diff --git a/Changes.md b/Changes.md
index ad975c176..18b5c3968 100644
--- a/Changes.md
+++ b/Changes.md
@@ -4,9 +4,24 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/).
 
 ### Unreleased
 
+#### BREAKING, ACTION REQUIRED
+
+- connection.ini: new config file, replaces haproxy_hosts, ehlo_hello_message, connection_close_message, banner_includes_uuid, deny_includes_uuid, databytes, max_mime_parts, max_line_length, max_data_line_length, and smtpgreeting. To upgrade, apply any localized settings to the new connection.ini file.
+- moved the following settings from smtp.ini to connection.ini:
+  - headers.*
+  - main.smtp_utf8
+  - main.strict_rfc1869
+- early_talker.pause, removed support, use earlytalker.ini
+
+#### Changes
+
 - deps(eslint): update to v9
 - docs(plugins/\*.md): use \# to indicate heading levels
 - deps(various): bump to latest versions
+- docs(CoreConfig): removed incorrect early_talker.delay reference (hasn't worked in years).
+
+#### Fixes
+
 - fix(outbound): in outbound hook_delivered, when mx.exchange contains
   an IP, use mx.from_dns
 - fix(bin/haraka): fix for finding path to config/docs/Plugins.md
diff --git a/config/connection.ini b/config/connection.ini
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd6907239
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/connection.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+; 
+[main]
+
+; Require senders to conform to RFC 1869 and RFC 821 when sending the MAIL FROM and RCPT TO commands. In particular, the inclusion of spurious spaces or missing angle brackets will be rejected.
+; strict_rfc1869 = false
+
+; Advertise support for SMTPUTF8 (RFC-6531)
+; smtputf8=true
+
+
+[haproxy]
+; Arrays: hosts that Haraka should enable the PROXY protocol from.
+hosts_ipv4[]
+; hosts_ipv4[] = 192.0.2.4/32
+; hosts_ipv4[] = 192.0.2.5/32
+hosts_ipv6[]
+; hosts_ipv6[] = [2001:db8::1/64]
+; hosts_ipv6[] = [2001:db8::2/64]
+
+
+[headers]
+; add_received=true
+; clean_auth_results=true
+
+; show_version=true
+
+max_lines=1000
+
+max_received=100
+
+
+[max]
+; Integer. The maximum SIZE of an email
+bytes=26214400
+
+; Integer. Limit a potential denial of service in potentially hostile emails.
+mime_parts=1000
+
+; Integer. The maximum length of lines in SMTP session commands (e.g. RCPT, HELO etc). Defaults to 512 (bytes) as mandated by RFC 5321 §4.5.3.1.4. Clients exceeding this limit will be immediately disconnected with a "521 Command line too long" error.
+line_length=512
+
+; Integer. The maximum length of lines in the DATA section of emails. Defaults to 992 (bytes), the limit set by Sendmail. When this limit is exceeded the three bytes "\r\n " (0x0d 0x0a 0x20) are inserted into the stream to "fix" it. This has the potential to "break" some email, but makes it more likely to be accepted by upstream/downstream services, and is the same behaviour as Sendmail. Also when the data line length limit is exceeded `transaction.notes.data_line_length_exceeded` is set to `true`.
+data_line_length=992
+
+
+[message]
+; Array. The greeting used when a client connects.
+; greeting[]=My Custom
+; greeting[]=Greeting Message
+
+helo=Haraka is at your service.
+
+; String. Override the default connection close message.
+close=closing connection. Have a jolly good day.
+
+
+[uuid]
+; integer, how many UUID chars to show.
+; 0 = none, 6 is enough to be unique per day, 40 will include the
+;     full connection and transaction UUID
+banner_chars=6
+
+; include N characters of the uuid (in brackets) at the start of each line of the deny message
+deny_chars=6
diff --git a/config/smtp.ini b/config/smtp.ini
index 142bab332..26a4b37c0 100644
--- a/config/smtp.ini
+++ b/config/smtp.ini
@@ -44,21 +44,3 @@
 ;   after this time it will hard close. 30s is usually long enough to
 ;   wait for outbound connections to finish.
 ;force_shutdown_timeout=30
-
-; SMTP service extensions: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1869
-; strict_rfc1869 = false
-
-; Advertise support for SMTPUTF8 (RFC-6531)
-;smtputf8=true
-
-[headers]
-;add_received=true
-;clean_auth_results=true
-
-;show_version=true
-
-; replace max_header_lines
-max_lines=1000
-
-; replace max_received_count
-max_received=100
diff --git a/connection.js b/connection.js
index c185bd741..906df3fda 100644
--- a/connection.js
+++ b/connection.js
@@ -24,33 +24,20 @@ const outbound    = require('./outbound');
 
 const states      = constants.connection.state;
 
-// Load HAProxy hosts into an object for fast lookups
-// as this list is checked on every new connection.
-let haproxy_hosts_ipv4 = [];
-let haproxy_hosts_ipv6 = [];
-function loadHAProxyHosts () {
-    const hosts = config.get('haproxy_hosts', 'list', loadHAProxyHosts);
-    const new_ipv4_hosts = [];
-    const new_ipv6_hosts = [];
-    for (let i=0; i<hosts.length; i++) {
-        const host = hosts[i].split(/\//);
-        if (net.isIPv6(host[0])) {
-            new_ipv6_hosts[i] = [ipaddr.IPv6.parse(host[0]), parseInt(host[1] || 64)];
-        }
-        else {
-            new_ipv4_hosts[i] = [ipaddr.IPv4.parse(host[0]), parseInt(host[1] || 32)];
-        }
-    }
-    haproxy_hosts_ipv4 = new_ipv4_hosts;
-    haproxy_hosts_ipv6 = new_ipv6_hosts;
-}
-loadHAProxyHosts();
+const cfg = config.get('connection.ini', {
+    booleans: [
+        '-main.strict_rfc1869',
+        '+main.smtputf8',
+        '+headers.add_received',
+        '+headers.show_version',
+        '+headers.clean_auth_results',
+    ]
+});
 
 class Connection {
-    constructor (client, server, cfg) {
+    constructor (client, server, smtp_cfg) {
         this.client = client;
         this.server = server;
-        this.cfg = cfg;
 
         this.local = {
             ip: null,
@@ -97,10 +84,6 @@ class Connection {
         this.transaction = null;
         this.tran_count = 0;
         this.capabilities = null;
-        this.ehlo_hello_message = config.get('ehlo_hello_message') || 'Haraka is at your service.';
-        this.connection_close_message = config.get('connection_close_message') || 'closing connection. Have a jolly good day.';
-        this.banner_includes_uuid = !!config.get('banner_includes_uuid');
-        this.deny_includes_uuid = config.get('deny_includes_uuid') || null;
         this.early_talker = false;
         this.pipelining = false;
         this._relaying = false;
@@ -109,8 +92,6 @@ class Connection {
         this.hooks_to_run = [];
         this.start_time = Date.now();
         this.last_reject = '';
-        this.max_bytes = parseInt(config.get('databytes')) || 0;
-        this.max_mime_parts = parseInt(config.get('max_mime_parts')) || 1000;
         this.totalbytes = 0;
         this.rcpt_count = {
             accept:   0,
@@ -122,13 +103,11 @@ class Connection {
             tempfail: 0,
             reject:   0,
         };
-        this.max_line_length = parseInt(config.get('max_line_length')) || 512;
-        this.max_data_line_length = parseInt(config.get('max_data_line_length')) || 992;
         this.results = new ResultStore(this);
         this.errors = 0;
         this.last_rcpt_msg = null;
         this.hook = null;
-        if (this.cfg.headers.show_version) {
+        if (cfg.headers.show_version) {
             this.local.info += `/${utils.getVersion(__dirname)}`;
         }
         Connection.setupClient(this);
@@ -199,7 +178,7 @@ class Connection {
             self.process_data(data);
         });
 
-        const ha_list = net.isIPv6(self.remote.ip) ? haproxy_hosts_ipv6 : haproxy_hosts_ipv4;
+        const ha_list = net.isIPv6(self.remote.ip) ? cfg.haproxy.hosts_ipv6 : cfg.haproxy.hosts_ipv4;
 
         if (ha_list.some((element, index, array) => {
             return ipaddr.parse(self.remote.ip).match(element[0], element[1]);
@@ -401,10 +380,10 @@ class Connection {
 
         let maxlength;
         if (this.state === states.PAUSE_DATA || this.state === states.DATA) {
-            maxlength = this.max_data_line_length;
+            maxlength = cfg.max.data_line_length;
         }
         else {
-            maxlength = this.max_line_length;
+            maxlength = cfg.max.line_length;
         }
 
         let offset;
@@ -535,10 +514,10 @@ class Connection {
 
         if (code >= 400) {
             this.last_reject = `${code} ${messages.join(' ')}`;
-            if (this.deny_includes_uuid) {
+            if (cfg.uuid.deny_chars) {
                 uuid = (this.transaction || this).uuid;
-                if (this.deny_includes_uuid > 1) {
-                    uuid = uuid.substr(0, this.deny_includes_uuid);
+                if (cfg.uuid.deny_chars > 1) {
+                    uuid = uuid.substr(0, cfg.uuid.deny_chars);
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -649,7 +628,7 @@ class Connection {
     }
     init_transaction (cb) {
         this.reset_transaction(() => {
-            this.transaction = trans.createTransaction(this.tran_uuid(), this.cfg);
+            this.transaction = trans.createTransaction(this.tran_uuid(), cfg);
             // Catch any errors from the message_stream
             this.transaction.message_stream.on('error', (err) => {
                 this.logcrit(`message_stream error: ${err.message}`);
@@ -792,19 +771,19 @@ class Connection {
                 });
                 break;
             default: {
-                let greeting = config.get('smtpgreeting', 'list');
-                if (greeting.length) {
+                let greeting = cfg.message.greeting;
+                if (greeting?.length) {
                     // RFC5321 section 4.2
                     // Hostname/domain should appear after the 220
                     greeting[0] = `${this.local.host} ESMTP ${greeting[0]}`;
-                    if (this.banner_includes_uuid) {
-                        greeting[0] += ` (${this.uuid})`;
+                    if (cfg.uuid.banner_chars) {
+                        greeting[0] += ` (${this.uuid.substr(0, cfg.uuid.banner_chars)})`;
                     }
                 }
                 else {
                     greeting = `${this.local.host} ESMTP ${this.local.info} ready`;
-                    if (this.banner_includes_uuid) {
-                        greeting += ` (${this.uuid})`;
+                    if (cfg.uuid.banner_chars) {
+                        greeting += ` (${this.uuid.substr(0, cfg.uuid.banner_chars)})`;
                     }
                 }
                 this.respond(220, msg || greeting);
@@ -850,7 +829,7 @@ class Connection {
             default:
                 // RFC5321 section 4.1.1.1
                 // Hostname/domain should appear after 250
-                this.respond(250, `${this.local.host} Hello ${this.get_remote('host')}, ${this.ehlo_hello_message}`);
+                this.respond(250, `${this.local.host} Hello ${this.get_remote('host')}, ${cfg.message.helo}`);
         }
     }
     ehlo_respond (retval, msg) {
@@ -883,16 +862,14 @@ class Connection {
                 // Hostname/domain should appear after 250
 
                 const response = [
-                    `${this.local.host} Hello ${this.get_remote('host')}, ${this.ehlo_hello_message}`,
+                    `${this.local.host} Hello ${this.get_remote('host')}, ${cfg.message.helo}`,
                     "PIPELINING",
                     "8BITMIME",
                 ];
 
-                if (this.cfg.main.smtputf8) {
-                    response.push("SMTPUTF8");
-                }
+                if (cfg.main.smtputf8) response.push("SMTPUTF8");
 
-                response.push(`SIZE ${this.max_bytes}`);
+                response.push(`SIZE ${cfg.max.bytes}`);
 
                 this.capabilities = response;
 
@@ -905,7 +882,7 @@ class Connection {
         this.respond(250, this.capabilities);
     }
     quit_respond (retval, msg) {
-        this.respond(221, msg || `${this.local.host} ${this.connection_close_message}`, () => {
+        this.respond(221, msg || `${this.local.host} ${cfg.message.close}`, () => {
             this.disconnect();
         });
     }
@@ -1314,7 +1291,7 @@ class Connection {
 
         let results;
         try {
-            results = rfc1869.parse('mail', line, this.cfg.main.strict_rfc1869 && !this.relaying);
+            results = rfc1869.parse('mail', line, (!relaying && cfg.main.strict_rfc1869));
         }
         catch (err) {
             this.errors++;
@@ -1356,7 +1333,7 @@ class Connection {
 
         // Handle SIZE extension
         if (params?.SIZE && params.SIZE > 0) {
-            if (this.max_bytes > 0 && params.SIZE > this.max_bytes) {
+            if (cfg.max.bytes > 0 && params.SIZE > cfg.max.bytes) {
                 return this.respond(550, 'Message too big!');
             }
         }
@@ -1378,7 +1355,7 @@ class Connection {
 
         let results;
         try {
-            results = rfc1869.parse('rcpt', line, this.cfg.main.strict_rfc1869 && !this.relaying);
+            results = rfc1869.parse('rcpt', line, cfg.main.strict_rfc1869 && !this.relaying);
         }
         catch (err) {
             this.errors++;
@@ -1512,7 +1489,7 @@ class Connection {
             return this.respond(503, "RCPT required first");
         }
 
-        if (this.cfg.headers.add_received) {
+        if (cfg.headers.add_received) {
             this.accumulate_data(`Received: ${this.received_line()}\r\n`);
         }
         plugins.run_hooks('data', this);
@@ -1577,11 +1554,11 @@ class Connection {
         }
 
         // Stop accumulating data as we're going to reject at dot.
-        if (this.max_bytes && this.transaction.data_bytes > this.max_bytes) {
+        if (cfg.max.bytes && this.transaction.data_bytes > cfg.max.bytes) {
             return;
         }
 
-        if (this.transaction.mime_part_count >= this.max_mime_parts) {
+        if (this.transaction.mime_part_count >= cfg.max.mime_parts) {
             this.logcrit("Possible DoS attempt - too many MIME parts");
             this.respond(554, "Transaction failed due to too many MIME parts", () => {
                 this.disconnect();
@@ -1596,13 +1573,13 @@ class Connection {
         this.totalbytes += this.transaction.data_bytes;
 
         // Check message size limit
-        if (this.max_bytes && this.transaction.data_bytes > this.max_bytes) {
-            this.lognotice(`Incoming message exceeded databytes size of ${this.max_bytes}`);
+        if (cfg.max.bytes && this.transaction.data_bytes > cfg.max.bytes) {
+            this.lognotice(`Incoming message exceeded max size of ${cfg.max.bytes}`);
             return plugins.run_hooks('max_data_exceeded', this);
         }
 
         // Check max received headers count
-        if (this.transaction.header.get_all('received').length > this.cfg.headers.max_received) {
+        if (this.transaction.header.get_all('received').length > cfg.headers.max_received) {
             this.logerror("Incoming message had too many Received headers");
             this.respond(550, "Too many received headers - possible mail loop", () => {
                 this.reset_transaction();
@@ -1611,11 +1588,11 @@ class Connection {
         }
 
         // Warn if we hit the maximum parsed header lines limit
-        if (this.transaction.header_lines.length >= this.cfg.headers.max_lines) {
-            this.logwarn(`Incoming message reached maximum parsing limit of ${this.cfg.headers.max_lines} header lines`);
+        if (this.transaction.header_lines.length >= cfg.headers.max_lines) {
+            this.logwarn(`Incoming message reached maximum parsing limit of ${cfg.headers.max_lines} header lines`);
         }
 
-        if (this.cfg.headers.clean_auth_results) {
+        if (cfg.headers.clean_auth_results) {
             this.auth_results_clean();   // rename old A-R headers
         }
         const ar_field = this.auth_results();  // assemble new one
diff --git a/docs/CoreConfig.md b/docs/CoreConfig.md
index b09356004..81552ede4 100644
--- a/docs/CoreConfig.md
+++ b/docs/CoreConfig.md
@@ -11,10 +11,6 @@ If either of these files exist then they are loaded first.
 This file is designed to use the JSON/YAML file overrides documented in
 [haraka-config](https://github.com/haraka/haraka-config) to optionally provide the entire configuration in a single file.
 
-* databytes
-
-Contains the maximum SIZE of an email that Haraka will receive.
-
 * plugins
 
 The list of plugins to load
@@ -40,35 +36,29 @@ The list of plugins to load
     specify -1 to disable spooling completely or 0 to force all messages to be spooled to disk.
   * graceful\_shutdown - (default: false) enable this to wait for sockets on shutdown instead of closing them quickly
   * force_shutdown_timeout - (default: 30) number of seconds to wait for a graceful shutdown
-  * smtputf8 - (default: true) advertise support for SMTPUTF8
-  * strict\_rfc1869 - (default: false) Requires senders to conform to RFC 1869 and RFC 821 when sending the MAIL FROM and RCPT TO commands. In particular,
-  the inclusion of spurious spaces or missing angle brackets will be rejected.
 
 * me
 
   A name to use for this server. Used in received lines and elsewhere. Setup
   by default to be your hostname.
 
-* deny\_includes\_uuid
-
-  Each connection and mail in Haraka includes a UUID which is also in most log
-  messages. If you put a `1` in this file then every denied mail (either via
-  DENY/5xx or DENYSOFT/4xx return codes) will include the uuid at the start
-  of each line of the deny message in brackets, making it easy to track
-  problems back to the logs.
-
-  Because UUIDs are long, if you put a number greater than 1 in the config
-  file, it will be truncated to that length. We recommend a 6 as a good
-  balance of finding in the logs and not making lines too long.
-
-* banner\_includes\_uuid
-
-  This will add the full UUID to the first line of the SMTP greeting banner.
+* connection.ini
 
-* early\_talker\_delay
+  See inline comments in connection.ini for the following settings:
 
-  If clients talk early we *punish* them with a delay of this many milliseconds
-  default: 1000.
+  * haproxy.hosts\_ipv4
+  * haproxy.hosts\_ipv6
+  * headers.\*
+  * max.bytes
+  * max.line\_length
+  * max.data\_line\_length
+  * max.mime\_parts
+  * message.greeting
+  * message.close
+  * smtputf8
+  * strict\_rfc1869
+  * uuid.deny\_chars
+  * uuid.banner\_bytes
 
 * plugin\_timeout
 
@@ -81,59 +71,8 @@ The list of plugins to load
   If the plugin is in a sub-directory of plugins, then you must create this file
   in the equivalent path e.g. the queue/smtp_forward would need a timeout file in `config/queue/smtp_forward.timeout`
 
-* smtpgreeting
-
-  The greeting line used when a client connects. This can be multiple lines
-  if required (this may cause some connecting machines to fail - though
-  usually only spam-bots).
-
-* max\_received\_count
-
-  The maximum number of "Received" headers allowed in an email. This is a
-  simple protection against mail loops. Defaults to 100.
-
-* max\_line\_length
-
-  The maximum length of lines in SMTP session commands (e.g. RCPT, HELO etc).
-  Defaults to 512 (bytes) which is mandated by RFC 5321 §4.5.3.1.4. Clients
-  exceeding this limit will be immediately disconnected with a "521 Command
-  line too long" error.
-
-* max\_data\_line\_length
-
-  The maximum length of lines in the DATA section of emails. Defaults to 992
-  (bytes) which is the limit set by Sendmail. When this limit is exceeded the
-  three bytes "\r\n " (0x0d 0x0a 0x20) are inserted into the stream to "fix"
-  it. This has the potential to "break" some email, but makes it more likely
-  to be accepted by upstream/downstream services, and is the same behaviour
-  as Sendmail. Also when the data line length limit is exceeded
-  `transaction.notes.data_line_length_exceeded` is set to `true`.
-
-* outbound.concurrency\_max
-
-  Maximum concurrency to use when delivering mails outbound. Defaults to 100.
-
-* outbound.disabled
-
-  Put a `1` in this file to temporarily disable outbound delivery. Useful 
-  while figuring out network issues or testing.
+* outbound.ini
 
 * outbound.bounce\_message
 
-  The bounce message if delivery of the message fails. The default is normally fine. Bounce messages contain a number of template
-  replacement values which are best discovered by looking at the source code.
-
-* haproxy\_hosts
-
-  A list of HAProxy hosts that Haraka should enable the PROXY protocol from.
-  See [HAProxy.md](HAProxy.md)
-
-* max_mime_parts
-
-  Defaults to 1000. There's a potential denial of service in large numbers of
-  MIME parts in carefully crafted emails. If this limit is too low for some
-  reason you can increase it by setting a value in this file.
-
-* connection\_close\_message
-  
-  Defaults to `closing connection. Have a jolly good day.` can be overrridden with custom text
+  The bounce message if delivery of the message fails. The default is normally fine. Bounce messages contain a number of template replacement values which are best discovered by looking at the source code.
diff --git a/plugins/early_talker.js b/plugins/early_talker.js
index 4ccfd5e36..9f668106f 100644
--- a/plugins/early_talker.js
+++ b/plugins/early_talker.js
@@ -28,11 +28,6 @@ exports.load_config = function () {
         this.pause = this.cfg.main.pause * 1000;
         return;
     }
-
-    // config/early_talker.pause is in milliseconds
-    this.pause = this.config.get('early_talker.pause', () => {
-        this.load_config();
-    });
 }
 
 exports.early_talker = function (next, connection) {
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 9870795fa..9fee3b483 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -32,12 +32,7 @@ Server.load_smtp_ini = () => {
     Server.cfg = Server.config.get('smtp.ini', {
         booleans: [
             '-main.daemonize',
-            '-main.strict_rfc1869',
-            '+main.smtputf8',
             '-main.graceful_shutdown',
-            '+headers.add_received',
-            '+headers.show_version',
-            '+headers.clean_auth_results',
         ],
     }, () => {
         Server.load_smtp_ini();