diff --git a/backend/src/index.ts b/backend/src/index.ts
index dee095cd..ad2b882e 100644
--- a/backend/src/index.ts
+++ b/backend/src/index.ts
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ connect().then(async () => {
       async getEnabledPlugins(this: Knub, guildId, guildConfig): Promise<string[]> {
         const configuredPlugins = guildConfig.plugins || {};
         const pluginNames: string[] = Array.from(this.guildPlugins.keys());
-        const plugins: ZeppelinPlugin[] = Array.from(this.guildPlugins.values());
+        const plugins = Array.from(this.guildPlugins.values()) as ZeppelinPlugin[];
 
         return pluginNames.filter(pluginName => {
           return configuredPlugins[pluginName] && configuredPlugins[pluginName].enabled !== false;
diff --git a/backend/src/pluginUtils.ts b/backend/src/pluginUtils.ts
index 02cf4f42..23b1ca61 100644
--- a/backend/src/pluginUtils.ts
+++ b/backend/src/pluginUtils.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import { Member } from "eris";
 import { CommandContext, configUtils, helpers, PluginBlueprint, PluginData, PluginOptions } from "knub";
 import { decodeAndValidateStrict, StrictValidationError, validate } from "./validatorUtils";
-import { deepKeyIntersect, errorMessage, successMessage, tNullable } from "./utils";
+import { deepKeyIntersect, errorMessage, successMessage, tDeepPartial, tNullable } from "./utils";
 import { ZeppelinPluginBlueprint } from "./plugins/ZeppelinPluginBlueprint";
 import { TZeppelinKnub } from "./types";
 import { ExtendedMatchParams } from "knub/dist/config/PluginConfigManager"; // TODO: Export from Knub index
@@ -57,15 +57,38 @@ export function getPluginConfigPreprocessor(
   customPreprocessor?: PluginBlueprint<any>["configPreprocessor"],
 ) {
   return async (options: PluginOptions<any>) => {
+    // 1. Validate the basic structure of plugin config
     const basicOptionsValidation = validate(BasicPluginStructureType, options);
     if (basicOptionsValidation instanceof StrictValidationError) {
       throw basicOptionsValidation;
     }
 
+    // 2. Validate config/overrides against *partial* config schema. This ensures valid properties have valid types.
+    const partialConfigSchema = tDeepPartial(blueprint.configSchema);
+    // if (blueprint.name === "automod") console.log(partialConfigSchema);
+
+    if (options.config) {
+      const partialConfigValidation = validate(partialConfigSchema, options.config);
+      if (partialConfigValidation instanceof StrictValidationError) {
+        throw partialConfigValidation;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (options.overrides) {
+      for (const override of options.overrides) {
+        const partialOverrideConfigValidation = validate(partialConfigSchema, override.config || {});
+        if (partialOverrideConfigValidation) {
+          throw partialOverrideConfigValidation;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    // 3. Run custom preprocessor, if any
     if (customPreprocessor) {
       options = await customPreprocessor(options);
     }
 
+    // 4. Merge with default options and validate/decode the entire config
     let decodedConfig = {};
     const decodedOverrides = [];
 
@@ -79,7 +102,7 @@ export function getPluginConfigPreprocessor(
     }
 
     if (options.overrides) {
-      for (const override of options.overrides || []) {
+      for (const override of options.overrides) {
         const overrideConfigMergedWithBaseConfig = configUtils.mergeConfig(options.config, override.config || {});
         const decodedOverrideConfig = blueprint.configSchema
           ? decodeAndValidateStrict(blueprint.configSchema, overrideConfigMergedWithBaseConfig)
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/ChannelArchiver/ChannelArchiverPlugin.ts b/backend/src/plugins/ChannelArchiver/ChannelArchiverPlugin.ts
index 599977db..e7012134 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/ChannelArchiver/ChannelArchiverPlugin.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/ChannelArchiver/ChannelArchiverPlugin.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import { zeppelinPlugin } from "../ZeppelinPluginBlueprint";
 import { ChannelArchiverPluginType } from "./types";
 import { ArchiveChannelCmd } from "./commands/ArchiveChannelCmd";
+import * as t from "io-ts";
 
 export const ChannelArchiverPlugin = zeppelinPlugin<ChannelArchiverPluginType>()("channel_archiver", {
   showInDocs: false,
+  configSchema: t.type({}),
 
   // prettier-ignore
   commands: [
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/GuildConfigReloader/GuildConfigReloaderPlugin.ts b/backend/src/plugins/GuildConfigReloader/GuildConfigReloaderPlugin.ts
index 3265090b..c89d2277 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/GuildConfigReloader/GuildConfigReloaderPlugin.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/GuildConfigReloader/GuildConfigReloaderPlugin.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@ import { zeppelinPlugin } from "../ZeppelinPluginBlueprint";
 import { GuildConfigReloaderPluginType } from "./types";
 import { Configs } from "../../data/Configs";
 import { reloadChangedGuilds } from "./functions/reloadChangedGuilds";
+import * as t from "io-ts";
 
 export const GuildConfigReloaderPlugin = zeppelinPlugin<GuildConfigReloaderPluginType>()("guild_config_reloader", {
+  showInDocs: false,
+
+  configSchema: t.type({}),
+
   async onLoad(pluginData) {
     pluginData.state.guildConfigs = new Configs();
     pluginData.state.highestConfigId = await pluginData.state.guildConfigs.getHighestId();
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/GuildInfoSaver/GuildInfoSaverPlugin.ts b/backend/src/plugins/GuildInfoSaver/GuildInfoSaverPlugin.ts
index 29649dab..2d4b4ee3 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/GuildInfoSaver/GuildInfoSaverPlugin.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/GuildInfoSaver/GuildInfoSaverPlugin.ts
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@ import { PluginData } from "knub";
 import { AllowedGuilds } from "src/data/AllowedGuilds";
 import { GuildInfoSaverPluginType } from "./types";
 import { MINUTES } from "src/utils";
+import * as t from "io-ts";
 
 export const GuildInfoSaverPlugin = zeppelinPlugin<GuildInfoSaverPluginType>()("guild_info_saver", {
   showInDocs: false,
 
+  configSchema: t.type({}),
+
   onLoad(pluginData) {
     const { state, guild } = pluginData;
 
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/InitReactionRolesCmd.ts b/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/InitReactionRolesCmd.ts
index 8f39258d..0eba8df7 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/InitReactionRolesCmd.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/InitReactionRolesCmd.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export const InitReactionRolesCmd = reactionRolesCmd({
     const emojiRolePairs: TReactionRolePair[] = args.reactionRolePairs
       .trim()
       .split("\n")
-      .map(v => v.split("=").map(v => v.trim())) // tslint:disable-line
+      .map(v => v.split(/(\s|[=,])+/).map(v => v.trim())) // tslint:disable-line
       .map(
         (pair): TReactionRolePair => {
           const customEmojiMatch = pair[0].match(/^<a?:(.*?):(\d+)>$/);
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/RefreshReactionRolesCmd.ts b/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/RefreshReactionRolesCmd.ts
index 28039503..0a9fe103 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/RefreshReactionRolesCmd.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/ReactionRoles/commands/RefreshReactionRolesCmd.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ export const RefreshReactionRolesCmd = reactionRolesCmd({
   async run({ message: msg, args, pluginData }) {
     const savedMessage = await pluginData.state.savedMessages.find(args.messageId);
     if (!savedMessage) {
-      console.log("ah");
       sendErrorMessage(pluginData, msg.channel, "Unknown message");
       return;
     }
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/UsernameSaver/UsernameSaverPlugin.ts b/backend/src/plugins/UsernameSaver/UsernameSaverPlugin.ts
index e5fa8b05..eb8dae81 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/UsernameSaver/UsernameSaverPlugin.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/UsernameSaver/UsernameSaverPlugin.ts
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@ import { UsernameHistory } from "src/data/UsernameHistory";
 import { Queue } from "src/Queue";
 import { UsernameSaverPluginType } from "./types";
 import { MessageCreateUpdateUsernameEvt, VoiceChannelJoinUpdateUsernameEvt } from "./events/UpdateUsernameEvts";
+import * as t from "io-ts";
 
 export const UsernameSaverPlugin = zeppelinPlugin<UsernameSaverPluginType>()("username_saver", {
   showInDocs: false,
 
+  configSchema: t.type({}),
+
   // prettier-ignore
   events: [
     MessageCreateUpdateUsernameEvt,
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPluginBlueprint.ts b/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPluginBlueprint.ts
index 671ada10..e36623b3 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPluginBlueprint.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/ZeppelinPluginBlueprint.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { TMarkdown } from "../types";
 
 export interface ZeppelinPluginBlueprint<TPluginType extends BasePluginType = BasePluginType>
   extends PluginBlueprint<TPluginType> {
-  configSchema?: t.TypeC<any>;
+  configSchema: t.TypeC<any>;
   showInDocs?: boolean;
 
   info?: {
@@ -19,21 +19,24 @@ export interface ZeppelinPluginBlueprint<TPluginType extends BasePluginType = Ba
 export function zeppelinPlugin<TPartialBlueprint extends Omit<ZeppelinPluginBlueprint, "name">>(
   name: string,
   blueprint: TPartialBlueprint,
-): TPartialBlueprint & { name: string };
+): TPartialBlueprint & { name: string; configPreprocessor: ZeppelinPluginBlueprint["configPreprocessor"] };
 
 export function zeppelinPlugin<TPluginType extends BasePluginType>(): <
   TPartialBlueprint extends Omit<ZeppelinPluginBlueprint<TPluginType>, "name">
 >(
   name: string,
   blueprint: TPartialBlueprint,
-) => TPartialBlueprint & { name: string; configPreprocessor: PluginBlueprint<TPluginType>["configPreprocessor"] };
+) => TPartialBlueprint & {
+  name: string;
+  configPreprocessor: ZeppelinPluginBlueprint<TPluginType>["configPreprocessor"];
+};
 
 export function zeppelinPlugin(...args) {
   if (args.length) {
-    const blueprint: ZeppelinPluginBlueprint = plugin(...(args as Parameters<typeof plugin>));
+    const blueprint = (plugin(...(args as Parameters<typeof plugin>)) as unknown) as ZeppelinPluginBlueprint;
     blueprint.configPreprocessor = getPluginConfigPreprocessor(blueprint, blueprint.configPreprocessor);
     return blueprint;
   } else {
-    return zeppelinPlugin;
+    return zeppelinPlugin as (name, blueprint) => ZeppelinPluginBlueprint;
   }
 }
diff --git a/backend/src/utils.ts b/backend/src/utils.ts
index ee225c1e..31b04d8e 100644
--- a/backend/src/utils.ts
+++ b/backend/src/utils.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import https from "https";
 import tmp from "tmp";
 import { helpers } from "knub";
 import { SavedMessage } from "./data/entities/SavedMessage";
-import { decodeAndValidateStrict, StrictValidationError } from "./validatorUtils";
+import { decodeAndValidateStrict, StrictValidationError, validate } from "./validatorUtils";
 import { either } from "fp-ts/lib/Either";
 import moment from "moment-timezone";
 import { SimpleCache } from "./SimpleCache";
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export interface TDeepPartialProps<P extends t.Props>
   > {}
 
 export function tDeepPartial<T>(type: T): TDeepPartial<T> {
-  if (type instanceof t.InterfaceType) {
+  if (type instanceof t.InterfaceType || type instanceof t.PartialType) {
     const newProps = {};
     for (const [key, prop] of Object.entries(type.props)) {
       newProps[key] = tDeepPartial(prop);