diff --git a/relay/cref.cpp b/relay/cref.cpp
index 98b80169d..6fe5b1e01 100644
--- a/relay/cref.cpp
+++ b/relay/cref.cpp
@@ -780,8 +780,8 @@ CookieRef::noteHeartbeat( const CRefEvent* evt )
         assert( iter->second.m_socket == socket );
 
         logf( XW_LOGVERBOSE1, "upping m_lastHeartbeat from %d to %d",
-              iter->second.m_lastHeartbeat, now() );
-        iter->second.m_lastHeartbeat = now();
+              iter->second.m_lastHeartbeat, uptime() );
+        iter->second.m_lastHeartbeat = uptime();
     }
 } /* noteHeartbeat */
 
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ CookieRef::_PrintCookieInfo( string& out )
     /* open since when */
 
     snprintf( buf, sizeof(buf), "Hosts connected=%d; cur time = %ld\n", 
-              m_sockets.size(), now() );
+              m_sockets.size(), uptime() );
     out += buf;
     map<HostID,HostRec>::iterator iter = m_sockets.begin();
     while ( iter != m_sockets.end() ) {
diff --git a/relay/cref.h b/relay/cref.h
index 1828df29f..a466ec4ac 100644
--- a/relay/cref.h
+++ b/relay/cref.h
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class HostRec {
         : m_socket(socket)
         , m_nPlayersH(nPlayersH) 
         , m_nPlayersT(nPlayersT) 
-        , m_lastHeartbeat(now()) 
+        , m_lastHeartbeat(uptime()) 
         {}
     ~HostRec() {}
     int m_socket;
diff --git a/relay/crefmgr.cpp b/relay/crefmgr.cpp
index 72f18bca2..1daebcd45 100644
--- a/relay/crefmgr.cpp
+++ b/relay/crefmgr.cpp
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ CRefMgr::UnlockCref( CookieRef* cref )
 CRefMgr::heartbeatProc( void* closure )
 {
     CRefMgr* self = (CRefMgr*)closure;
-    self->checkHeartbeats( now() );
+    self->checkHeartbeats( uptime() );
 } /* heartbeatProc */
 #endif
 
diff --git a/relay/ctrl.cpp b/relay/ctrl.cpp
index 0de23be46..31f598b2e 100644
--- a/relay/ctrl.cpp
+++ b/relay/ctrl.cpp
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ cmd_rev( int socket, const char** args )
 void
 format_uptime( char* buf, int len )
 {
-    time_t seconds = now();
+    time_t seconds = uptime();
 
     int days = seconds / (24*60*60);
     seconds %= (24*60*60);
diff --git a/relay/permid.cpp b/relay/permid.cpp
index 5bf9647d2..77da4a96a 100644
--- a/relay/permid.cpp
+++ b/relay/permid.cpp
@@ -29,38 +29,18 @@ using namespace std;
 
 pthread_mutex_t PermID::s_guard = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 string          PermID::s_serverName;
-string          PermID::s_idFileName;
+int             PermID::s_nextId = 0;
+string          PermID::s_startTime;
 
 string
 PermID::GetNextUniqueID()
 {
-    const char* fileName = s_idFileName.c_str();
     MutexLock ml( &s_guard );
 
-    string s = s_serverName;
-    assert( s.length() > 0 );
-    s += ":";
-    
-    char buf[32];               /* should last for a while :-) */
-
-    FILE* f = fopen( fileName, "r+" );
-    if ( f ) {
-        fscanf( f, "%s\n", buf );
-        rewind( f );
-    } else {
-        f = fopen( fileName, "w" );
-        assert ( f != NULL );
-        buf[0] = '0';
-        buf[1] = '\0';
-    }
-
-    int n = atoi(buf) + 1;
-    sprintf( buf, "%d", n );
-
-    fprintf( f, "%s\n", buf );
-    fclose( f );
-    
-    s += buf;
+    char buf[64];
+    snprintf( buf, sizeof(buf), "%s:%s:%d", s_serverName.c_str(), 
+              s_startTime.c_str(), ++s_nextId );
+    string s(buf);
 
     return s;
 }
@@ -72,7 +52,10 @@ PermID::SetServerName( const char* name )
 }
 
 /* static */ void
-PermID::SetIDFileName( const char* name )
+PermID::SetStartTime( time_t startTime )
 {
-    s_idFileName = name;
+    char buf[16];
+    snprintf( buf, sizeof(buf), "%ld", startTime );
+    s_startTime = buf;
+    logf( XW_LOGINFO, "assigned startTime: %s", s_startTime.c_str() );
 }
diff --git a/relay/permid.h b/relay/permid.h
index 0136c4ad0..43f73a572 100644
--- a/relay/permid.h
+++ b/relay/permid.h
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 class PermID {
  public:
     static void SetServerName( const char* name );
-    static void SetIDFileName( const char* name );
+    static void SetStartTime( time_t startTime );
     static std::string GetNextUniqueID();
 
  private:
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ class PermID {
                                                  this, which is supposed to be
                                                  unique to this relay
                                                  instance. */
-    static std::string        s_idFileName;   /* The incremented part of the
-                                                 name is stored where? */
-};
+    static int                s_nextId;       /* numeric part of ID */
+    static std::string        s_startTime;    /* allows multiple servers per 
+                                                 host to have uniquie names */
+}; 
 #endif
diff --git a/relay/timermgr.cpp b/relay/timermgr.cpp
index 69e55f88d..1e7de2c15 100644
--- a/relay/timermgr.cpp
+++ b/relay/timermgr.cpp
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ void
 TimerMgr::SetTimer( time_t inMillis, TimerProc proc, void* closure,
                     int interval )
 {
-    logf( XW_LOGINFO, "setTimer: now = %d", now() );
+    logf( XW_LOGINFO, "setTimer: uptime = %ld", uptime() );
     TimerInfo ti;
     ti.proc = proc;
     ti.closure = closure;
-    ti.when = now() + inMillis;
+    ti.when = uptime() + inMillis;
     ti.interval = interval;
 
     MutexLock ml( &m_timersMutex );
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ TimerMgr::GetPollTimeout()
     if ( tout == 0 ) {
         tout = -1;
     } else {
-        tout -= now();
+        tout -= uptime();
         if ( tout < 0 ) {
             tout = 0;
         }
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ TimerMgr::figureNextFire()
 {
     /* Don't call this unless have the lock!!! */
     time_t t = 0x7FFFFFFF;
-    time_t cur = now();
+    time_t cur = uptime();
 
     list<TimerInfo>::iterator iter = m_timers.begin();
 
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ TimerMgr::FireElapsedTimers()
 {
     pthread_mutex_lock( &m_timersMutex );
 
-    time_t curTime = now();
+    time_t curTime = uptime();
 
     vector<TimerProc> procs;
     vector<void*> closures;
diff --git a/relay/xwrelay.conf b/relay/xwrelay.conf
index c6b5d94ea..4690a8fad 100644
--- a/relay/xwrelay.conf
+++ b/relay/xwrelay.conf
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ HEARTBEAT=60
 ALLCONN=300
 
 # How many worker threads in the thread pool?  Default is five.
-NTHREADS=5
+NTHREADS=1
 
 # What port do we listen on for incomming connections?
 PORTS=10997,10998,10999
@@ -32,10 +32,6 @@ WWW_REFRESH_SECS=30
 # create game ids guaranteed to be unique
 SERVERNAME=eehouse.org
 
-# Where will the file live that stores the last ID used for a new
-# connName.
-IDFILE=./xwrelay_id.txt
-
 # Initial level of logging.  See xwrelay_priv.h for values.  Currently
 # 0 means errors only, 1 info, 2 verbose and 3 very verbose.
 LOGLEVEL=2
diff --git a/relay/xwrelay.cpp b/relay/xwrelay.cpp
index ed4c7bcad..189d9ca64 100644
--- a/relay/xwrelay.cpp
+++ b/relay/xwrelay.cpp
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ killSocket( int socket, const char* why )
 }
 
 time_t
-now( void ) 
+uptime( void ) 
 {
     static time_t startTime = time(NULL);
     return time(NULL) - startTime;
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ main( int argc, char** argv )
     bool doDaemon = true;
     bool doFork = true;
 
-    (void)now();                      /* force capture of start time */
+    (void)uptime();                /* force capture of start time */
 
     /* Verify sizes here... */
     assert( sizeof(CookieID) == 2 );
@@ -651,15 +651,8 @@ main( int argc, char** argv )
         }
     }
 
-    char idFileNameBuf[128];
-    if ( idFileName == NULL ) {
-        if ( cfg->GetValueFor( "IDFILE", idFileNameBuf, sizeof(idFileName) ) ) {
-            idFileName = idFileNameBuf;
-        }
-    }
-
     PermID::SetServerName( serverName );
-    PermID::SetIDFileName( idFileName );
+    PermID::SetStartTime( time(NULL) );
 
     /* add signal handling here */
 
diff --git a/relay/xwrelay_priv.h b/relay/xwrelay_priv.h
index 4d4f30990..7dbbf7ba8 100644
--- a/relay/xwrelay_priv.h
+++ b/relay/xwrelay_priv.h
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ void killSocket( int socket, const char* why );
 
 bool send_with_length_unsafe( int socket, unsigned char* buf, int bufLen );
 
-time_t now(void);
+time_t uptime(void);
 
 int make_socket( unsigned long addr, unsigned short port );