diff --git a/docs/plugins/hooks.rst b/docs/plugins/hooks.rst
index c8842ee4..08f6d40c 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/hooks.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/hooks.rst
@@ -676,6 +676,38 @@ octoprint.filemanager.preprocessor
    :return: The `file_object` as passed in or None, or a replaced version to use instead for further processing.
    :rtype: AbstractFileWrapper or None
 
+.. _sec-plugins-hook-printer-factory:
+
+octoprint.printer.factory
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+.. py:function:: hook(components, *args, **kwargs)
+
+   Return a :class:`~octoprint.printer.PrinterInstance` instance to use as global printer object. This will
+   be called only once during initial server startup.
+
+   The provided ``components`` is a dictionary containing the already initialized system components:
+
+     * ``plugin_manager``: The :class:`~octoprint.plugin.core.PluginManager`
+     * ``printer_profile_manager``: The :class:`~octoprint.printer.profile.PrinterProfileManager`
+     * ``event_bus``: The :class:`~octoprint.events.EventManager`
+     * ``analysis_queue``: The :class:`~octoprint.filemanager.analysis.AnalysisQueue`
+     * ``slicing_manager``: The :class:`~octoprint.slicing.SlicingManager`
+     * ``file_manager``: The :class:`~octoprint.filemanager.FileManager`
+     * ``app_session_manager``: The :class:`~octoprint.server.util.flask.AppSessionManager`
+     * ``plugin_lifecycle_manager``: The :class:`~octoprint.server.LifecycleManager`
+     * ``user_manager``: The :class:`~octoprint.users.UserManager`
+     * ``preemptive_cache``: The :class:`~octoprint.server.util.flask.PreemptiveCache`
+
+   If the factory returns anything but ``None``, it will be assigned to the global ``printer`` instance.
+
+   If no of the registered factories return a printer instance, the default :class:`~octoprint.printer.standard.Printer`
+   class will be instantiated.
+
+   :param dict components: System components to use for printer instance initialization
+   :return: The ``printer`` instance to use globally.
+   :rtype: PrinterInterface subclass or None
+
 .. _sec-plugins-hook-server-http-bodysize:
 
 octoprint.server.http.bodysize
diff --git a/src/octoprint/server/__init__.py b/src/octoprint/server/__init__.py
index 25fc5a94..e7e99aa4 100644
--- a/src/octoprint/server/__init__.py
+++ b/src/octoprint/server/__init__.py
@@ -196,6 +196,17 @@ class Server(object):
 		pluginLifecycleManager = LifecycleManager(pluginManager)
 		preemptiveCache = PreemptiveCache(os.path.join(self._settings.getBaseFolder("data"), "preemptive_cache_config.yaml"))
 
+		# setup access control
+		userManagerName = self._settings.get(["accessControl", "userManager"])
+		try:
+			clazz = octoprint.util.get_class(userManagerName)
+			userManager = clazz()
+		except AttributeError as e:
+			self._logger.exception("Could not instantiate user manager {}, falling back to FilebasedUserManager!".format(userManagerName))
+			userManager = octoprint.users.FilebasedUserManager()
+		finally:
+			userManager.enabled = self._settings.getBoolean(["accessControl", "enabled"])
+
 		components = dict(
 			plugin_manager=pluginManager,
 			printer_profile_manager=printerProfileManager,
@@ -223,18 +234,6 @@ class Server(object):
 			printer = Printer(fileManager, analysisQueue, printerProfileManager)
 		components.update(dict(printer=printer))
 
-		# setup access control
-		userManagerName = self._settings.get(["accessControl", "userManager"])
-		try:
-			clazz = octoprint.util.get_class(userManagerName)
-			userManager = clazz()
-		except AttributeError as e:
-			self._logger.exception("Could not instantiate user manager {}, falling back to FilebasedUserManager!".format(userManagerName))
-			userManager = octoprint.users.FilebasedUserManager()
-		finally:
-			userManager.enabled = self._settings.getBoolean(["accessControl", "enabled"])
-		components["user_manager"] = userManager
-
 		def octoprint_plugin_inject_factory(name, implementation):
 			if not isinstance(implementation, octoprint.plugin.OctoPrintPlugin):
 				return None