diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/migration/DatabaseHelper.kt b/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/migration/DatabaseHelper.kt
index eb7234f..6681eaa 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/migration/DatabaseHelper.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/migration/DatabaseHelper.kt
@@ -3,8 +3,15 @@ package de.darkatra.vrising.discord.migration
 import org.dizitart.no2.Nitrite
 import org.dizitart.no2.collection.Document
 import org.dizitart.no2.collection.NitriteId
+import org.dizitart.no2.common.Constants
+import org.dizitart.no2.common.meta.Attributes
 import org.dizitart.no2.store.NitriteMap
 
 fun Nitrite.getNitriteMap(name: String): NitriteMap<NitriteId, Document> {
     return store.openMap(name, NitriteId::class.java, Document::class.java)
 }
+
+fun Nitrite.listAllCollectionNames(): List<String> {
+    return store.openMap<String, Attributes>(Constants.META_MAP_NAME, String::class.java, Attributes::class.java).keys()
+        .filter { key -> !key.startsWith("\$nitrite") }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/persistence/DatabaseConfiguration.kt b/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/persistence/DatabaseConfiguration.kt
index 30e4605..97070f2 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/persistence/DatabaseConfiguration.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/de/darkatra/vrising/discord/persistence/DatabaseConfiguration.kt
@@ -2,17 +2,28 @@ package de.darkatra.vrising.discord.persistence
 
 import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.BotProperties
 import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.migration.SchemaEntityConverter
+import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.migration.getNitriteMap
+import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.migration.listAllCollectionNames
 import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.persistence.model.converter.ErrorEntityConverter
 import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.persistence.model.converter.PlayerActivityFeedEntityConverter
 import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.persistence.model.converter.PvpKillFeedEntityConverter
 import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.persistence.model.converter.ServerEntityConverter
 import de.darkatra.vrising.discord.persistence.model.converter.StatusMonitorEntityConverter
 import org.dizitart.no2.Nitrite
+import org.dizitart.no2.NitriteBuilder
+import org.dizitart.no2.exceptions.NitriteIOException
 import org.dizitart.no2.mvstore.MVStoreModule
+import org.dizitart.no2.store.StoreModule
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory
 import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.EnableConfigurationProperties
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration
+import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.Path
+import kotlin.io.path.absolutePathString
+import kotlin.io.path.copyTo
+import kotlin.io.path.deleteIfExists
+import kotlin.io.path.exists
 
 @Configuration
 @EnableConfigurationProperties(BotProperties::class)
@@ -22,12 +33,63 @@ class DatabaseConfiguration(
 
     companion object {
 
+        private val logger by lazy { LoggerFactory.getLogger(DatabaseConfiguration::class.java) }
+
         fun buildNitriteDatabase(databaseFile: Path, username: String? = null, password: String? = null): Nitrite {
 
-            val storeModule = MVStoreModule.withConfig()
-                .filePath(databaseFile.toAbsolutePath().toFile())
-                .compress(true)
-                .build()
+            // version 2.12.0 introduced database encryption at rest. the following code attempts to perform the migration if necessary
+            return try {
+                // try to open the database with encryption
+                getNitriteBuilder(getStoreModule(databaseFile, password)).openOrCreate(username, password)
+            } catch (e: NitriteIOException) {
+
+                // if the automated migration was aborted while writing the files to disc, restore the backup
+                val unencryptedDatabaseBackupFile = Path.of(System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")).resolve("v-rising-bot.db.unencrypted")
+                if (unencryptedDatabaseBackupFile.exists()) {
+                    logger.info("Found an unencrypted backup of the database at: ${unencryptedDatabaseBackupFile.absolutePathString()}")
+                    unencryptedDatabaseBackupFile.copyTo(databaseFile, overwrite = true)
+                    logger.info("Successfully restored the backup. Will re-attempt the migration.")
+                }
+
+                logger.info("Attempting to encrypt the bot database with the provided database password.")
+
+                // retry opening the database without encryption if we encounter an error
+                val unencryptedDatabase = try {
+                    getNitriteBuilder(getStoreModule(databaseFile, null)).openOrCreate(username, password)
+                } catch (e2: NitriteIOException) {
+                    // if we also can't open the database without encryption, throw the initial error as it probably isn't related to encryption
+                    throw e
+                }
+
+                unencryptedDatabaseBackupFile.deleteIfExists()
+
+                // create an encrypted copy of the existing database
+                val tempDatabaseFile = Files.createTempFile("v-rising-bot", ".db")
+
+                val encryptedDatabase = getNitriteBuilder(getStoreModule(tempDatabaseFile, password)).openOrCreate(username, password)
+                for (collectionName in unencryptedDatabase.listAllCollectionNames()) {
+
+                    val oldCollection = unencryptedDatabase.getNitriteMap(collectionName)
+                    val newCollection = encryptedDatabase.getNitriteMap(collectionName)
+
+                    oldCollection.values().forEach { document -> newCollection.put(document.id, document) }
+                }
+                unencryptedDatabase.close()
+                encryptedDatabase.close()
+
+                databaseFile.copyTo(unencryptedDatabaseBackupFile)
+                tempDatabaseFile.copyTo(databaseFile, overwrite = true)
+
+                unencryptedDatabaseBackupFile.deleteIfExists()
+                tempDatabaseFile.deleteIfExists()
+
+                getNitriteBuilder(getStoreModule(databaseFile, password)).openOrCreate(username, password).also {
+                    logger.info("Successfully encrypted the database.")
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        private fun getNitriteBuilder(storeModule: StoreModule): NitriteBuilder {
 
             return Nitrite.builder()
                 .loadModule(storeModule)
@@ -38,7 +100,15 @@ class DatabaseConfiguration(
                 .registerEntityConverter(PvpKillFeedEntityConverter())
                 .registerEntityConverter(ServerEntityConverter())
                 .registerEntityConverter(StatusMonitorEntityConverter())
-                .openOrCreate(username, password)
+        }
+
+        private fun getStoreModule(databaseFile: Path, password: String?): MVStoreModule {
+
+            return MVStoreModule.withConfig()
+                .filePath(databaseFile.toAbsolutePath().toFile())
+                .encryptionKey(password?.let(String::toCharArray))
+                .compress(true)
+                .build()
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.yml b/src/main/resources/application.yml
index 388f6f8..7322acd 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.yml
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ logging:
   level:
     root: info
     com.ibasco.agql: warn
+    # nitrite is logging some of the exceptions before throwing - disable all nitrite logs since we already log all exceptions
+    nitrite: off
+    nitrite-mvstore: off
   pattern:
     console: "%clr(%d{yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX}){faint} %clr(%5p) %clr(${PID:-}){magenta} %clr(---){faint} %clr([%15.15t]){faint} %clr(%-40.40logger{39}){cyan} %clr(:){faint} %m %mdc%n%wEx"