diff --git a/sponge/pom.xml b/sponge/pom.xml
index 8627a4a..217c217 100644
--- a/sponge/pom.xml
+++ b/sponge/pom.xml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.spongepowered</groupId>
-            <artifactId>spongeapi</artifactId>
+            <artifactId>SpongeAPI</artifactId>
             <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
diff --git a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarConfig.java b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarConfig.java
index 7a6177b..84b4493 100644
--- a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarConfig.java
+++ b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarConfig.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package com.tommytony.war;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import com.tommytony.war.zone.ZoneConfig;
 import org.spongepowered.api.entity.Player;
 
 import java.io.Closeable;
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ import java.util.UUID;
  */
 public class WarConfig implements Closeable {
     private final WarPlugin plugin;
+    private final ZoneConfig zoneDefaults;
     /**
      * Database configuration descriptor.
      */
@@ -39,6 +41,7 @@ public class WarConfig implements Closeable {
             stmt.executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS zones (name TEXT)");
             stmt.executeUpdate("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS zonemakers (uuid TEXT)");
         }
+        zoneDefaults = new ZoneConfig(conn, "zone_settings");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -55,12 +58,21 @@ public class WarConfig implements Closeable {
                 if (result.next()) {
                     return result.getInt(1);
                 } else {
-                    return (int) setting.defaultValue;
+                    return (Integer) setting.defaultValue;
                 }
             }
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get access to zone default settings.
+     *
+     * @return controller of server zone defaults.
+     */
+    public ZoneConfig getZoneDefaults() {
+        return zoneDefaults;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Load all the enabled war zones on the server.
      *
diff --git a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarPlugin.java b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarPlugin.java
index 12c8370..70178ec 100644
--- a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarPlugin.java
+++ b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/WarPlugin.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.spongepowered.api.Game;
 import org.spongepowered.api.event.SpongeEventHandler;
 import org.spongepowered.api.event.state.PreInitializationEvent;
+import org.spongepowered.api.event.state.ServerStartedEvent;
 import org.spongepowered.api.event.state.ServerStartingEvent;
 import org.spongepowered.api.plugin.Plugin;
 
@@ -37,6 +38,11 @@ public class WarPlugin {
         config = new WarConfig(this, new File(dataDir, "war.sl3"));
     }
 
+    @SpongeEventHandler
+    public void onStart(ServerStartedEvent event) {
+        // register commands
+    }
+
     public Game getGame() {
         return game;
     }
@@ -45,6 +51,10 @@ public class WarPlugin {
         return logger;
     }
 
+    public File getDataDir() {
+        return dataDir;
+    }
+
     public WarConfig getConfig() {
         return config;
     }
diff --git a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/Warzone.java b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/Warzone.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9047a52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/Warzone.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package com.tommytony.war.zone;
+
+import com.tommytony.war.WarPlugin;
+
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+/**
+ * Representation of a war zone area, blocks, and settings.
+ * Each zone is to only have one instance of Warzone.class at any given time while the server is running.
+ */
+public class Warzone {
+    private static Pattern zoneName = Pattern.compile("[./%]+");
+    private final WarPlugin plugin;
+    private final String name;
+    private final ZoneStorage db;
+    private final ZoneConfig config;
+
+    /**
+     * Load or create a war zone from the war settings store.
+     *
+     * @param plugin Instance of the plugin War.
+     * @param name   Name of the zone. Used to locate the zone data file.
+     */
+    public Warzone(WarPlugin plugin, String name) {
+        this.plugin = plugin;
+        this.name = name;
+        try {
+            this.db = new ZoneStorage(this, plugin);
+            this.config = new ZoneConfig(db.getConnection(), "settings", plugin.getConfig().getZoneDefaults());
+        } catch (SQLException ex) {
+            plugin.getLogger().error("Failed to load zone database and settings", ex);
+            throw new RuntimeException("Can't create/load database for warzone " + name);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check if the specified name is valid for a zone.
+     * Specifically, characters that could be part of a file path or web URL.
+     * '.', '/', and '%' are invalid.
+     *
+     * @param name Potential zone name to check.
+     * @return true if the name can be used.
+     */
+    public static boolean zoneNameValid(String name) {
+        Matcher m = zoneName.matcher(name);
+        return m.find();
+    }
+
+    public String getName() {
+        return name;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneConfig.java b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneConfig.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4722c48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneConfig.java
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package com.tommytony.war.zone;
+
+import java.sql.*;
+
+/**
+ * The zone configuration settings database.
+ */
+public class ZoneConfig {
+    /**
+     * Database configuration descriptor.
+     */
+    private final Connection conn;
+    /**
+     * Table of values to manage. May be a table in a zone database or the main war database.
+     */
+    private final String table;
+    /**
+     * Root zone config, for fallback. Null if this is the war main settings.
+     */
+    private final ZoneConfig parent;
+
+    /**
+     * Manages a zone configuration section.
+     *
+     * @param database Active database to use.
+     * @param table    Table name to use in database. Created if it does not exist. Needs to be trusted input.
+     * @param parent   Parent zone config, for fallback. Could be zone config for a team or war global for zones.
+     * @throws SQLException
+     */
+    public ZoneConfig(Connection database, String table, ZoneConfig parent) throws SQLException {
+        this.conn = database;
+        this.table = table;
+        this.parent = parent;
+        try (Statement stmt = conn.createStatement()) {
+            stmt.executeUpdate(String.format("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS %s (option TEXT, value BLOB)", table));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Manages a zone configuration section.
+     *
+     * @param database Active database to use.
+     * @param table    Table name to use in database. Created if it does not exist. Needs to be trusted input.
+     * @throws SQLException
+     */
+    public ZoneConfig(Connection database, String table) throws SQLException {
+        this(database, table, null);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the value of an integer setting.
+     *
+     * @param setting The type of setting to look up.
+     * @return the value of the setting or the default if not found.
+     * @throws SQLException
+     */
+    public int getInt(ZoneSetting setting) throws SQLException {
+        try (PreparedStatement stmt = conn.prepareStatement(String.format("SELECT value FROM %s WHERE option = ?", table))) {
+            stmt.setString(1, setting.name());
+            try (ResultSet result = stmt.executeQuery()) {
+                if (result.next()) {
+                    // found an override for this config level
+                    return result.getInt(1);
+                } else if (parent != null) {
+                    // look for it in zone/global configs; will be recursive upwards
+                    return parent.getInt(setting);
+                } else {
+                    // the hard-coded value for fallback
+                    return (Integer) setting.getDefaultValue();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneSetting.java b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneSetting.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c90f16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneSetting.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package com.tommytony.war.zone;
+
+/**
+ * Settings that can be changed on a per-zone basis.
+ * Some can be overridden per-team.
+ */
+public enum ZoneSetting {
+    /**
+     * Maximum players in a zone or team. Zone max is still observed even if team settings allow for more.
+     */
+    MAXPLAYERS(Integer.class, 10, true);
+    private final Class<?> dataType;
+    private final Object defaultValue;
+    private final boolean perTeam;
+
+    private ZoneSetting(Class<?> dataType, Object defaultValue, boolean perTeam) {
+        this.dataType = dataType;
+        this.defaultValue = defaultValue;
+        this.perTeam = perTeam;
+    }
+
+    public Object getDefaultValue() {
+        return defaultValue;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneStorage.java b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneStorage.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6e1836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sponge/src/main/java/com/tommytony/war/zone/ZoneStorage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+package com.tommytony.war.zone;
+
+import com.tommytony.war.WarPlugin;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.sql.*;
+
+/**
+ * Manages the war zone database file, which contains all the data for the war zone.
+ */
+public class ZoneStorage implements AutoCloseable {
+    private static int DATABASE_VERSION = 1;
+    private final Warzone zone;
+    private final WarPlugin plugin;
+    private final Connection connection;
+    private final File dataStore;
+
+    /**
+     * Initiates a database for a new or existing database.
+     *
+     * @param zone   The server war zone object for this database.
+     * @param plugin The war plugin, for storage information and configuration.
+     * @throws SQLException
+     */
+    ZoneStorage(Warzone zone, WarPlugin plugin) throws SQLException {
+        this.zone = zone;
+        this.plugin = plugin;
+        dataStore = new File(plugin.getDataDir(), String.format("%s.warzone", zone.getName()));
+        connection = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:sqlite:" + dataStore.getPath());
+        this.upgradeDatabase();
+    }
+
+    Connection getConnection() {
+        return connection;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check the database stored version information and perform upgrade tasks if necessary.
+     *
+     * @throws SQLException
+     */
+    private void upgradeDatabase() throws SQLException {
+        int version;
+        try (
+                Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
+                ResultSet resultSet = stmt.executeQuery("PRAGMA user_version");
+        ) {
+            version = resultSet.getInt("user_version");
+        }
+        if (version > DATABASE_VERSION) {
+            // version is from a future version
+            throw new IllegalStateException(String.format("Unsupported zone version: %d. War current version: %d",
+                    version, DATABASE_VERSION));
+        } else if (version == 0) {
+            // brand new database file
+        } else if (version < DATABASE_VERSION) {
+            // upgrade
+            switch (version) {
+                // none yet
+                default:
+                    // some odd bug or people messing with their database
+                    throw new IllegalStateException(String.format("Unsupported zone version: %d.", version));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Closes this resource, relinquishing any underlying resources.
+     *
+     * @throws Exception if this resource cannot be closed
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void close() throws Exception {
+        connection.close();
+    }
+}