diff --git a/.github/release.yml b/.github/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ddb3e480
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+changelog:
+  exclude:
+    authors:
+      - dependabot
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index b348c08f..856aa60f 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ ENV UID=1000 GID=1000 \
   TYPE=VANILLA VERSION=LATEST \
   ENABLE_RCON=true RCON_PORT=25575 RCON_PASSWORD=minecraft \
   ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE=false AUTOPAUSE_TIMEOUT_EST=3600 AUTOPAUSE_TIMEOUT_KN=120 AUTOPAUSE_TIMEOUT_INIT=600 \
-  AUTOPAUSE_PERIOD=10 AUTOPAUSE_KNOCK_INTERFACE=eth0
+  AUTOPAUSE_PERIOD=10 AUTOPAUSE_KNOCK_INTERFACE=eth0 \
+  ENABLE_AUTOSTOP=false AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST=3600 AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT=1800 AUTOSTOP_PERIOD=10
 
 COPY --chmod=755 scripts/start* /
 COPY --chmod=755 bin/ /usr/local/bin/
@@ -84,8 +85,9 @@ COPY --chmod=755 bin/mc-health /health.sh
 COPY --chmod=644 files/server.properties /tmp/server.properties
 COPY --chmod=644 files/log4j2.xml /tmp/log4j2.xml
 COPY --chmod=755 files/autopause /autopause
+COPY --chmod=755 files/autostop /autostop
 
-RUN dos2unix /start* /autopause/*
+RUN dos2unix /start* /autopause/* /autostop/*
 
 ENTRYPOINT [ "/start" ]
 HEALTHCHECK --start-period=1m CMD mc-health
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ad18af7f..c1fe70d6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ By default, the container will download the latest version of the "vanilla" [Min
       * [Downloadable world](#downloadable-world)
       * [Cloning world from a container path](#cloning-world-from-a-container-path)
       * [Overwrite world on start](#overwrite-world-on-start)
+      * [Datapacks](#datapacks)
    * [Server configuration](#server-configuration)
       * [Message of the Day](#message-of-the-day)
       * [Difficulty](#difficulty)
@@ -131,10 +132,11 @@ By default, the container will download the latest version of the "vanilla" [Min
    * [Autopause](#autopause)
       * [Description](#description)
       * [Enabling Autopause](#enabling-autopause)
+   * [Autostop](#autostop)
    * [Running on RaspberryPi](#running-on-raspberrypi)
    * [Contributing](#contributing)
 
-<!-- Added by: runner, at: Tue Dec 14 02:14:33 UTC 2021 -->
+<!-- Added by: runner, at: Wed Dec 22 13:01:43 UTC 2021 -->
 
 <!--te-->
 
@@ -792,6 +794,16 @@ The following diagram shows how this option can be used in a compose deployment
 ### Overwrite world on start
 The world will only be downloaded or copied if it doesn't exist already. Set `FORCE_WORLD_COPY=TRUE` to force overwrite the world on every server start.
 
+### Datapacks
+Datapacks can be installed in a similar manner to mods/plugins. There are many environment variables which function in the same way they do for [mods](#working-with-mods-and-plugins): 
+* `DATAPACKS`
+* `DATAPACKS_FILE` 
+* `REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS` 
+* `REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_DEPTH` 
+* `REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_INCLUDE`
+* `REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_EXCLUDE`
+Datapacks will be placed in `/data/$LEVEL/datapacks`
+
 ## Server configuration
 
 By default, the server configuration will be created and set based on the following environment variables, but only the first time the server is started. If the `server.properties` file already exists, the values in them will not be changed.
@@ -1459,6 +1471,28 @@ The following environment variables define the behaviour of auto-pausing:
 * `AUTOPAUSE_KNOCK_INTERFACE`, default `eth0`
   <br>Describes the interface passed to the `knockd` daemon. If the default interface does not work, run the `ifconfig` command inside the container and derive the interface receiving the incoming connection from its output. The passed interface must exist inside the container. Using the loopback interface (`lo`) does likely not yield the desired results.
 
+## Autostop
+
+An option to stop the server after a specified time has been added for niche applications (e.g. billing saving on AWS Fargate). The function is incompatible with the Autopause functionality, as they basically cancel out each other.
+
+Note that the docker container variables have to be set accordingly (restart policy set to "no") and that the container has to be manually restarted.
+
+A starting, example compose file has been provided in [examples/docker-compose-autostop.yml](examples/docker-compose-autostop.yml).
+
+Enable the Autostop functionality by setting:
+
+```
+-e ENABLE_AUTOSTOP=TRUE
+```
+
+The following environment variables define the behaviour of auto-stopping:
+* `AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST`, default `3600` (seconds)
+  describes the time between the last client disconnect and the stopping of the server (read as timeout established)
+* `AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT`, default `1800` (seconds)
+  describes the time between server start and the stopping of the server, when no client connects inbetween (read as timeout initialized)
+* `AUTOSTOP_PERIOD`, default `10` (seconds)
+  describes period of the daemonized state machine, that handles the stopping of the server
+
 ## Running on RaspberryPi
 
 To run this image on a RaspberryPi 3 B+, 4, or newer, use any of the image tags [list in the Java version section](#running-minecraft-server-on-different-java-version) that specify `armv7` for the architecture, which includes `itzg/minecraft-server:latest`.
diff --git a/bin/mc-send-to-console b/bin/mc-send-to-console
index a83f0e81..7615c241 100755
--- a/bin/mc-send-to-console
+++ b/bin/mc-send-to-console
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@ if [ ! -p "${CONSOLE_IN_NAMED_PIPE}" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "$@" > "${CONSOLE_IN_NAMED_PIPE:-/tmp/minecraft-console-in}"
\ No newline at end of file
+gosu minecraft bash -c "echo $* > '${CONSOLE_IN_NAMED_PIPE:-/tmp/minecraft-console-in}'"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/docker-compose-autostop.yml b/examples/docker-compose-autostop.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5d45421a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/docker-compose-autostop.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+version: '3.8'
+
+services:
+  minecraft:
+    image: itzg/minecraft-server
+    ports:
+      - "25565:25565"
+    volumes:
+      - "mc:/data"
+    environment:
+      EULA: "TRUE"
+      ENABLE_AUTOSTOP: "TRUE"
+      # More aggressive settings for demo purposes
+      AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT: "30"
+      AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST: "20"
+    # Important not to auto-restart the server!!!
+    restart: "no"
+
+volumes:
+  mc: {}
diff --git a/files/autostop/autostop-daemon.sh b/files/autostop/autostop-daemon.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..0d6aa2ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/files/autostop/autostop-daemon.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# needed for the clients connected function residing in autopause
+. /autopause/autopause-fcns.sh
+
+. ${SCRIPTS:-/}start-utils
+
+# wait for java process to be started
+while :
+do
+  if java_process_exists ; then
+    break
+  fi
+  sleep 0.1
+done
+
+STATE=INIT
+
+while :
+do
+  case X$STATE in
+  XINIT)
+    # Server startup
+    if mc_server_listening ; then
+      TIME_THRESH=$(($(current_uptime)+$AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT))
+      logAutostop "MC Server listening for connections - stopping in $AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT seconds"
+      STATE=II
+    fi
+    ;;
+  XII)
+    # Initial idle
+    if java_clients_connected ; then
+      logAutostop "Client connected - waiting for disconnect"
+      STATE=E
+    else
+      if [[ $(current_uptime) -ge $TIME_THRESH ]] ; then
+        logAutostop "No client connected since startup - stopping server"
+        /autostop/stop.sh
+        exit 0
+      fi
+    fi
+    ;;
+  XE)
+    # Established
+    if ! java_clients_connected ; then
+      TIME_THRESH=$(($(current_uptime)+$AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST))
+      logAutostop "All clients disconnected - stopping in $AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST seconds"
+      STATE=I
+    fi
+    ;;
+  XI)
+    # Idle
+    if java_clients_connected ; then
+      logAutostop "Client reconnected - waiting for disconnect"
+      STATE=E
+    else
+      if [[ $(current_uptime) -ge $TIME_THRESH ]] ; then
+        logAutostop "No client reconnected - stopping"
+        /autostop/stop.sh
+        exit 0
+      fi
+    fi
+    ;;
+  *)
+    logAutostop "Error: invalid state: $STATE"
+    ;;
+  esac
+  sleep $AUTOSTOP_PERIOD
+done
diff --git a/files/autostop/stop.sh b/files/autostop/stop.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..1a9ed2f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/files/autostop/stop.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+. /start-utils
+
+logAutostopAction "Stopping Java process"
+kill -SIGTERM 1
diff --git a/scripts/start b/scripts/start
index 9e252956..95c2736e 100755
--- a/scripts/start
+++ b/scripts/start
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ if ! isTrue "${SKIP_SUDO:-false}" && [ $(id -u) = 0 ]; then
     echo 'hosts: files dns' > /etc/nsswitch.conf
   fi
 
-  exec gosu ${runAsUser}:${runAsGroup} ${SCRIPTS:-/}start-configuration $@
+  exec gosu ${runAsUser}:${runAsGroup} ${SCRIPTS:-/}start-configuration "$@"
 else
-  exec ${SCRIPTS:-/}start-configuration $@
+  exec ${SCRIPTS:-/}start-configuration "$@"
 fi
diff --git a/scripts/start-autostop b/scripts/start-autostop
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..b71bf395
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/start-autostop
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# shellcheck source=start-utils
+. "${SCRIPTS:-/}start-utils"
+
+: "${SERVER_PORT:=25565}"
+export SERVER_PORT
+
+log "Autostop functionality enabled"
+
+isDebugging && set -x
+
+if ! [[ $AUTOSTOP_PERIOD =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+  AUTOSTOP_PERIOD=10
+  export AUTOSTOP_PERIOD
+  log "Warning: AUTOSTOP_PERIOD is not numeric, set to 10 (seconds)"
+fi
+if [ "$AUTOSTOP_PERIOD" -eq "0" ] ; then
+  AUTOSTOP_PERIOD=10
+  export AUTOSTOP_PERIOD
+  log "Warning: AUTOSTOP_PERIOD must not be 0, set to 10 (seconds)"
+fi
+if ! [[ $AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] ; then
+  AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST=3600
+  export AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST
+  log "Warning: AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_EST is not numeric, set to 3600 (seconds)"
+fi
+if ! [[ $AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] ; then
+  AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT=1800
+  export AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT
+  log "Warning: AUTOSTOP_TIMEOUT_INIT is not numeric, set to 1800 (seconds)"
+fi
+
+/autostop/autostop-daemon.sh &
diff --git a/scripts/start-configuration b/scripts/start-configuration
index 450bea0f..67aba9e4 100755
--- a/scripts/start-configuration
+++ b/scripts/start-configuration
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ if isTrue "${ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE}" && isTrue "${EXEC_DIRECTLY:-false}"; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+if isTrue "${ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE}" && isTrue "${ENABLE_AUTOSTOP}"; then
+    log "ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE=true is incompatible with ENABLE_AUTOSTOP=true"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 if [[ $PROXY ]]; then
     export http_proxy="$PROXY"
     export https_proxy="$PROXY"
@@ -96,6 +101,10 @@ if isTrue "${ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE}"; then
   ${SCRIPTS:-/}start-autopause
 fi
 
+if isTrue "${ENABLE_AUTOSTOP}"; then
+  ${SCRIPTS:-/}start-autostop
+fi
+
 if versionLessThan 1.7; then
   echo "
 MC_HEALTH_EXTRA_ARGS=(
diff --git a/scripts/start-setupDatapack b/scripts/start-setupDatapack
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..b8134191
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/start-setupDatapack
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e -o pipefail
+
+: "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS:=false}"
+: "${DATAPACKS_FILE:=}"
+: "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_DEPTH:=1} "
+: "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_INCLUDE:=*.zip}"
+
+# shellcheck source=start-utils
+. "${SCRIPTS:-/}start-utils"
+isDebugging && set -x
+
+out_dir=/data/${LEVEL:-world}/datapacks
+
+# Remove old datapacks
+if isTrue "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS}" && [ -z "${DATAPACKS_FILE}" ]; then
+    if [ -d "$out_dir" ]; then
+    find "$out_dir" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth ${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_DEPTH:-16} -wholename "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_INCLUDE:-*}" -not -wholename "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_EXCLUDE:-}" -delete
+  fi
+fi
+
+if [[ "$DATAPACKS" ]]; then
+  mkdir -p "$out_dir"
+
+  for i in ${DATAPACKS//,/ }
+  do
+    if isURL "$i"; then
+      log "Downloading datapack $i ..."
+      if ! get -o "${out_dir}" "$i"; then
+        log "ERROR: failed to download from $i into $out_dir"
+        exit 2
+      fi
+    elif [[ -f "$i" && "$i" =~ .*\.zip ]]; then
+      log "Copying datapack located at $i ..."
+      out_file=$(basename "$i")
+      if ! cp "$i" "${out_dir}/$out_file"; then
+        log "ERROR: failed to copy from $i into $out_dir"
+        exit 2
+      fi
+    elif [[ -d "$i" ]]; then
+      log "Copying datapacks from $i ..."
+      cp "$i"/*.zip "${out_dir}"
+    else
+      log "ERROR Invalid URL or path given in DATAPACKS: $i"
+      exit 2
+    fi
+  done
+
+elif [[ "$DATAPACKS_FILE" ]]; then
+  if [ ! -f "$DATAPACKS_FILE" ]; then
+    log "ERROR: given DATAPACKS_FILE file does not exist"
+    exit 2
+  fi
+
+  mkdir -p "$out_dir"
+
+  args=(
+    -o "${out_dir}"
+    --log-progress-each
+    --skip-existing
+    --uris-file "${DATAPACKS_FILE}"
+  )
+  if isTrue "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS}"; then
+    args+=(
+    --prune-others "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_INCLUDE}"
+    --prune-depth "${REMOVE_OLD_DATAPACKS_DEPTH}"
+    )
+  fi
+
+  if ! get "${args[@]}" ; then
+    log "ERROR: failed to retrieve one or more datapacks"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+exec "${SCRIPTS:-/}start-setupModpack" "$@"
diff --git a/scripts/start-setupWorld b/scripts/start-setupWorld
index d2803f7c..3484b46d 100755
--- a/scripts/start-setupWorld
+++ b/scripts/start-setupWorld
@@ -69,4 +69,4 @@ if [[ "$WORLD" ]] && ( isTrue "${FORCE_WORLD_COPY}" || [ ! -d "$worldDest" ] );
   fi
 fi
 
-exec "${SCRIPTS:-/}start-setupModpack" "$@"
+exec "${SCRIPTS:-/}start-setupDatapack" "$@"
diff --git a/scripts/start-spiget b/scripts/start-spiget
index 451312ab..4dfa7575 100755
--- a/scripts/start-spiget
+++ b/scripts/start-spiget
@@ -22,6 +22,20 @@ containsJars() {
   return 1
 }
 
+containsPlugin() {
+  file=${1?}
+
+  pat='plugin.yml$'
+
+  while read -r line; do
+    if [[ $line =~ $pat ]]; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+  done <<<$(unzip -l "$file")
+
+  return 1
+}
+
 getResourceFromSpiget() {
   resource=${1?}
 
@@ -81,9 +95,12 @@ downloadResourceFromSpiget() {
     log "Extracting contents of resource ${resource} into plugins"
     unzip -o -q -d /data/plugins "${tmpfile}"
     rm "${tmpfile}"
-  else
+  elif containsPlugin "${tmpfile}"; then
     log "Moving resource ${resource} into plugins"
     mv "${tmpfile}" "/data/plugins/${resource}.jar"
+  else
+    log "ERROR downloaded resource '${resource}' seems to be not a valid plugin"
+    exit 2
   fi
 
 }
diff --git a/scripts/start-utils b/scripts/start-utils
index 1a2ed977..8c77cbca 100755
--- a/scripts/start-utils
+++ b/scripts/start-utils
@@ -93,6 +93,14 @@ function logAutopauseAction() {
   echo "[$(date -Iseconds)] [Autopause] $*"
 }
 
+function logAutostop() {
+  echo "[Autostop loop] $*"
+}
+
+function logAutostopAction() {
+  echo "[$(date -Iseconds)] [Autostop] $*"
+}
+
 function normalizeMemSize() {
   local scale=1
   case ${1,,} in