diff --git a/include/LuaAPI.h b/include/LuaAPI.h
index f7530d0..b25c740 100644
--- a/include/LuaAPI.h
+++ b/include/LuaAPI.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ namespace MP {
     bool IsPlayerConnected(int ID);
     void Sleep(size_t Ms);
     void PrintRaw(sol::variadic_args);
-    std::string JsonSerialize(sol::table object);
+    std::string JsonSerialize(const sol::table& object);
 }
 namespace FS {
     std::pair<bool, std::string> CreateDirectory(const std::string& Path);
diff --git a/include/TLuaEngine.h b/include/TLuaEngine.h
index 720d8ea..fb1353e 100644
--- a/include/TLuaEngine.h
+++ b/include/TLuaEngine.h
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ private:
         std::string Lua_GetPlayerName(int ID);
         sol::table Lua_GetPlayerVehicles(int ID);
         sol::table Lua_HttpCreateConnection(const std::string& host, uint16_t port);
+        sol::table Lua_JsonDeserialize(const std::string& str);
         int Lua_GetPlayerIDByName(const std::string& Name);
 
         std::string mName;
diff --git a/src/LuaAPI.cpp b/src/LuaAPI.cpp
index 5e60a16..53f28ad 100644
--- a/src/LuaAPI.cpp
+++ b/src/LuaAPI.cpp
@@ -354,7 +354,11 @@ std::string LuaAPI::FS::ConcatPaths(sol::variadic_args Args) {
     return Result;
 }
 
-static void JsonSerializeRecursive(nlohmann::json& json, sol::object left, sol::object right) {
+static void JsonSerializeRecursive(nlohmann::json& json, const sol::object& left, const sol::object& right, size_t depth = 0) {
+    if (depth > 100) {
+        beammp_lua_error("json serialize will not go deeper than 100 nested tables, internal references assumed, aborted this path");
+        return;
+    }
     std::string key;
     bool is_array = false;
     switch (left.get_type()) {
@@ -384,31 +388,31 @@ static void JsonSerializeRecursive(nlohmann::json& json, sol::object left, sol::
         return;
     case sol::type::poly:
         beammp_lua_warn("unsure what to do with poly type in JsonSerialize, ignoring");
-        break;
+        return;
     case sol::type::boolean:
         value = right.as<bool>();
         break;
     case sol::type::lightuserdata:
         beammp_lua_warn("unsure what to do with lightuserdata in JsonSerialize, ignoring");
-        break;
+        return;
     case sol::type::userdata:
         beammp_lua_warn("unsure what to do with userdata in JsonSerialize, ignoring");
-        break;
+        return;
     case sol::type::thread:
         beammp_lua_warn("unsure what to do with thread in JsonSerialize, ignoring");
-        break;
+        return;
     case sol::type::string:
         value = right.as<std::string>();
         break;
     case sol::type::number:
-        value = right.as<intmax_t>();
+        value = right.as<double>();
         break;
     case sol::type::function:
         beammp_lua_warn("unsure what to do with function in JsonSerialize, ignoring");
-        break;
+        return;
     case sol::type::table:
         for (const auto& pair : right.as<sol::table>()) {
-            JsonSerializeRecursive(value, pair.first, pair.second);
+            JsonSerializeRecursive(value, pair.first, pair.second, depth + 1);
         }
         break;
     }
@@ -419,7 +423,7 @@ static void JsonSerializeRecursive(nlohmann::json& json, sol::object left, sol::
     }
 }
 
-std::string LuaAPI::MP::JsonSerialize(sol::table object) {
+std::string LuaAPI::MP::JsonSerialize(const sol::table& object) {
     nlohmann::json json;
     // table
     for (const auto& entry : object) {
diff --git a/src/TLuaEngine.cpp b/src/TLuaEngine.cpp
index 3f1ec58..5212e0e 100644
--- a/src/TLuaEngine.cpp
+++ b/src/TLuaEngine.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <chrono>
 #include <condition_variable>
 #include <httplib.h>
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 #include <random>
 #include <thread>
 #include <tuple>
@@ -473,6 +474,80 @@ sol::table TLuaEngine::StateThreadData::Lua_HttpCreateConnection(const std::stri
     return table;
 }
 
+template <typename T>
+static void AddToTable(sol::table& table, const std::string& left, const T& value) {
+    if (left.empty()) {
+        table[table.size() + 1] = value;
+    } else {
+        table[left] = value;
+    }
+}
+
+static void JsonDeserializeRecursive(sol::state_view& StateView, sol::table& table, const std::string& left, const nlohmann::json& right) {
+    switch (right.type()) {
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::null:
+        return;
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::object: {
+        auto value = table.create();
+        value.clear();
+        for (const auto& entry : right.items()) {
+            JsonDeserializeRecursive(StateView, value, entry.key(), entry.value());
+        }
+        AddToTable(table, left, value);
+        break;
+    }
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::array: {
+        auto value = table.create();
+        value.clear();
+        for (const auto& entry : right.items()) {
+            JsonDeserializeRecursive(StateView, value, "", entry.value());
+        }
+        AddToTable(table, left, value);
+        break;
+    }
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::string:
+        AddToTable(table, left, right.get<std::string>());
+        break;
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::boolean:
+        AddToTable(table, left, right.get<bool>());
+        break;
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::number_integer:
+        AddToTable(table, left, right.get<int64_t>());
+        break;
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::number_unsigned:
+        AddToTable(table, left, right.get<uint64_t>());
+        break;
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::number_float:
+        AddToTable(table, left, right.get<double>());
+        break;
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::binary:
+        beammp_lua_error("JsonDeserialize can't handle binary blob in json, ignoring");
+        return;
+    case nlohmann::detail::value_t::discarded:
+        return;
+    }
+}
+
+sol::table TLuaEngine::StateThreadData::Lua_JsonDeserialize(const std::string& str) {
+    sol::state_view StateView(mState);
+    auto table = StateView.create_table();
+    // TODO: try / catch
+    nlohmann::json json = nlohmann::json::parse(str);
+    if (json.is_object()) {
+        for (const auto& entry : json.items()) {
+            JsonDeserializeRecursive(StateView, table, entry.key(), entry.value());
+        }
+    } else if (json.is_array()) {
+        for (const auto& entry : json) {
+            JsonDeserializeRecursive(StateView, table, "", entry);
+        }
+    } else {
+        beammp_lua_error("JsonDeserialize expected array or object json, instead got " + std::string(json.type_name()));
+        return sol::nil;
+    }
+    return table;
+}
+
 TLuaEngine::StateThreadData::StateThreadData(const std::string& Name, std::atomic_bool& Shutdown, TLuaStateId StateId, TLuaEngine& Engine)
     : mName(Name)
     , mShutdown(Shutdown)
@@ -557,12 +632,14 @@ TLuaEngine::StateThreadData::StateThreadData(const std::string& Name, std::atomi
     });
     MPTable.set_function("Set", &LuaAPI::MP::Set);
     MPTable.set_function("JsonSerialize", &LuaAPI::MP::JsonSerialize);
-    
+    MPTable.set_function("JsonDeserialize", [this](const std::string& str) {
+        return Lua_JsonDeserialize(str);
+    });
+
     auto HttpTable = StateView.create_named_table("Http");
     HttpTable.set_function("CreateConnection", [this](const std::string& host, uint16_t port) {
         return Lua_HttpCreateConnection(host, port);
     });
-    
 
     MPTable.create_named("Settings",
         "Debug", 0,