diff --git a/include/ircd/conf.h b/include/ircd/conf.h
index d26e9d9e1..cb0dfc731 100644
--- a/include/ircd/conf.h
+++ b/include/ircd/conf.h
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ namespace ircd::conf
 	using set_cb = std::function<void ()>;
 
 	extern std::map<string_view, item<> *> items;
+	extern std::function<void (item<> &)> _init_cb;
 
 	bool exists(const string_view &key);
 	string_view get(const string_view &key, const mutable_buffer &out);
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ struct ircd::conf::item<void>
   protected:
 	virtual string_view on_get(const mutable_buffer &) const;
 	virtual bool on_set(const string_view &);
+	void call_init();
 
   public:
 	string_view get(const mutable_buffer &) const;
@@ -127,7 +129,9 @@ struct ircd::conf::lex_castable
 	(
 		feature.get("default", long(0))
 	)
-	{}
+	{
+		call_init();
+	}
 };
 
 template<>
diff --git a/ircd/conf.cc b/ircd/conf.cc
index 8a2c7bbe5..1769fd8b0 100644
--- a/ircd/conf.cc
+++ b/ircd/conf.cc
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ decltype(ircd::conf::items)
 ircd::conf::items
 {};
 
+decltype(ircd::conf::_init_cb)
+ircd::conf::_init_cb
+{};
+
 size_t
 ircd::conf::reset()
 {
@@ -199,6 +203,23 @@ const
 	return on_get(buf);
 }
 
+void
+ircd::conf::item<void>::call_init()
+try
+{
+	if(_init_cb)
+		_init_cb(*this);
+}
+catch(const std::exception &e)
+{
+	log::error
+	{
+		"conf item[%s] init callback :%s",
+		name,
+		e.what()
+	};
+}
+
 bool
 ircd::conf::item<void>::on_set(const string_view &)
 {
@@ -231,6 +252,7 @@ ircd::conf::item<std::string>::item(const json::members &members,
 	unquote(feature.get("default"))
 }
 {
+	call_init();
 }
 
 bool
@@ -262,6 +284,7 @@ ircd::conf::item<bool>::item(const json::members &members,
 	feature.get<bool>("default", false)
 }
 {
+	call_init();
 }
 
 bool