diff --git a/config/default_config.yml b/config/default_config.yml
index 5bf06eb3..6d2ae126 100644
--- a/config/default_config.yml
+++ b/config/default_config.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,16 @@ web_address: nyaa.pantsu.cat
 auth_token_expiration: 1000
 # EnableSecureCSRF : Enable CSRF https mode : True if website support https, false otherwise (eg. testing locally: false)
 enable_secure_csrf: true
+# the default config for session cookies
+cookies:
+  # DomainName : The host domain so the cookies can be shared across subdomains
+  domain_name: pantsu.cat
+  # MaxAge : The expiration time of sessions cookies in seconds (default: 7 days)
+  max_age: 604800
+  # HashKey : 64 byte key used to authenticate cookies using HMAC. Leave blank for a random key after each restart.
+  hash_key:
+  # EncryptionKey : 32 byte key used to encrypt values. Leave blank for a random key after each restart.
+  encryption_key:
 # the default config for bittorrent scraping
 scraper:
   addr: :9999
diff --git a/config/types.go b/config/types.go
index edee876c..d5ae08ab 100644
--- a/config/types.go
+++ b/config/types.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	DBLogMode string `json:"db_logmode" yaml:"db_logmode,omitempty"`
 	Version   string `json:"version" yaml:"version,omitempty"`
 	Build     string `yaml:"-"`
+	// cookies config
+	Cookies CookiesConfig `yaml:"cookies,flow,omitempty"`
 	// tracker scraper config (required)
 	Scrape ScraperConfig `json:"scraper" yaml:"scraper,flow,omitempty"`
 	// cache config
@@ -41,6 +43,14 @@ type Config struct {
 	Models ModelsConfig `yaml:"models,flow,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// CookiesConfig : Config struct for session cookies
+type CookiesConfig struct {
+	DomainName    string `yaml:"domain_name,omitempty"`
+	MaxAge        int    `yaml:"max_age,omitempty"`
+	HashKey       string `yaml:"hash_key,omitempty"`
+	EncryptionKey string `yaml:"encryption_key,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // CacheConfig is config struct for caching strategy
 type CacheConfig struct {
 	Dialect string  `yaml:"dialect,omitempty"`
diff --git a/service/user/cookie_helper.go b/service/user/cookie_helper.go
index 76f6258c..a37e95a8 100644
--- a/service/user/cookie_helper.go
+++ b/service/user/cookie_helper.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package userService
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
@@ -21,8 +22,6 @@ import (
 const (
 	// CookieName : Name of cookie
 	CookieName = "session"
-	// Domain name : The host domain so these can be shared across sukebei and nyaa
-	DomainName = "pantsu.cat"
 
 	// UserContextKey : key for user context
 	UserContextKey = "nyaapantsu.user"
@@ -30,8 +29,18 @@ const (
 
 // If you want to keep login cookies between restarts you need to make these permanent
 var cookieHandler = securecookie.New(
-	securecookie.GenerateRandomKey(64),
-	securecookie.GenerateRandomKey(32))
+	getOrGenerateKey(config.Conf.Cookies.HashKey, 64),
+	getOrGenerateKey(config.Conf.Cookies.EncryptionKey, 32))
+
+func getOrGenerateKey(key string, requiredLen int) []byte {
+	data := []byte(key)
+	if len(data) == 0 {
+		data = securecookie.GenerateRandomKey(requiredLen)
+	} else if len(data) != requiredLen {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("failed to load cookie key. required key length is %d bytes and the provided key length is %d bytes.", requiredLen, len(data)))
+	}
+	return data
+}
 
 // DecodeCookie : Encoding & Decoding of the cookie value
 func DecodeCookie(cookieValue string) (uint, error) {
@@ -49,8 +58,7 @@ func DecodeCookie(cookieValue string) (uint, error) {
 }
 
 // EncodeCookie : Encoding of the cookie value
-func EncodeCookie(userID uint) (string, error) {
-	validUntil := timeHelper.FewDaysLater(7) // 1 week
+func EncodeCookie(userID uint, validUntil time.Time) (string, error) {
 	value := map[string]string{
 		"u": strconv.FormatUint(uint64(userID), 10),
 		"t": strconv.FormatInt(validUntil.Unix(), 10),
@@ -60,13 +68,9 @@ func EncodeCookie(userID uint) (string, error) {
 
 // ClearCookie : Erase cookie session
 func ClearCookie(w http.ResponseWriter) (int, error) {
-	domain := DomainName
-	if config.Conf.Environment == "DEVELOPMENT" {
-		domain = ""
-	}
 	cookie := &http.Cookie{
 		Name:     CookieName,
-		Domain:   domain,
+		Domain:   getDomainName(),
 		Value:    "",
 		Path:     "/",
 		HttpOnly: true,
@@ -103,21 +107,20 @@ func SetCookieHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, email string, pass
 		return http.StatusUnauthorized, errors.New("Account banned")
 	}
 
-	encoded, err := EncodeCookie(user.ID)
+	maxAge := getMaxAge()
+	validUntil := timeHelper.FewDurationLater(time.Duration(maxAge) * time.Second)
+	encoded, err := EncodeCookie(user.ID, validUntil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return http.StatusInternalServerError, err
 	}
-	domain := DomainName
-	if config.Conf.Environment == "DEVELOPMENT" {
-		domain = ""
-	}
+
 	cookie := &http.Cookie{
 		Name:     CookieName,
-		Domain:   domain,
+		Domain:   getDomainName(),
 		Value:    encoded,
 		Path:     "/",
 		HttpOnly: true,
-		MaxAge:   2592000, // One month
+		MaxAge:   maxAge,
 	}
 	http.SetCookie(w, cookie)
 	// also set response header for convenience
@@ -176,12 +179,25 @@ func CurrentUser(r *http.Request) (model.User, error) {
 	return user, nil
 }
 
+func getDomainName() string {
+	domain := config.Conf.Cookies.DomainName
+	if config.Conf.Environment == "DEVELOPMENT" {
+		domain = ""
+	}
+	return domain
+}
+
+func getMaxAge() int {
+	return config.Conf.Cookies.MaxAge
+}
+
 func getUserFromContext(r *http.Request) model.User {
 	if rv := context.Get(r, UserContextKey); rv != nil {
 		return rv.(model.User)
 	}
 	return model.User{}
 }
+
 func setUserToContext(r *http.Request, val model.User) {
 	context.Set(r, UserContextKey, val)
 }