diff --git a/changelog.d/3694.feature b/changelog.d/3694.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..916a342ff4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3694.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Synapse's presence functionality can now be disabled with the "use_presence" configuration option.
diff --git a/docs/workers.rst b/docs/workers.rst
index ac9efb621f..aec319dd84 100644
--- a/docs/workers.rst
+++ b/docs/workers.rst
@@ -241,6 +241,14 @@ regular expressions::
 
     ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/keys/upload
 
+If ``use_presence`` is False in the homeserver config, it can also handle REST
+endpoints matching the following regular expressions::
+
+    ^/_matrix/client/(api/v1|r0|unstable)/presence/[^/]+/status
+
+This "stub" presence handler will pass through ``GET`` request but make the
+``PUT`` effectively a no-op.
+
 It will proxy any requests it cannot handle to the main synapse instance. It
 must therefore be configured with the location of the main instance, via
 the ``worker_main_http_uri`` setting in the frontend_proxy worker configuration
diff --git a/synapse/app/_base.py b/synapse/app/_base.py
index 391bd14c5c..7c866e246a 100644
--- a/synapse/app/_base.py
+++ b/synapse/app/_base.py
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def listen_metrics(bind_addresses, port):
         logger.info("Metrics now reporting on %s:%d", host, port)
 
 
-def listen_tcp(bind_addresses, port, factory, backlog=50):
+def listen_tcp(bind_addresses, port, factory, reactor=reactor, backlog=50):
     """
     Create a TCP socket for a port and several addresses
     """
@@ -156,7 +156,9 @@ def listen_tcp(bind_addresses, port, factory, backlog=50):
             check_bind_error(e, address, bind_addresses)
 
 
-def listen_ssl(bind_addresses, port, factory, context_factory, backlog=50):
+def listen_ssl(
+    bind_addresses, port, factory, context_factory, reactor=reactor, backlog=50
+):
     """
     Create an SSL socket for a port and several addresses
     """
diff --git a/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py b/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py
index 671fbbcb2a..8d484c1cd4 100644
--- a/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py
+++ b/synapse/app/frontend_proxy.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ from synapse.replication.slave.storage.client_ips import SlavedClientIpStore
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage.devices import SlavedDeviceStore
 from synapse.replication.slave.storage.registration import SlavedRegistrationStore
 from synapse.replication.tcp.client import ReplicationClientHandler
+from synapse.rest.client.v1.base import ClientV1RestServlet, client_path_patterns
 from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha._base import client_v2_patterns
 from synapse.server import HomeServer
 from synapse.storage.engines import create_engine
@@ -49,6 +50,35 @@ from synapse.util.versionstring import get_version_string
 logger = logging.getLogger("synapse.app.frontend_proxy")
 
 
+class PresenceStatusStubServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
+    PATTERNS = client_path_patterns("/presence/(?P<user_id>[^/]*)/status")
+
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        super(PresenceStatusStubServlet, self).__init__(hs)
+        self.http_client = hs.get_simple_http_client()
+        self.auth = hs.get_auth()
+        self.main_uri = hs.config.worker_main_http_uri
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def on_GET(self, request, user_id):
+        # Pass through the auth headers, if any, in case the access token
+        # is there.
+        auth_headers = request.requestHeaders.getRawHeaders("Authorization", [])
+        headers = {
+            "Authorization": auth_headers,
+        }
+        result = yield self.http_client.get_json(
+            self.main_uri + request.uri,
+            headers=headers,
+        )
+        defer.returnValue((200, result))
+
+    @defer.inlineCallbacks
+    def on_PUT(self, request, user_id):
+        yield self.auth.get_user_by_req(request)
+        defer.returnValue((200, {}))
+
+
 class KeyUploadServlet(RestServlet):
     PATTERNS = client_v2_patterns("/keys/upload(/(?P<device_id>[^/]+))?$")
 
@@ -135,6 +165,12 @@ class FrontendProxyServer(HomeServer):
                 elif name == "client":
                     resource = JsonResource(self, canonical_json=False)
                     KeyUploadServlet(self).register(resource)
+
+                    # If presence is disabled, use the stub servlet that does
+                    # not allow sending presence
+                    if not self.config.use_presence:
+                        PresenceStatusStubServlet(self).register(resource)
+
                     resources.update({
                         "/_matrix/client/r0": resource,
                         "/_matrix/client/unstable": resource,
@@ -153,7 +189,8 @@ class FrontendProxyServer(HomeServer):
                 listener_config,
                 root_resource,
                 self.version_string,
-            )
+            ),
+            reactor=self.get_reactor()
         )
 
         logger.info("Synapse client reader now listening on port %d", port)
diff --git a/synapse/app/synchrotron.py b/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
index e201f18efd..cade09d60e 100644
--- a/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
+++ b/synapse/app/synchrotron.py
@@ -114,7 +114,10 @@ class SynchrotronPresence(object):
         logger.info("Presence process_id is %r", self.process_id)
 
     def send_user_sync(self, user_id, is_syncing, last_sync_ms):
-        self.hs.get_tcp_replication().send_user_sync(user_id, is_syncing, last_sync_ms)
+        if self.hs.config.use_presence:
+            self.hs.get_tcp_replication().send_user_sync(
+                user_id, is_syncing, last_sync_ms
+            )
 
     def mark_as_coming_online(self, user_id):
         """A user has started syncing. Send a UserSync to the master, unless they
@@ -211,10 +214,13 @@ class SynchrotronPresence(object):
         yield self.notify_from_replication(states, stream_id)
 
     def get_currently_syncing_users(self):
-        return [
-            user_id for user_id, count in iteritems(self.user_to_num_current_syncs)
-            if count > 0
-        ]
+        if self.hs.config.use_presence:
+            return [
+                user_id for user_id, count in iteritems(self.user_to_num_current_syncs)
+                if count > 0
+            ]
+        else:
+            return set()
 
 
 class SynchrotronTyping(object):
diff --git a/synapse/config/server.py b/synapse/config/server.py
index a41c48e69c..68a612e594 100644
--- a/synapse/config/server.py
+++ b/synapse/config/server.py
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ class ServerConfig(Config):
         # "disable" federation
         self.send_federation = config.get("send_federation", True)
 
+        # Whether to enable user presence.
+        self.use_presence = config.get("use_presence", True)
+
         # Whether to update the user directory or not. This should be set to
         # false only if we are updating the user directory in a worker
         self.update_user_directory = config.get("update_user_directory", True)
@@ -250,6 +253,9 @@ class ServerConfig(Config):
         # hard limit.
         soft_file_limit: 0
 
+        # Set to false to disable presence tracking on this homeserver.
+        use_presence: true
+
         # The GC threshold parameters to pass to `gc.set_threshold`, if defined
         # gc_thresholds: [700, 10, 10]
 
diff --git a/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py b/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
index f603c8a368..94d7423d01 100644
--- a/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
+++ b/synapse/federation/transaction_queue.py
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
+        self.hs = hs
         self.server_name = hs.hostname
 
         self.store = hs.get_datastore()
@@ -308,6 +309,9 @@ class TransactionQueue(object):
         Args:
             states (list(UserPresenceState))
         """
+        if not self.hs.config.use_presence:
+            # No-op if presence is disabled.
+            return
 
         # First we queue up the new presence by user ID, so multiple presence
         # updates in quick successtion are correctly handled
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py b/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
index 1fb17fd9a5..e009395207 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/initial_sync.py
@@ -372,6 +372,10 @@ class InitialSyncHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         @defer.inlineCallbacks
         def get_presence():
+            # If presence is disabled, return an empty list
+            if not self.hs.config.use_presence:
+                defer.returnValue([])
+
             states = yield presence_handler.get_states(
                 [m.user_id for m in room_members],
                 as_event=True,
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/presence.py b/synapse/handlers/presence.py
index 3671d24f60..ba3856674d 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/presence.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/presence.py
@@ -395,6 +395,10 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
         """We've seen the user do something that indicates they're interacting
         with the app.
         """
+        # If presence is disabled, no-op
+        if not self.hs.config.use_presence:
+            return
+
         user_id = user.to_string()
 
         bump_active_time_counter.inc()
@@ -424,6 +428,11 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
                 Useful for streams that are not associated with an actual
                 client that is being used by a user.
         """
+        # Override if it should affect the user's presence, if presence is
+        # disabled.
+        if not self.hs.config.use_presence:
+            affect_presence = False
+
         if affect_presence:
             curr_sync = self.user_to_num_current_syncs.get(user_id, 0)
             self.user_to_num_current_syncs[user_id] = curr_sync + 1
@@ -469,13 +478,16 @@ class PresenceHandler(object):
         Returns:
             set(str): A set of user_id strings.
         """
-        syncing_user_ids = {
-            user_id for user_id, count in self.user_to_num_current_syncs.items()
-            if count
-        }
-        for user_ids in self.external_process_to_current_syncs.values():
-            syncing_user_ids.update(user_ids)
-        return syncing_user_ids
+        if self.hs.config.use_presence:
+            syncing_user_ids = {
+                user_id for user_id, count in self.user_to_num_current_syncs.items()
+                if count
+            }
+            for user_ids in self.external_process_to_current_syncs.values():
+                syncing_user_ids.update(user_ids)
+            return syncing_user_ids
+        else:
+            return set()
 
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def update_external_syncs_row(self, process_id, user_id, is_syncing, sync_time_msec):
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/sync.py b/synapse/handlers/sync.py
index ac3edf0cc9..648debc8aa 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/sync.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/sync.py
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ class SyncResult(collections.namedtuple("SyncResult", [
 class SyncHandler(object):
 
     def __init__(self, hs):
+        self.hs_config = hs.config
         self.store = hs.get_datastore()
         self.notifier = hs.get_notifier()
         self.presence_handler = hs.get_presence_handler()
@@ -860,7 +861,7 @@ class SyncHandler(object):
             since_token is None and
             sync_config.filter_collection.blocks_all_presence()
         )
-        if not block_all_presence_data:
+        if self.hs_config.use_presence and not block_all_presence_data:
             yield self._generate_sync_entry_for_presence(
                 sync_result_builder, newly_joined_rooms, newly_joined_users
             )
diff --git a/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py b/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py
index a14f0c807e..b5a6d6aebf 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/client/v1/presence.py
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ class PresenceStatusRestServlet(ClientV1RestServlet):
         except Exception:
             raise SynapseError(400, "Unable to parse state")
 
-        yield self.presence_handler.set_state(user, state)
+        if self.hs.config.use_presence:
+            yield self.presence_handler.set_state(user, state)
 
         defer.returnValue((200, {}))
 
diff --git a/tests/app/__init__.py b/tests/app/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/tests/app/test_frontend_proxy.py b/tests/app/test_frontend_proxy.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..76b5090fff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/app/test_frontend_proxy.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from synapse.app.frontend_proxy import FrontendProxyServer
+
+from tests.unittest import HomeserverTestCase
+
+
+class FrontendProxyTests(HomeserverTestCase):
+    def make_homeserver(self, reactor, clock):
+
+        hs = self.setup_test_homeserver(
+            http_client=None, homeserverToUse=FrontendProxyServer
+        )
+
+        return hs
+
+    def test_listen_http_with_presence_enabled(self):
+        """
+        When presence is on, the stub servlet will not register.
+        """
+        # Presence is on
+        self.hs.config.use_presence = True
+
+        config = {
+            "port": 8080,
+            "bind_addresses": ["0.0.0.0"],
+            "resources": [{"names": ["client"]}],
+        }
+
+        # Listen with the config
+        self.hs._listen_http(config)
+
+        # Grab the resource from the site that was told to listen
+        self.assertEqual(len(self.reactor.tcpServers), 1)
+        site = self.reactor.tcpServers[0][1]
+        self.resource = (
+            site.resource.children["_matrix"].children["client"].children["r0"]
+        )
+
+        request, channel = self.make_request("PUT", "presence/a/status")
+        self.render(request)
+
+        # 400 + unrecognised, because nothing is registered
+        self.assertEqual(channel.code, 400)
+        self.assertEqual(channel.json_body["errcode"], "M_UNRECOGNIZED")
+
+    def test_listen_http_with_presence_disabled(self):
+        """
+        When presence is on, the stub servlet will register.
+        """
+        # Presence is off
+        self.hs.config.use_presence = False
+
+        config = {
+            "port": 8080,
+            "bind_addresses": ["0.0.0.0"],
+            "resources": [{"names": ["client"]}],
+        }
+
+        # Listen with the config
+        self.hs._listen_http(config)
+
+        # Grab the resource from the site that was told to listen
+        self.assertEqual(len(self.reactor.tcpServers), 1)
+        site = self.reactor.tcpServers[0][1]
+        self.resource = (
+            site.resource.children["_matrix"].children["client"].children["r0"]
+        )
+
+        request, channel = self.make_request("PUT", "presence/a/status")
+        self.render(request)
+
+        # 401, because the stub servlet still checks authentication
+        self.assertEqual(channel.code, 401)
+        self.assertEqual(channel.json_body["errcode"], "M_MISSING_TOKEN")
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v1/test_presence.py b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_presence.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..66c2b68707
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v1/test_presence.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright 2018 New Vector Ltd
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from mock import Mock
+
+from synapse.rest.client.v1 import presence
+from synapse.types import UserID
+
+from tests import unittest
+
+
+class PresenceTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
+    """ Tests presence REST API. """
+
+    user_id = "@sid:red"
+
+    user = UserID.from_string(user_id)
+    servlets = [presence.register_servlets]
+
+    def make_homeserver(self, reactor, clock):
+
+        hs = self.setup_test_homeserver(
+            "red", http_client=None, federation_client=Mock()
+        )
+
+        hs.presence_handler = Mock()
+
+        return hs
+
+    def test_put_presence(self):
+        """
+        PUT to the status endpoint with use_presence enabled will call
+        set_state on the presence handler.
+        """
+        self.hs.config.use_presence = True
+
+        body = {"presence": "here", "status_msg": "beep boop"}
+        request, channel = self.make_request(
+            "PUT", "/presence/%s/status" % (self.user_id,), body
+        )
+        self.render(request)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(self.hs.presence_handler.set_state.call_count, 1)
+
+    def test_put_presence_disabled(self):
+        """
+        PUT to the status endpoint with use_presence disbled will NOT call
+        set_state on the presence handler.
+        """
+        self.hs.config.use_presence = False
+
+        body = {"presence": "here", "status_msg": "beep boop"}
+        request, channel = self.make_request(
+            "PUT", "/presence/%s/status" % (self.user_id,), body
+        )
+        self.render(request)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(self.hs.presence_handler.set_state.call_count, 0)
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py
index 9f3d8bd1db..560b1fba96 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/v2_alpha/test_sync.py
@@ -13,65 +13,30 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-import synapse.types
-from synapse.http.server import JsonResource
+from mock import Mock
+
 from synapse.rest.client.v2_alpha import sync
-from synapse.types import UserID
-from synapse.util import Clock
 
 from tests import unittest
-from tests.server import (
-    ThreadedMemoryReactorClock as MemoryReactorClock,
-    make_request,
-    render,
-    setup_test_homeserver,
-)
-
-PATH_PREFIX = "/_matrix/client/v2_alpha"
 
 
-class FilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+class FilterTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
 
-    USER_ID = "@apple:test"
-    TO_REGISTER = [sync]
+    user_id = "@apple:test"
+    servlets = [sync.register_servlets]
 
-    def setUp(self):
-        self.clock = MemoryReactorClock()
-        self.hs_clock = Clock(self.clock)
+    def make_homeserver(self, reactor, clock):
 
-        self.hs = setup_test_homeserver(
-            self.addCleanup, http_client=None, clock=self.hs_clock, reactor=self.clock
+        hs = self.setup_test_homeserver(
+            "red", http_client=None, federation_client=Mock()
         )
-
-        self.auth = self.hs.get_auth()
-
-        def get_user_by_access_token(token=None, allow_guest=False):
-            return {
-                "user": UserID.from_string(self.USER_ID),
-                "token_id": 1,
-                "is_guest": False,
-            }
-
-        def get_user_by_req(request, allow_guest=False, rights="access"):
-            return synapse.types.create_requester(
-                UserID.from_string(self.USER_ID), 1, False, None
-            )
-
-        self.auth.get_user_by_access_token = get_user_by_access_token
-        self.auth.get_user_by_req = get_user_by_req
-
-        self.store = self.hs.get_datastore()
-        self.filtering = self.hs.get_filtering()
-        self.resource = JsonResource(self.hs)
-
-        for r in self.TO_REGISTER:
-            r.register_servlets(self.hs, self.resource)
+        return hs
 
     def test_sync_argless(self):
-        request, channel = make_request("GET", "/_matrix/client/r0/sync")
-        render(request, self.resource, self.clock)
+        request, channel = self.make_request("GET", "/sync")
+        self.render(request)
 
-        self.assertEqual(channel.result["code"], b"200")
+        self.assertEqual(channel.code, 200)
         self.assertTrue(
             set(
                 [
@@ -84,3 +49,25 @@ class FilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                 ]
             ).issubset(set(channel.json_body.keys()))
         )
+
+    def test_sync_presence_disabled(self):
+        """
+        When presence is disabled, the key does not appear in /sync.
+        """
+        self.hs.config.use_presence = False
+
+        request, channel = self.make_request("GET", "/sync")
+        self.render(request)
+
+        self.assertEqual(channel.code, 200)
+        self.assertTrue(
+            set(
+                [
+                    "next_batch",
+                    "rooms",
+                    "account_data",
+                    "to_device",
+                    "device_lists",
+                ]
+            ).issubset(set(channel.json_body.keys()))
+        )
diff --git a/tests/unittest.py b/tests/unittest.py
index e6afe3b96d..d852e2465a 100644
--- a/tests/unittest.py
+++ b/tests/unittest.py
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import logging
 
 from mock import Mock
 
+from canonicaljson import json
+
 import twisted
 import twisted.logger
 from twisted.trial import unittest
@@ -241,11 +243,15 @@ class HomeserverTestCase(TestCase):
             method (bytes/unicode): The HTTP request method ("verb").
             path (bytes/unicode): The HTTP path, suitably URL encoded (e.g.
             escaped UTF-8 & spaces and such).
-            content (bytes): The body of the request.
+            content (bytes or dict): The body of the request. JSON-encoded, if
+            a dict.
 
         Returns:
             A synapse.http.site.SynapseRequest.
         """
+        if isinstance(content, dict):
+            content = json.dumps(content).encode('utf8')
+
         return make_request(method, path, content)
 
     def render(self, request):
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 6f8b1de3e7..bb0fc74054 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ def setupdb():
 
 @defer.inlineCallbacks
 def setup_test_homeserver(
-    cleanup_func, name="test", datastore=None, config=None, reactor=None, **kargs
+    cleanup_func, name="test", datastore=None, config=None, reactor=None,
+    homeserverToUse=HomeServer, **kargs
 ):
     """
     Setup a homeserver suitable for running tests against.  Keyword arguments
@@ -192,7 +193,7 @@ def setup_test_homeserver(
     config.database_config["args"]["cp_openfun"] = db_engine.on_new_connection
 
     if datastore is None:
-        hs = HomeServer(
+        hs = homeserverToUse(
             name,
             config=config,
             db_config=config.database_config,
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@ def setup_test_homeserver(
 
         hs.setup()
     else:
-        hs = HomeServer(
+        hs = homeserverToUse(
             name,
             db_pool=None,
             datastore=datastore,