diff --git a/evennia/commands/default/system.py b/evennia/commands/default/system.py
index 7c9f8d8152..467444e369 100644
--- a/evennia/commands/default/system.py
+++ b/evennia/commands/default/system.py
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ class CmdTime(MuxCommand):
         table.align = 'l'
         table.add_row(["Current server uptime", utils.time_format(gametime.uptime(), 3)])
         table.add_row(["Total server running time", utils.time_format(gametime.runtime(), 2)])
-        table.add_row(["Total in-game time (realtime x %g" % (gametime.TIMEFACTOR), utils.time_format(gametime.gametime(), 2)])
+        table.add_row(["Total in-game time (realtime x %g)" % (gametime.TIMEFACTOR), utils.time_format(gametime.gametime(), 2)])
         table.add_row(["Server time stamp", datetime.datetime.now()])
         self.caller.msg(str(table))
 
diff --git a/evennia/server/server.py b/evennia/server/server.py
index d10aa84bcb..8ac181da76 100644
--- a/evennia/server/server.py
+++ b/evennia/server/server.py
@@ -79,22 +79,31 @@ WEBCLIENT_ENABLED = settings.WEBCLIENT_ENABLED
 _MAINTENANCE_COUNT = 0
 _FLUSH_CACHE = None
 _IDMAPPER_CACHE_MAXSIZE = settings.IDMAPPER_CACHE_MAXSIZE
+_GAMETIME_MODULE = None
+
 def _server_maintenance():
     """
     This maintenance function handles repeated checks and updates that
     the server needs to do. It is called every 5 minutes.
     """
-    global EVENNIA, _MAINTENANCE_COUNT
-    global _FLUSH_CACHE
+    global EVENNIA, _MAINTENANCE_COUNT, _FLUSH_CACHE, _GAMETIME_MODULE
     if not _FLUSH_CACHE:
         from evennia.utils.idmapper.models import conditional_flush as _FLUSH_CACHE
+    if not _GAMETIME_MODULE:
+        from evennia.utils import gametime as _GAMETIME_MODULE
 
     _MAINTENANCE_COUNT += 1
 
-    # update game time
-    EVENNIA.runtime += 60.0
-    ServerConfig.objects.conf("runtime", EVENNIA.runtime)
-    EVENNIA.runtime_last_saved = time.time()
+    now = time.time()
+    if _MAINTENANCE_COUNT == 1:
+        # first call after a reload
+        _GAMETIME_MODULE.SERVER_START_TIME = now
+        _GAMETIME_MODULE.SERVER_RUNTIME = ServerConfig.objects.conf("runtime", default=0.0)
+    else:
+        _GAMETIME_MODULE.SERVER_RUNTIME += 60.0
+    # update game time and save it across reloads
+    _GAMETIME_MODULE.SERVER_RUNTIME_LAST_UPDATED = now
+    ServerConfig.objects.conf("runtime", _GAMETIME_MODULE.SERVER_RUNTIME)
 
     if _MAINTENANCE_COUNT % 300 == 0:
         # check cache size every 5 minutes
@@ -108,7 +117,8 @@ def _server_maintenance():
         # validate channels off-sync with scripts
         print "maintenance: validate channels..."
         evennia.CHANNEL_HANDLER.update()
-
+maintenance_task = LoopingCall(_server_maintenance)
+maintenance_task.start(60, now=True) # call every minute
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------
 # Evennia Main Server object
@@ -139,6 +149,8 @@ class Evennia(object):
         # Database-specific startup optimizations.
         self.sqlite3_prep()
 
+        self.start_time = time.time()
+
         # Run the initial setup if needed
         self.run_initial_setup()
 
@@ -152,10 +164,6 @@ class Evennia(object):
         self.game_running = True
 
         # track the server time
-        self.start_time = time.time()
-        self.runtime = ServerConfig.objects.conf("runtime", default=0.0)
-        self.runtime_last_saved = self.start_time
-
         self.run_init_hooks()
 
     # Server startup methods
@@ -525,6 +533,3 @@ if os.name == 'nt':
     with open(os.path.join(settings.GAME_DIR, 'server.pid'), 'w') as f:
         f.write(str(os.getpid()))
 
-# start the maintenance task
-maintenance_task = LoopingCall(_server_maintenance)
-maintenance_task.start(60) # call every minute
diff --git a/evennia/utils/gametime.py b/evennia/utils/gametime.py
index b4d51c2210..8b4a7db370 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/gametime.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/gametime.py
@@ -31,9 +31,10 @@ WEEK = DAY * settings.TIME_DAY_PER_WEEK
 MONTH = WEEK * settings.TIME_WEEK_PER_MONTH
 YEAR = MONTH * settings.TIME_MONTH_PER_YEAR
 
-# link to the main Server
-_EVENNIA = None
-
+# these are kept updated by the server maintenance loop
+SERVER_START_TIME = 0.0
+SERVER_RUNTIME_LAST_UPDATED = 0.0
+SERVER_RUNTIME = 0.0
 
 def _format(seconds, *divisors) :
     """
@@ -65,20 +66,14 @@ def _format(seconds, *divisors) :
 
 def runtime(format=False):
     "Get the total runtime of the server since first start (minus downtimes)"
-    global _EVENNIA
-    if not _EVENNIA:
-        from evennia.server.server import EVENNIA as _EVENNIA
-    runtime = _EVENNIA.runtime + (time() - _EVENNIA.runtime_last_saved)
+    runtime = SERVER_RUNTIME + (time() - SERVER_RUNTIME_LAST_UPDATED)
     if format:
         return _format(runtime, 31536000, 2628000, 604800, 86400, 3600, 60)
     return runtime
 
 def uptime(format=False):
     "Get the current uptime of the server since last reload"
-    global _EVENNIA
-    if not _EVENNIA:
-        from evennia.server.server import EVENNIA as _EVENNIA
-    uptime = time() - _EVENNIA.start_time
+    uptime = time() - SERVER_START_TIME
     if format:
         return _format(uptime, 31536000, 2628000, 604800, 86400, 3600, 60)
     return uptime