diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 74dde2e..21e1b3b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@ This project consists of an IRC server implementation and a load testing tool de
 ### Running the IRC Server
 To start the IRC server, run the following command:
 ```bash
-./irc_server
+./irc_server --log
 ```
-The server will listen on port 6667 by default.
+The server will listen on port 6667 by default and will log messages to the terminal when the `--log` flag is used.
 
 ### Running the Load Testing Tool
 To execute the load testing tool, run:
@@ -47,5 +47,3 @@ After running the load test, the following metrics will be displayed:
 - Messages per second
 - Total bytes sent and received
 - Send and receive rates in MB/s
-
-
diff --git a/irc_server.c b/irc_server.c
index dc75e97..0964b5d 100644
--- a/irc_server.c
+++ b/irc_server.c
@@ -69,6 +69,22 @@ static Channel *channels = NULL;
 static int listen_fd;
 static int epoll_fd;
 static char *password = NULL;
+static int logging_enabled = 0;
+
+static void logmsg(const char *fmt, ...) {
+    if (!logging_enabled) return;
+    time_t now = time(NULL);
+    struct tm tm;
+    char tbuf[32];
+    gmtime_r(&now, &tm);
+    strftime(tbuf, sizeof(tbuf), "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ", &tm);
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s ", tbuf);
+    va_list ap;
+    va_start(ap, fmt);
+    vfprintf(stderr, fmt, ap);
+    va_end(ap);
+    fprintf(stderr, "\n");
+}
 
 static void fatal(const char *msg) {
     perror(msg);
@@ -151,6 +167,7 @@ static void add_client_to_channel(Client *c, Channel *ch) {
         c->channels = realloc(c->channels, c->channel_capacity * sizeof(Channel*));
     }
     c->channels[c->channel_count++] = ch;
+    logmsg("User '%s' joined channel '%s'", c->nickname[0]?c->nickname:"<unreg>", ch->name);
 }
 
 static void remove_client_from_channel(Client *c, Channel *ch) {
@@ -170,6 +187,7 @@ static void remove_client_from_channel(Client *c, Channel *ch) {
             break;
         }
     }
+    logmsg("User '%s' left channel '%s'", c->nickname[0]?c->nickname:"<unreg>", ch->name);
 }
 
 static Client *find_client_by_nick(const char *nick) {
@@ -238,6 +256,7 @@ static void handle_registration(Client *c) {
 }
 
 static void handle_line(Client *c, char *line) {
+    logmsg("Message received from '%s': %s", c->nickname[0]?c->nickname:"<unreg>", line);
     char *cmd = strtok(line, " ");
     if (!cmd) return;
     if (strcasecmp(cmd, "NICK") == 0) {
@@ -417,6 +436,7 @@ static void remove_client(Client *c) {
         while (prev && prev->next != c) prev = prev->next;
         if (prev) prev->next = c->next;
     }
+    logmsg("User '%s' disconnected", c->nickname[0]?c->nickname:"<unreg>");
     del_epoll(c->fd);
     if (c->fd >= 0) close(c->fd);
     c->fd = -1;
@@ -436,12 +456,26 @@ static void accept_new_client() {
     c->next = clients;
     clients = c;
     add_epoll(fd, EPOLLIN, c);
+    logmsg("User connected from %s (fd=%d)", c->host, fd);
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     int port = 6667;
-    if (argc > 1) port = atoi(argv[1]);
-    if (argc > 2) password = argv[2];
+    int argi = 1;
+    while (argi < argc) {
+        if (strcmp(argv[argi], "--log") == 0) {
+            logging_enabled = 1;
+            argi++;
+        } else if (argi == 1) {
+            port = atoi(argv[argi]);
+            argi++;
+        } else if (argi == 2) {
+            password = argv[argi];
+            argi++;
+        } else {
+            argi++;
+        }
+    }
 
     listen_fd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
     int opt = 1;