diff --git a/xwords4/relay/permid.cpp b/xwords4/relay/permid.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..41005e04a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xwords4/relay/permid.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/* -*-mode: C; fill-column: 78; c-basic-offset: 4; -*- */
+
+/* 
+ * Copyright 2005 by Eric House (fixin@peak.org).  All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
+ * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#include "permid.h"
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include "mlock.h"
+
+using namespace std;
+
+pthread_mutex_t PermID::s_guard = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
+
+string
+PermID::GetNextUniqueID()
+{
+    MutexLock ml( &s_guard );
+    
+    char buf[32];               /* should last for a while :-) */
+
+    FILE* f = fopen( "/etc/xwrelay/xwrelay_id.txt", "r+" );
+    if ( f ) {
+        fscanf( f, "%s\n", buf );
+        rewind( f );
+    } else {
+        f = fopen( "/etc/xwrelay/xwrelay_id.txt", "w" );
+        buf[0] = '0';
+        buf[1] = '\0';
+    }
+
+    int n = atoi(buf) + 1;
+    sprintf( buf, "%d", n );
+
+    fprintf( f, "%s\n", buf );
+    fclose( f );
+    
+    string s(buf);
+    logf( "new id will be %s", s.c_str() );
+
+    return s;
+}
diff --git a/xwords4/relay/permid.h b/xwords4/relay/permid.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e78983499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xwords4/relay/permid.h
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/* -*-mode: C; fill-column: 78; c-basic-offset: 4; -*- */
+
+/* 
+ * Copyright 2005 by Eric House (fixin@peak.org).  All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
+ * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+
+#ifndef _PERMID_H
+#define _PERMID_H
+
+#include <string>
+
+/* Able to get a unique ID for every game ever started.  A simple file
+ * somewhere stores an ascii string representing a number.  That's
+ * incremented, saved and returned each time.  In a world with multiple relays
+ * (multiple machines) the ID could include a host identifier to guarantee
+ * uniqueness.
+ */
+class PermID {
+ public:
+  static std::string GetNextUniqueID();
+
+ private:
+  static pthread_mutex_t    s_guard;   /* guard access to the whole process */
+};
+#endif