diff -Naur a/src/games/strategy/engine/framework/GameRunner2.java b/src/games/strategy/engine/framework/GameRunner2.java
--- a/src/games/strategy/engine/framework/GameRunner2.java	2015-09-02 20:30:04.000000000 +0100
+++ b/src/games/strategy/engine/framework/GameRunner2.java	2016-10-11 23:08:50.296813567 +0100
@@ -952,9 +952,9 @@
     // the default
     File rootDir;
     if (GameRunner.isMac()) {
-      rootDir = new File(new File(userHome, "Documents"), "triplea");
+      rootDir = new File(new File(userHome, "Documents"), ".triplea");
     } else {
-      rootDir = new File(userHome, "triplea");
+      rootDir = new File(userHome, ".triplea");
     }
     return rootDir;
   }
diff -Naur a/src/games/strategy/engine/lobby/server/userDB/Database.java b/src/games/strategy/engine/lobby/server/userDB/Database.java
--- a/src/games/strategy/engine/lobby/server/userDB/Database.java	2015-08-19 16:35:06.000000000 +0100
+++ b/src/games/strategy/engine/lobby/server/userDB/Database.java	2016-10-11 23:08:50.296813567 +0100
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
     if (System.getProperties().containsKey(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY)) {
       root = new File(System.getProperties().getProperty(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY));
     } else {
-      root = GameRunner2.getRootFolder();
+      root = GameRunner2.getUserRootFolder();
     }
     if (!root.exists()) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("Root dir does not exist");
diff -Naur a/src/games/strategy/util/AccessLogFileHandler.java b/src/games/strategy/util/AccessLogFileHandler.java
--- a/src/games/strategy/util/AccessLogFileHandler.java	2015-08-19 16:35:06.000000000 +0100
+++ b/src/games/strategy/util/AccessLogFileHandler.java	2016-10-11 23:10:31.219309604 +0100
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   private static final String logFile;
 
   static {
-    final File rootDir = new File(System.getProperty(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY, "."));
+    final File rootDir = new File(System.getProperty(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY, games.strategy.engine.framework.GameRunner2.getUserRootFolder().getAbsolutePath()));
     if (!rootDir.exists()) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("no dir called:" + rootDir.getAbsolutePath());
     }
diff -Naur a/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandlerForHeadlessGameServer.java b/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandlerForHeadlessGameServer.java
--- a/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandlerForHeadlessGameServer.java	2015-08-19 16:35:06.000000000 +0100
+++ b/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandlerForHeadlessGameServer.java	2016-10-11 23:10:40.227175356 +0100
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   private static final String logFile;
 
   static {
-    final File rootDir = new File(System.getProperty(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY, "."));
+    final File rootDir = new File(System.getProperty(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY, games.strategy.engine.framework.GameRunner2.getUserRootFolder().getAbsolutePath()));
     if (!rootDir.exists()) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("no dir called:" + rootDir.getAbsolutePath());
     }
diff -Naur a/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandler.java b/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandler.java
--- a/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandler.java	2015-08-19 16:35:06.000000000 +0100
+++ b/src/games/strategy/util/RotatingLogFileHandler.java	2016-10-11 23:10:46.851076636 +0100
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   private static final String logFile;
 
   static {
-    final File rootDir = new File(System.getProperty(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY, "."));
+    final File rootDir = new File(System.getProperty(ServerLauncher.SERVER_ROOT_DIR_PROPERTY, games.strategy.engine.framework.GameRunner2.getUserRootFolder().getAbsolutePath()));
     if (!rootDir.exists()) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("no dir called:" + rootDir.getAbsolutePath());
     }