diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java b/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java
index 7d7adc5a8..302c1d540 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/presents/server/PresentsServer.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: PresentsServer.java,v 1.15 2001/11/08 02:59:30 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: PresentsServer.java,v 1.16 2001/11/08 05:39:51 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.presents.server;
 
@@ -57,9 +57,11 @@ public class PresentsServer
         // create our authentication manager
         authmgr = new AuthManager(new DummyAuthenticator());
         // create our connection manager
-        conmgr = new ConnectionManager(config, authmgr);
-        // create our client manager
-        clmgr = new ClientManager(conmgr);
+        if (createConnectionManager()) {
+            conmgr = new ConnectionManager(config, authmgr);
+            // create our client manager
+            clmgr = new ClientManager(conmgr);
+        }
         // create our distributed object manager
         omgr = new PresentsDObjectMgr();
         // create our invocation manager
@@ -117,6 +119,16 @@ public class PresentsServer
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * In local testing mode, we don't want to create a connection manager
+     * and listen to client connections. So we provide this method that
+     * can be overridden by a testing server.
+     */
+    protected boolean createConnectionManager ()
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Starts up all of the server services and enters the main server
      * event loop.
@@ -126,7 +138,9 @@ public class PresentsServer
         // start up the auth manager
         authmgr.start();
         // start up the connection manager
-        conmgr.start();
+        if (conmgr != null) {
+            conmgr.start();
+        }
         // invoke the dobjmgr event loop
         omgr.run();
     }
@@ -138,7 +152,9 @@ public class PresentsServer
     {
         // shut down our managers
         authmgr.shutdown();
-        conmgr.shutdown();
+        if (conmgr != null) {
+            conmgr.shutdown();
+        }
         omgr.shutdown();
     }