diff --git a/BirthdayBot/BackgroundWorker.vb b/BirthdayBot/BackgroundWorker.vb
index 212001c..56bd0cd 100644
--- a/BirthdayBot/BackgroundWorker.vb
+++ b/BirthdayBot/BackgroundWorker.vb
@@ -98,12 +98,14 @@ Class BackgroundWorker
         Dim role As SocketRole = Nothing
         Dim channel As SocketTextChannel = Nothing
         Dim announce As (String, String)
+        Dim announceping As Boolean
         SyncLock _bot.KnownGuilds
             If Not _bot.KnownGuilds.ContainsKey(guild.Id) Then Return 0
             Dim gs = _bot.KnownGuilds(guild.Id)
             tz = gs.TimeZone
             users = gs.Users
             announce = gs.AnnounceMessages
+            announceping = gs.AnnouncePing
 
             If gs.AnnounceChannelId.HasValue Then channel = guild.GetTextChannel(gs.AnnounceChannelId.Value)
             If gs.RoleId.HasValue Then role = guild.GetRole(gs.RoleId.Value)
@@ -135,7 +137,7 @@ Class BackgroundWorker
         End Try
         If announceNames.Count <> 0 Then
             ' Send out announcement message
-            Await BirthdayAnnounceAsync(announce, channel, announceNames)
+            Await BirthdayAnnounceAsync(announce, announceping, channel, announceNames)
         End If
 
         Return announceNames.Count
@@ -203,8 +205,9 @@ Class BackgroundWorker
         Return newBirthdays
     End Function
 
-    Private Function BirthdayAnnounceFormatName(member As SocketGuildUser) As String
-        ' TODO add option for using pings instead, add handling for it here
+    Private Function BirthdayAnnounceFormatName(member As SocketGuildUser, ping As Boolean) As String
+        If ping Then Return member.Mention
+
         Dim escapeFormattingCharacters = Function(input As String) As String
                                              Dim result As New StringBuilder
                                              For Each c As Char In input
@@ -231,6 +234,7 @@ Class BackgroundWorker
     ''' who have just had their birthday role added.
     ''' </summary>
     Private Async Function BirthdayAnnounceAsync(announce As (String, String),
+                                                 announcePing As Boolean,
                                                  c As SocketTextChannel,
                                                  names As IEnumerable(Of SocketGuildUser)) As Task
         If c Is Nothing Then Return
@@ -247,7 +251,7 @@ Class BackgroundWorker
         ' Build sorted name list
         Dim namestrings As New List(Of String)
         For Each item In names
-            namestrings.Add(BirthdayAnnounceFormatName(item))
+            namestrings.Add(BirthdayAnnounceFormatName(item, announcePing))
         Next
         namestrings.Sort(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
 
diff --git a/BirthdayBot/Data/GuildSettings.vb b/BirthdayBot/Data/GuildSettings.vb
index 95b641e..7dccbef 100644
--- a/BirthdayBot/Data/GuildSettings.vb
+++ b/BirthdayBot/Data/GuildSettings.vb
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
     Private _moderated As Boolean
     Private _announceMsg As String
     Private _announceMsgPl As String
+    Private _announcePing As Boolean
     Private _userCache As Dictionary(Of ULong, GuildUserSettings)
 
     Private _roleWarning As Boolean
@@ -114,6 +115,16 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
         End Get
     End Property
 
+    ''' <summary>
+    ''' Gets whether to ping users in the announcement message instead of displaying their names.
+    ''' </summary>
+    ''' <returns></returns>
+    Public ReadOnly Property AnnouncePing As Boolean
+        Get
+            Return _announcePing
+        End Get
+    End Property
+
     ' Called by LoadSettingsAsync. Double-check ordinals when changes are made.
     Private Sub New(reader As DbDataReader, dbconfig As Database)
         _db = dbconfig
@@ -131,6 +142,7 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
         If Not reader.IsDBNull(5) Then _modRole = CULng(reader.GetInt64(5))
         _announceMsg = If(reader.IsDBNull(6), Nothing, reader.GetString(6))
         _announceMsgPl = If(reader.IsDBNull(7), Nothing, reader.GetString(7))
+        _announcePing = reader.GetBoolean(8)
 
         ' Get user information loaded up.
         Dim userresult = GuildUserSettings.GetGuildUsersAsync(dbconfig, GuildId)
@@ -276,6 +288,11 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
         Await UpdateDatabaseAsync()
     End Function
 
+    Public Async Function UpdateAnnouncePingAsync(value As Boolean) As Task
+        _announcePing = value
+        Await UpdateDatabaseAsync()
+    End Function
+
 #Region "Database"
     Public Const BackingTable = "settings"
     Public Const BackingTableBans = "banned_users"
@@ -290,7 +307,8 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
                 "moderated boolean not null default FALSE, " +
                 "moderator_role bigint null, " +
                 "announce_message text null, " +
-                "announce_message_pl text null" +
+                "announce_message_pl text null, " +
+                "announce_ping boolean not null default FALSE" +
                 ")"
             c.ExecuteNonQuery()
         End Using
@@ -312,7 +330,7 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
         Using db = Await dbsettings.OpenConnectionAsync()
             Using c = db.CreateCommand()
                 ' Take note of ordinals for use in the constructor
-                c.CommandText = "select guild_id, role_id, channel_announce_id, time_zone, moderated, moderator_role, announce_message, announce_message_pl " +
+                c.CommandText = "select guild_id, role_id, channel_announce_id, time_zone, moderated, moderator_role, announce_message, announce_message_pl, announce_ping " +
                     $"from {BackingTable} where guild_id = @Gid"
                 c.Parameters.Add("@Gid", NpgsqlDbType.Bigint).Value = guild
                 c.Prepare()
@@ -349,7 +367,8 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
                     "moderated = @Moderated, " +
                     "moderator_role = @ModRole, " +
                     "announce_message = @AnnounceMsg, " +
-                    "announce_message_pl = @AnnounceMsgPl " +
+                    "announce_message_pl = @AnnounceMsgPl, " +
+                    "announce_ping = @AnnouncePing " +
                     "where guild_id = @Gid"
                 c.Parameters.Add("@Gid", NpgsqlDbType.Bigint).Value = GuildId
                 With c.Parameters.Add("@RoleId", NpgsqlDbType.Bigint)
@@ -395,6 +414,7 @@ Friend Class GuildSettings
                         .Value = DBNull.Value
                     End If
                 End With
+                c.Parameters.Add("@AnnouncePing", NpgsqlDbType.Boolean).Value = _announcePing
                 c.Prepare()
                 Await c.ExecuteNonQueryAsync()
             End Using
diff --git a/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/HelpInfoCommands.vb b/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/HelpInfoCommands.vb
index 91e8161..299bac5 100644
--- a/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/HelpInfoCommands.vb
+++ b/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/HelpInfoCommands.vb
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ Friend Class HelpInfoCommands
                 " » Sets the announcement channel. Leave blank to disable." + vbLf +
                 $"{mpfx}message (message)`, `{CommandPrefix}config messagepl (message)`" + vbLf +
                 $" » Sets a custom announcement message. See `{CommandPrefix}help-message`." + vbLf +
+                $"{mpfx}ping (off|on)`" + vbLf +
+                $" » Sets whether to ping the respective users in the announcement message." + vbLf +
                 $"{mpfx}zone (time zone name)`" + vbLf +
                 $" » Sets the default server time zone. See `{CommandPrefix}help-tzdata`."
         }
diff --git a/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/ManagerCommands.vb b/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/ManagerCommands.vb
index 980e3e6..9b886c1 100644
--- a/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/ManagerCommands.vb
+++ b/BirthdayBot/UserInterface/ManagerCommands.vb
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ Friend Class ManagerCommands
             {"modrole", AddressOf ScmdModRole},
             {"message", AddressOf ScmdAnnounceMsg},
             {"messagepl", AddressOf ScmdAnnounceMsg},
+            {"ping", AddressOf ScmdPing},
             {"zone", AddressOf ScmdZone},
             {"block", AddressOf ScmdBlock},
             {"unblock", AddressOf ScmdBlock},
@@ -87,6 +88,33 @@ Friend Class ManagerCommands
         End If
     End Function
 
+    Private Async Function ScmdPing(param As String(), reqChannel As SocketTextChannel) As Task
+        Const inputErr = ":x: You must specify either `off` or `on` in this setting."
+        If param.Length <> 2 Then
+            Await reqChannel.SendMessageAsync(inputErr)
+            Return
+        End If
+
+        Dim input = param(1).ToLower()
+        Dim setting As Boolean
+        Dim result As String
+        If input = "off" Then
+            setting = False
+            result = ":white_check_mark: Announcement pings are now **off**."
+        ElseIf input = "on" Then
+            setting = True
+            result = ":white_check_mark: Announcement pings are now **on**."
+        Else
+            Await reqChannel.SendMessageAsync(inputErr)
+            Return
+        End If
+
+        SyncLock Instance.KnownGuilds
+            Instance.KnownGuilds(reqChannel.Guild.Id).UpdateAnnouncePingAsync(setting).Wait()
+        End SyncLock
+        Await reqChannel.SendMessageAsync(result)
+    End Function
+
     ' Announcement channel set
     Private Async Function ScmdChannel(param As String(), reqChannel As SocketTextChannel) As Task
         If param.Length = 1 Then