diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/json/JsonConfiguration.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/json/JsonConfiguration.java
index 9598a1d..c22c50c 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/json/JsonConfiguration.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/json/JsonConfiguration.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.util.PluginManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.util.PluginType;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.util.ResolverUtil;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.status.StatusConfiguration;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.util.Patterns;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
@@ -68,11 +69,19 @@
                 }
             }
             processAttributes(rootNode, root);
+            final StatusConfiguration statusConfig = new StatusConfiguration().withVerboseClasses(VERBOSE_CLASSES)
+                    .withStatus(getDefaultStatus());
             for (final Map.Entry<String, String> entry : rootNode.getAttributes().entrySet()) {
                 final String key = entry.getKey();
                 final String value = getStrSubstitutor().replace(entry.getValue());
-                if ("shutdownHook".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+                if ("status".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+                    statusConfig.withStatus(value);
+                } else if ("dest".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+                    statusConfig.withDestination(value);
+                } else if ("shutdownHook".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
                     isShutdownHookEnabled = !"disable".equalsIgnoreCase(value);
+                } else if ("verbose".equalsIgnoreCase(entry.getKey())) {
+                    statusConfig.withVerbosity(value);
                 } else if ("packages".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
                     final String[] packages = value.split(Patterns.COMMA_SEPARATOR);
                     for (final String p : packages) {
@@ -89,6 +98,7 @@
                     createAdvertiser(value, configSource, buffer, "application/json");
                 }
             }
+            statusConfig.initialize();
             if (getName() == null) {
                 setName(configSource.getLocation());
             }
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusConfiguration.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusConfiguration.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60abf2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusConfiguration.java
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You 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.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.status;
+
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.LinkedList;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.status.StatusListener;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.status.StatusLogger;
+
+/**
+ * Configuration for setting up {@link StatusConsoleListener} instances.
+ */
+public class StatusConfiguration {
+
+    private static final Level DEFAULT_STATUS = Level.ERROR;
+    private static final Verbosity DEFAULT_VERBOSITY = Verbosity.QUIET;
+
+    private final Collection<String> errorMessages = Collections.synchronizedCollection(new LinkedList<String>());
+    private final StatusLogger logger = StatusLogger.getLogger();
+
+    private volatile boolean initialized = false;
+
+    private Class<? extends StatusConsoleListener> destination = StatusStdOutListener.class;
+    private Level status = DEFAULT_STATUS;
+    private Verbosity verbosity = DEFAULT_VERBOSITY;
+    private String[] verboseClasses;
+
+    /**
+     * Specifies how verbose the StatusLogger should be.
+     */
+    public static enum Verbosity {
+        QUIET, VERBOSE;
+
+        /**
+         * Parses the verbosity property into an enum.
+         *
+         * @param value property value to parse.
+         * @return enum corresponding to value, or QUIET by default.
+         */
+        public static Verbosity toVerbosity(final String value) {
+            return Boolean.parseBoolean(value) ? VERBOSE : QUIET;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Logs an error message to the StatusLogger. If the StatusLogger hasn't been set up yet, queues the message to be
+     * logged after initialization.
+     *
+     * @param message error message to log.
+     */
+    public void error(final String message) {
+        if (!this.initialized) {
+            this.errorMessages.add(message);
+        } else {
+            this.logger.error(message);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Specifies the destination for StatusLogger events. This can be {@code out} (default) for using
+     * {@link System#out standard out}, {@code err} for using {@link System#err standard error}, or a file URI to
+     * which log events will be written. If the provided URI is invalid, then the default destination of standard
+     * out will be used.
+     *
+     * @param destination where status log messages should be output.
+     * @return {@code this}
+     */
+    public StatusConfiguration withDestination(final String destination) {
+    	if ("out".equalsIgnoreCase(destination)) {
+    		this.destination = StatusStdOutListener.class;
+    	} else if ("err".equalsIgnoreCase(destination)) {
+    		this.destination = StatusStdErrListener.class;
+    	} else {
+    		this.error("Invalid destination [" + destination + "]. Only 'out' or 'err' are supported. Defaulting to 'out'.");
+    		this.destination = StatusStdOutListener.class;
+    	}
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Specifies the logging level by name to use for filtering StatusLogger messages.
+     *
+     * @param status name of logger level to filter below.
+     * @return {@code this}
+     * @see Level
+     */
+    public StatusConfiguration withStatus(final String status) {
+        this.status = Level.toLevel(status, null);
+        if (this.status == null) {
+            this.error("Invalid status level specified: " + status + ". Defaulting to ERROR.");
+            this.status = Level.ERROR;
+        }
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Specifies the logging level to use for filtering StatusLogger messages.
+     *
+     * @param status logger level to filter below.
+     * @return {@code this}
+     */
+    public StatusConfiguration withStatus(final Level status) {
+        this.status = status;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Specifies the verbosity level to log at. This only applies to classes configured by
+     * {@link #withVerboseClasses(String...) verboseClasses}.
+     *
+     * @param verbosity basic filter for status logger messages.
+     * @return {@code this}
+     */
+    public StatusConfiguration withVerbosity(final String verbosity) {
+        this.verbosity = Verbosity.toVerbosity(verbosity);
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Specifies which class names to filter if the configured verbosity level is QUIET.
+     *
+     * @param verboseClasses names of classes to filter if not using VERBOSE.
+     * @return {@code this}
+     */
+    public StatusConfiguration withVerboseClasses(final String... verboseClasses) {
+        this.verboseClasses = verboseClasses;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Configures and initializes the StatusLogger using the configured options in this instance.
+     */
+    public void initialize() {
+        if (!this.initialized) {
+            if (this.status == Level.OFF) {
+                this.initialized = true;
+            } else {
+                final boolean configured = configureExistingStatusConsoleListener();
+                if (!configured) {
+                    registerNewStatusConsoleListener();
+                }
+                migrateSavedLogMessages();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private boolean configureExistingStatusConsoleListener() {
+        boolean configured = false;
+        for (final StatusListener statusListener : this.logger.getListeners()) {
+        	if (this.destination.isInstance(statusListener)) {
+                final StatusConsoleListener listener = (StatusConsoleListener) statusListener;
+                listener.setStatusLevel(this.status);
+                if (this.verbosity == Verbosity.QUIET) {
+                    listener.setFilters(this.verboseClasses);
+                }
+                configured = true;
+            }
+        }
+        return configured;
+    }
+
+
+    private void registerNewStatusConsoleListener() {
+        StatusConsoleListener listener;
+		try {
+			listener = this.destination.newInstance();
+	        listener.setStatusLevel(this.status);
+	        if (this.verbosity == Verbosity.QUIET) {
+	            listener.setFilters(this.verboseClasses);
+	        }
+	        this.logger.registerListener(listener);
+		} catch (ReflectiveOperationException e) {
+			logger.error("Cannot create listener of type " + destination.getClass());
+		}
+    }
+
+    private void migrateSavedLogMessages() {
+        for (final String message : this.errorMessages) {
+            this.logger.error(message);
+        }
+        this.initialized = true;
+        this.errorMessages.clear();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusConsoleListener.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusConsoleListener.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d029cbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusConsoleListener.java
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You 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.
+ */
+package org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.status;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.status.StatusData;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.status.StatusListener;
+
+/**
+ * StatusListener that writes to the Console.
+ */
+public abstract class StatusConsoleListener implements StatusListener {
+
+    protected Level level;
+    private String[] filters = null;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates the StatusConsoleListener using the supplied Level. 
+     */
+    public StatusConsoleListener() {
+        this(Level.FATAL);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates the StatusConsoleListener using the supplied Level. 
+     * @param level The Level of status messages that should appear on the console.
+     */
+    public StatusConsoleListener(final Level level) {
+        this.level = level;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the level to a new value.
+     * @param level The new Level.
+     */
+    public void setStatusLevel(final Level level) {
+        this.level = level;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Level getStatusLevel() {
+    	return level;
+    }
+
+	/**
+     * Adds package name filters to exclude.
+     * @param filters An array of package names to exclude.
+     */
+    public void setFilters(final String... filters) {
+        this.filters = filters;
+    }
+
+    protected boolean isEnabledFor(final StatusData data) {
+        if (filters == null) {
+        	return true;
+        }
+        final String caller = data.getStackTraceElement().getClassName();
+        for (final String filter : filters) {
+            if (caller.startsWith(filter)) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void close() throws IOException {
+        // don't close system streams
+    }
+}
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusStdErrListener.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusStdErrListener.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59bd007
--- /dev/null
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusStdErrListener.java
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.status;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.status.StatusData;
+
+public class StatusStdErrListener extends StatusConsoleListener {
+
+	@Override
+	public void log(StatusData data) {
+        if (isEnabledFor(data)) {
+            System.err.println(data.getFormattedStatus());
+        }
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusStdOutListener.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusStdOutListener.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83631e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/status/StatusStdOutListener.java
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.status;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.status.StatusData;
+
+public class StatusStdOutListener extends StatusConsoleListener {
+
+	@Override
+	public void log(StatusData data) {
+        if (isEnabledFor(data)) {
+            System.out.println(data.getFormattedStatus());
+        }
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/xml/XmlConfiguration.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/xml/XmlConfiguration.java
index 309bf66..eadcbbc 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/xml/XmlConfiguration.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/xml/XmlConfiguration.java
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.util.PluginManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.util.PluginType;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.plugins.util.ResolverUtil;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.status.StatusConfiguration;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.util.Loader;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.util.Patterns;
 import org.w3c.dom.Attr;
@@ -133,11 +134,19 @@
             final Document document = newDocumentBuilder().parse(source);
             rootElement = document.getDocumentElement();
             final Map<String, String> attrs = processAttributes(rootNode, rootElement);
+            final StatusConfiguration statusConfig = new StatusConfiguration().withVerboseClasses(VERBOSE_CLASSES)
+                    .withStatus(getDefaultStatus());
             for (final Map.Entry<String, String> entry : attrs.entrySet()) {
                 final String key = entry.getKey();
                 final String value = getStrSubstitutor().replace(entry.getValue());
-                if ("shutdownHook".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+                if ("status".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+                    statusConfig.withStatus(value);
+                } else if ("dest".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+                    statusConfig.withDestination(value);
+                } else if ("shutdownHook".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
                     isShutdownHookEnabled = !"disable".equalsIgnoreCase(value);
+                } else if ("verbose".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+                    statusConfig.withVerbosity(value);
                 } else if ("packages".equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
                     final String[] packages = value.split(Patterns.COMMA_SEPARATOR);
                     for (final String p : packages) {
@@ -158,6 +167,7 @@
                     createAdvertiser(value, configSource, buffer, "text/xml");
                 }
             }
+            statusConfig.initialize();
         } catch (final SAXException domEx) {
             LOGGER.error("Error parsing " + configSource.getLocation(), domEx);
         } catch (final IOException ioe) {
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/CustomConfigurationTest.java b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/CustomConfigurationTest.java
index 1146664..9b12394 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/CustomConfigurationTest.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/config/CustomConfigurationTest.java
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
         assertTrue("Configuration is not an XmlConfiguration", config instanceof XmlConfiguration);
         for (final StatusListener listener : StatusLogger.getLogger().getListeners()) {
             if (listener instanceof StatusConsoleListener) {
-                assertSame(((StatusConsoleListener) listener).getLevel(), Level.INFO);
+                assertSame(((StatusConsoleListener) listener).getStatusLevel(), Level.INFO);
                 break;
             }
         }
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueAppenderTest.java b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueAppenderTest.java
index b51d8b0..7710d71 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueAppenderTest.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueAppenderTest.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
     public static void setupClass() throws Exception {
         // MockContextFactory becomes the primary JNDI provider
         final StatusStdOutListener listener = new StatusStdOutListener();
-        listener.setLevel(Level.ERROR);
+        listener.setStatusLevel(Level.ERROR);
         StatusLogger.getLogger().registerListener(listener);
         MockContextFactory.setAsInitial();
         context = new InitialContext();
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueFailoverTest.java b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueFailoverTest.java
index ed6e284..938916b 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueFailoverTest.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueFailoverTest.java
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
     private static void setupQueue() throws Exception {
         // MockContextFactory becomes the primary JNDI provider
         final StatusStdOutListener listener = new StatusStdOutListener();
-        listener.setLevel(Level.ERROR);
+        listener.setStatusLevel(Level.ERROR);
         StatusLogger.getLogger().registerListener(listener);
         MockContextFactory.setAsInitial();
         context = new InitialContext();
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueTest.java b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueTest.java
index 6881ca6..5a6b055 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueTest.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsQueueTest.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
     public static void setupClass() throws Exception {
         // MockContextFactory becomes the primary JNDI provider
         final StatusStdOutListener listener = new StatusStdOutListener();
-        listener.setLevel(Level.ERROR);
+        listener.setStatusLevel(Level.ERROR);
         StatusLogger.getLogger().registerListener(listener);
         MockContextFactory.setAsInitial();
         context = new InitialContext();
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicFailoverTest.java b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicFailoverTest.java
index 47f811e..1ffcb0c 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicFailoverTest.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicFailoverTest.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
     private static void setupQueue() throws Exception {
         // MockContextFactory becomes the primary JNDI provider
         final StatusStdOutListener listener = new StatusStdOutListener();
-        listener.setLevel(Level.ERROR);
+        listener.setStatusLevel(Level.ERROR);
         StatusLogger.getLogger().registerListener(listener);
         MockContextFactory.setAsInitial();
         context = new InitialContext();
diff --git a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicTest.java b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicTest.java
index 3565c40..0029fb6 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicTest.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/test/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/net/jms/JmsTopicTest.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
     public static void setupClass() throws Exception {
         // MockContextFactory becomes the primary JNDI provider
         final StatusStdOutListener listener = new StatusStdOutListener();
-        listener.setLevel(Level.ERROR);
+        listener.setStatusLevel(Level.ERROR);
         StatusLogger.getLogger().registerListener(listener);
         MockContextFactory.setAsInitial();
         context = new InitialContext();