diff --git a/evennia/comms/comms.py b/evennia/comms/comms.py
index f50d3bf4a8..dd6090b374 100644
--- a/evennia/comms/comms.py
+++ b/evennia/comms/comms.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 Base typeclass for in-game Channels.
 
 """
+from django.conf import settings
 
 from evennia.typeclasses.models import TypeclassBase
 from evennia.comms.models import TempMsg, ChannelDB
@@ -246,7 +247,11 @@ class DefaultChannel(with_metaclass(TypeclassBase, ChannelDB)):
 
         """
         # get all players or objects connected to this channel and send to them
-        for entity in self.subscriptions.all():
+        if online:
+            subs = self.subscriptions.online()
+        else:
+            subs = self.subscriptions.all()
+        for entity in subs:
             # if the entity is muted, we don't send them a message
             if entity in self.mutelist:
                 continue
@@ -262,7 +267,7 @@ class DefaultChannel(with_metaclass(TypeclassBase, ChannelDB)):
             logger.log_file(msgobj.message, self.attributes.get("log_file") or "channel_%s.log" % self.key)
 
     def msg(self, msgobj, header=None, senders=None, sender_strings=None,
-            keep_log=None, online=False, emit=False, external=False):
+            keep_log=None, online=settings.CHANNELS_MSG_OFFLINE, emit=False, external=False):
         """
         Send the given message to all players connected to channel. Note that
         no permission-checking is done here; it is assumed to have been
diff --git a/evennia/comms/models.py b/evennia/comms/models.py
index ce5f3d739c..c7b5e8d7b9 100644
--- a/evennia/comms/models.py
+++ b/evennia/comms/models.py
@@ -538,6 +538,24 @@ class SubscriptionHandler(object):
             self._recache()
         return self._cache
 
+    def online(self):
+        """
+        Get all online players from our cache
+        Returns:
+            subscribers (list): Subscribers who are online or
+                are puppeted by an online player.
+        """
+        subs = []
+        for obj in self.all():
+            if hasattr(obj, 'player'):
+                if not obj.player:
+                    continue
+                obj = obj.player
+            if not obj.is_connected:
+                continue
+            subs.append(obj)
+        return subs
+
     def clear(self):
         """
         Remove all subscribers from channel.
diff --git a/evennia/settings_default.py b/evennia/settings_default.py
index c5844205c7..24b68aa8a6 100644
--- a/evennia/settings_default.py
+++ b/evennia/settings_default.py
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ LOCKWARNING_LOG_FILE = os.path.join(LOG_DIR, 'lockwarnings.log')
 # file sizes down. Turn off to get ever growing log files and never
 # loose log info.
 CYCLE_LOGFILES = True
+# whether channels attempt to message offline players by default
+CHANNELS_MSG_OFFLINE = False
 # Local time zone for this installation. All choices can be found here:
 # http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.0/interactive/datetime-keywords.html#DATETIME-TIMEZONE-SET-TABLE
 TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'