diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 30e82cf..96f766a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ contact ~ben or sose on tilde.chat (in the #slbr channel) to sign up.
 
 ## TODO
 - Install-time configuration (setting proper ips, hostname, etc.)
+- Fix user tracking
+=======
 - A goal and a way to check it
 
 This is a ~ work in progress ~
diff --git a/deluser.sh b/deluser.sh
index 926ada7..b9cf7dd 100755
--- a/deluser.sh
+++ b/deluser.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 SLBRUSER=$1
 test -z "$SLBRUSER" && echo "no user provided" && exit
+grep -qv "$SLBRUSER" users.txt && echo "user not found in users.txt, will not delete" && exit
+
 if ps -o stat= -p $PPID | grep -qv S+ #check if this is being called from listen.py
 then
 	echo "YOU ARE ABOUT TO PERMANENTLY DELETE USER $SLBRUSER AND ALL OF THEIR DATA. RE-ENTER THE USERS NAME TO CONTINUE"
@@ -11,5 +13,5 @@ lxc stop "$SLBRUSER"
 lxc delete "$SLBRUSER"
 sudo rm -rf "$SLBRUSER"
 sudo userdel "$SLBRUSER"
-tr '\n' ' ' < users | sed "s/$SLBRUSER //" | tr ' ' '\n' > users.temp
+tr '\n' ' ' < users.txt | sed "s/$SLBRUSER//g" | tr ' ' '\n' > users.temp
 mv users.temp users
diff --git a/listen.py b/listen.py
index 4a3411c..4f115a7 100755
--- a/listen.py
+++ b/listen.py
@@ -24,11 +24,17 @@ def clientthread(conn):
         os.system("./sendmsg.sh \"$(tail -n1 gamelog.txt)\"")  # oh noooooo
         print("sent message: " + message)
 
-        userisdead = (
-            True
-        )  # Eventually add a check to differentiate death messages from other messages
+        userisdead = False
+        deaduser = message.split(" ")[0]
+
+        print("Looking for user in userfile")
+        with open("users.txt") as userfile:
+            if deaduser in userfile.read():
+                userisdead = True
+            else:
+                print("could not find user in userfile, will not delete")
+
         if userisdead:
-            deaduser = message.split(" ")[0]
             print("eliminating " + deaduser)
             os.system("./deluser.sh " + deaduser)
             conn.close()
diff --git a/newuser.sh b/newuser.sh
index e0dbd02..a40eecf 100755
--- a/newuser.sh
+++ b/newuser.sh
@@ -2,13 +2,17 @@
 SLBRUSER=$1
 PUBKEY=$2
 test -z "$SLBRUSER" && echo "no user provided" && exit
+test -z "$PUBKEY" && echo "no key provided" && exit
+PUBKEY="$(cat "$PUBKEY")"
+
+cut -d: -f1 /etc/passwd | grep -q "$SLBRUSER" && echo "user already exists" && exit
 
 echo "Creating homedir..."
 mkdir "/home/slbr/$SLBRUSER"
 mkdir "/home/slbr/$SLBRUSER/.ssh"
 echo "Copying key..."
 echo "$PUBKEY" >> "/home/slbr/$SLBRUSER/.ssh/authorized_keys"
-echo "$SLBRUSER" >> users
+echo "$SLBRUSER" >> users.txt
 echo "Creating container..."
 echo "lxc exec $SLBRUSER bash" > "/home/slbr/$SLBRUSER/.profile"
 chmod -w "/home/slbr/$SLBRUSER/.profile"
diff --git a/users b/users
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/users.txt b/users.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4db90f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/users.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+testuser