diff --git a/Scripts/character/createCharacterTables.sql b/Scripts/character/createCharacterTables.sql
index c775430e..f8527697 100644
--- a/Scripts/character/createCharacterTables.sql
+++ b/Scripts/character/createCharacterTables.sql
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 
 --characters
 --positions
-CREATE TABLE charaWorldPositions (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, charID INTEGER, posX INTEGER, posY INTEGER);
-CREATE INDEX charaWorldPositionsIDIndex ON charaWorldPositions (charID);
+CREATE TABLE charaWorldPositions (playerId INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, id INTEGER, posX INTEGER, posY INTEGER);
+CREATE INDEX charaWorldPositionsIDIndex ON charaWorldPositions (id);
 CREATE INDEX charaWorldPositionsPosIndex ON charaWorldPositions (posX, posY);
 
 --data
-CREATE TABLE charaData (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, charID INTEGER, dataVal VARCHAR);
-CREATE INDEX charaDataIDIndex ON charaData (charID);
+CREATE TABLE charaData (playerId INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, id INTEGER, dataVal VARCHAR);
+CREATE INDEX charaDataIDIndex ON charaData (id);
diff --git a/src/main/java/electrosphere/engine/LoadingThread.java b/src/main/java/electrosphere/engine/LoadingThread.java
index 897e7f77..a9e6a50a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/electrosphere/engine/LoadingThread.java
+++ b/src/main/java/electrosphere/engine/LoadingThread.java
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ import electrosphere.renderer.ui.Window;
 import electrosphere.util.FileUtils;
 import electrosphere.util.Utilities;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Random;
@@ -185,10 +188,12 @@ public class LoadingThread extends Thread {
                 initServerArenaWorldData();
                 //init data cell manager
                 initDataCellManager();
+                //for testing purposes
+                FileUtils.recursivelyDelete("/home/satellite/temp/saves/arena");
                 //init database connection
-                // SaveUtils.initSave("arena");
+                SaveUtils.initSave("arena");
                 //connect to database
-                // Globals.dbController.connect("./saves/arena/central.db");
+                SaveUtils.loadSave("arena");
                 //init authentication
                 initAuthenticationManager();
                 //initialize the server thread (server only)
diff --git a/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseController.java b/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseController.java
index 1e240704..cce3afd2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseController.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ public class DatabaseController {
             conn = DriverManager.getConnection(fullAddress, connectionProps);
         } catch (SQLException ex) {
             LoggerInterface.loggerFileIO.ERROR("Failure to connect to db", ex);
+            ex.printStackTrace();
         }
     }
     
@@ -80,6 +81,9 @@ public class DatabaseController {
     
     public boolean isConnected(){
         boolean rVal = false;
+        if(conn == null){
+            return false;
+        }
         try {
             rVal = conn.isValid(100);
         } catch (SQLException ex) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseUtils.java b/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseUtils.java
index e5b051e2..8fd74256 100644
--- a/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/db/DatabaseUtils.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package electrosphere.game.server.db;
 
 import electrosphere.logger.LoggerInterface;
+import electrosphere.main.Globals;
 import electrosphere.util.FileUtils;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
@@ -19,19 +20,23 @@ public class DatabaseUtils {
             return false;
         }
         String dbFilePath = sanitizedPath + "/central.db";
-        DatabaseController controller = new DatabaseController();
-        controller.connect(dbFilePath);
-        runScript(controller,"createTables.sql");
+        if(Globals.dbController == null){
+            Globals.dbController = new DatabaseController();
+        }
+        if(!Globals.dbController.isConnected()){
+            Globals.dbController.connect(dbFilePath);
+        }
+        runScript(Globals.dbController,"createTables.sql");
         //both of these are used for arena mode as well as main game
-        runScript(controller,"/auth/createAuthTables.sql");
-        runScript(controller,"/character/createCharacterTables.sql");
+        runScript(Globals.dbController,"/auth/createAuthTables.sql");
+        runScript(Globals.dbController,"/character/createCharacterTables.sql");
         //create adventure-only files
         if(!dbFilePath.equals("./saves/arena/central.db")){
             //we only want to create these if we're not in arena mode
-            runScript(controller,"/towns/createTownsTables.sql");
-            runScript(controller,"/structs/createStructsTables.sql");
+            runScript(Globals.dbController,"/towns/createTownsTables.sql");
+            runScript(Globals.dbController,"/structs/createStructsTables.sql");
         }
-        controller.disconnect();
+        Globals.dbController.disconnect();
         return true;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/saves/SaveUtils.java b/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/saves/SaveUtils.java
index 29661e47..56bef734 100644
--- a/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/saves/SaveUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/electrosphere/game/server/saves/SaveUtils.java
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import java.util.List;
 public class SaveUtils {
     
     static String deriveSaveDirectoryPath(String saveName){
-        return "./saves/" + saveName;
+        String path = "/home/satellite/temp/saves/" + saveName;
+        return path;
     }
     
     /**
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ public class SaveUtils {
         if(FileUtils.checkFileExists(dirPath)){
             return false;
         }
-        //create dir
+        // create dir
         if(!FileUtils.createDirectory(dirPath)){
             //we for some unknown reason, couldn't make the save dir
             return false;
@@ -61,8 +62,10 @@ public class SaveUtils {
         String dirPath = deriveSaveDirectoryPath(saveName);
         String dbFilePath = FileUtils.sanitizeFilePath(dirPath) + "/central.db";
         Globals.dbController.connect(dbFilePath);
-        Globals.serverTerrainManager.load(saveName);
-        Globals.serverWorldData = FileUtils.loadObjectFromSavePath(saveName, "world.json", ServerWorldData.class);
+        if(!saveName.equals("arena")){
+            Globals.serverTerrainManager.load(saveName);
+            Globals.serverWorldData = FileUtils.loadObjectFromSavePath(saveName, "world.json", ServerWorldData.class);
+        }
         return true;
     }
     
diff --git a/src/main/java/electrosphere/util/FileUtils.java b/src/main/java/electrosphere/util/FileUtils.java
index 643ffd85..2c641024 100644
--- a/src/main/java/electrosphere/util/FileUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/electrosphere/util/FileUtils.java
@@ -242,6 +242,21 @@ public class FileUtils {
         }
         return rVal;
     }
+
+    public static void recursivelyDelete(String path){
+        File file = new File(path);
+        if(file.isDirectory()){
+            for(File child : file.listFiles()){
+                recursivelyDelete(child.getAbsolutePath());
+            }
+        }
+        try {
+            Files.delete(file.toPath());
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+    }