diff --git a/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/StorageFactory.java b/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/StorageFactory.java
index f766b77cb..9dc794ca0 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/StorageFactory.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/StorageFactory.java
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 
 package me.blackvein.quests.storage;
 
-import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
 import me.blackvein.quests.Quests;
 import me.blackvein.quests.storage.implementation.StorageImplementation;
 import me.blackvein.quests.storage.implementation.custom.CustomStorageProviders;
@@ -23,8 +22,8 @@ import me.blackvein.quests.storage.misc.StorageCredentials;
 import org.bukkit.configuration.file.FileConfiguration;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
 
 public class StorageFactory {
     private final Quests plugin;
@@ -33,11 +32,6 @@ public class StorageFactory {
         this.plugin = plugin;
     }
 
-    public Set<StorageType> getRequiredTypes() {
-        return ImmutableSet.of(StorageType.parse(plugin.getConfig().getString("storage-method.player-data", "yaml"), 
-                StorageType.YAML));
-    }
-
     public Storage getInstance() {
         final Storage storage;
         final StorageType type = StorageType.parse(plugin.getConfig().getString("storage-method.player-data", "yaml"), 
@@ -71,14 +65,20 @@ public class StorageFactory {
                 fc.getInt("storage-data.pool-size", 10));
         final int minIdle = fc.getInt("storage-data.pool-settings.min-idle", maxPoolSize);
         final int maxLifetime = fc.getInt("storage-data.pool-settings.max-lifetime", 1800000);
+        final int keepAliveTime = fc.getInt("storage-data.pool-settings.keepalive-time", 0);
         final int connectionTimeout = fc.getInt("storage-data.pool-settings.connection-timeout", 5000);
+        final boolean useUnicode = fc.getBoolean("storage-data.pool-settings.properties.useUnicode", true);
+        final String characterEncoding = fc.getString("storage-data.pool-settings.properties.characterEncoding", "utf8");
+        Map<String, String> props = new HashMap<>();
+        props.put("useUnicode", String.valueOf(useUnicode));
+        props.put("characterEncoding", characterEncoding);
 
         return new StorageCredentials(
                 fc.getString("storage-data.address", null),
                 fc.getString("storage-data.database", null),
                 fc.getString("storage-data.username", null),
                 fc.getString("storage-data.password", null),
-                maxPoolSize, minIdle, maxLifetime, connectionTimeout, Collections.singletonMap("true", "utf8")
+                maxPoolSize, minIdle, maxLifetime, keepAliveTime, connectionTimeout, props
         );
     }
 }
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/implementation/sql/connection/hikari/HikariConnectionFactory.java b/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/implementation/sql/connection/hikari/HikariConnectionFactory.java
index 74be1f8fc..90d8bbbff 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/implementation/sql/connection/hikari/HikariConnectionFactory.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/implementation/sql/connection/hikari/HikariConnectionFactory.java
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ public abstract class HikariConnectionFactory implements ConnectionFactory {
         config.setMaximumPoolSize(this.configuration.getMaxPoolSize());
         config.setMinimumIdle(this.configuration.getMinIdleConnections());
         config.setMaxLifetime(this.configuration.getMaxLifetime());
+        //config.setKeepaliveTime(this.configuration.getKeepAliveTime());
         config.setConnectionTimeout(this.configuration.getConnectionTimeout());
 
         hikari = new HikariDataSource(config);
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/misc/StorageCredentials.java b/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/misc/StorageCredentials.java
index 01e5ed942..a3a85fd5c 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/misc/StorageCredentials.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/me/blackvein/quests/storage/misc/StorageCredentials.java
@@ -24,12 +24,13 @@ public class StorageCredentials {
     private final int maxPoolSize;
     private final int minIdleConnections;
     private final int maxLifetime;
+    private final int keepAliveTime;
     private final int connectionTimeout;
     private final Map<String, String> properties;
 
     public StorageCredentials(final String address, final String database, final String username, final String password,
-            final int maxPoolSize, final int minIdleConnections, final int maxLifetime, final int connectionTimeout,
-            final Map<String, String> properties) {
+            final int maxPoolSize, final int minIdleConnections, final int maxLifetime, final int keepAliveTime,
+            final int connectionTimeout, final Map<String, String> properties) {
         this.address = address;
         this.database = database;
         this.username = username;
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ public class StorageCredentials {
         this.maxPoolSize = maxPoolSize;
         this.minIdleConnections = minIdleConnections;
         this.maxLifetime = maxLifetime;
+        this.keepAliveTime = keepAliveTime;
         this.connectionTimeout = connectionTimeout;
         this.properties = properties;
     }
@@ -69,6 +71,10 @@ public class StorageCredentials {
         return maxLifetime;
     }
 
+    public int getKeepAliveTime() {
+        return keepAliveTime;
+    }
+
     public int getConnectionTimeout() {
         return connectionTimeout;
     }
diff --git a/api/src/main/resources/config.yml b/api/src/main/resources/config.yml
index 92ec737d1..a3762b8df 100644
--- a/api/src/main/resources/config.yml
+++ b/api/src/main/resources/config.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ storage-data:
     max-pool-size: 10
     min-idle: 10
     max-lifetime: 1800000
+    keepalive-time: 0
     connection-timeout: 5000
+    properties:
+      useUnicode: true
+      characterEncoding: utf8
 storage-method:
   player-data: yaml
 trial-save: false