diff --git a/szutil_basics/init.lua b/szutil_basics/init.lua
index ead90e6..2676b4f 100644
--- a/szutil_basics/init.lua
+++ b/szutil_basics/init.lua
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 -- LUALOCALS < ---------------------------------------------------------
-local minetest, string
-    = minetest, string
-local string_format
-    = string.format
+local ipairs, minetest, string, table
+    = ipairs, minetest, string, table
+local string_format, table_concat, table_remove
+    = string.format, table.concat, table.remove
 -- LUALOCALS > ---------------------------------------------------------
 
 -- Chat command to completely destroy a player account, including auth.
@@ -29,6 +29,29 @@ minetest.register_chatcommand("destroy_player", {
 		end
 	})
 
+-- Chat command to write to the server log.
+do
+	local allowed = {"verbose", "info", "action", "warning", "error"}
+	local allowed_idx = {}
+	for _, v in ipairs(allowed) do allowed_idx[v] = true end
+	local allowed_str = table_concat(allowed, ", ")
+	minetest.register_chatcommand("log", {
+			params = "<severity> <message>",
+			description = "Write any message to server log",
+			privs = {server = true},
+			func = function(name, param)
+				local words = param:split(" ")
+				local severity = words[1]
+				table_remove(words, 1)
+				if not allowed_idx[severity] then
+					return false, "severity must be one of " .. allowed_str
+				end
+				minetest.log("action", name .. " used the log command")
+				minetest.log(severity, table_concat(words, " "))
+			end
+		})
+end
+
 -- Moderators and admins can always bypass player limits,
 -- important for emergency access.
 minetest.register_can_bypass_userlimit(function(name)