diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b5e29b2..b94db69 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "ash-window",
  "glam 0.33.2",
+ "net",
  "raw-window-handle",
  "renderer",
  "serde_json",
@@ -2421,6 +2422,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "crossbeam-channel",
  "glam 0.33.2",
  "lru",
+ "net",
  "serde_json",
  "shared",
  "tempfile",
diff --git a/crates/server/Cargo.toml b/crates/server/Cargo.toml
index 81108d4..dcc2722 100644
--- a/crates/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ bevy_ecs = "0.19"
 crossbeam-channel = "0.5.16"
 glam.workspace = true
 lru = "0.18.1"
+net = { version = "0.1.0", path = "../net" }
 serde_json.workspace = true
 shared = { path = "../shared" }
 tracing.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/server/src/main.rs b/crates/server/src/main.rs
index 6f967ac..2c38f8f 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/main.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ pub mod world_server;
 
 use std::collections::HashSet;
 use std::fs;
+use std::net::{Ipv4Addr, SocketAddr};
+use std::time::Duration;
 
 use anyhow::Context;
 use bevy_ecs::prelude::{Query, ResMut, Schedule, With, World};
@@ -23,6 +25,7 @@ use shared::generator::{VoxelGenerator, WorldGenConfig};
 use shared::world::{ChunkPos, EntityPos};
 use tracing::{debug, info};
 
+use net::NetworkServer;
 use player::{Player, Position, ViewDistance};
 use world_server::{ServerWorld, cylinder_chunks};
 
@@ -116,16 +119,26 @@ fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     }
     info!("Initial region ready; granting player control");
 
-    // Drive several ticks, marching the dummy one chunk along +X between each. The manual movement stands in for network-driven player input and exists only to exercise load/unload as the anchor moves.
-    for step in 0..5 {
-        info!(step, "tick");
+    // Spawn the networking thread and bind the QUIC endpoint. The synchronous simulation loop below communicates with it only by draining events.
+    let bind = SocketAddr::from((Ipv4Addr::LOCALHOST, net::DEFAULT_PORT));
+    let (network, local_addr) = NetworkServer::spawn(
+        bind,
+        env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION").to_owned(),
+        // Placeholder advisory tick rate.
+        20,
+    )
+    .context("spawning network server")?;
+    info!(%local_addr, "network endpoint listening");
+
+    // Authoritative simulation loop.
+    loop {
         schedule.run(&mut world);
 
-        let mut movers = world.query_filtered::<&mut Position, With<Player>>();
-        for mut position in movers.iter_mut(&mut world) {
-            position.0.chunk.x += 1;
+        for event in network.poll_events() {
+            info!(?event, "network event");
         }
-    }
 
-    Ok(())
+        // Advisory ~20 Hz cadence until the real tick scheduler lands.
+        std::thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(50));
+    }
 }