_location, "w") as lock_file:
+        with open(self._filename, "w") as lock_file:
             last_lock = utils.datetime_utcnow()
             lock_file.write("%s" % utils.iso8601_format(last_lock))
             self._next_lock = last_lock+datetime.timedelta(
@@ -34,5 +34,5 @@ class LockFile(PollHook.PollHook):
         self.lock()
 
     def unlock(self):
-        if os.path.isfile(self._lock_location):
-            os.remove(self._lock_location)
+        if os.path.isfile(self._filename):
+            os.remove(self._filename)