diff --git a/src/api/router/auth.rs b/src/api/router/auth.rs
index 08a08e08..6c2922b9 100644
--- a/src/api/router/auth.rs
+++ b/src/api/router/auth.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use axum_extra::{
 	typed_header::TypedHeaderRejectionReason,
 	TypedHeader,
 };
+use conduit::Err;
 use http::uri::PathAndQuery;
 use ruma::{
 	api::{client::error::ErrorKind, AuthScheme, Metadata},
@@ -183,7 +184,7 @@ fn auth_appservice(request: &Request, info: Box<RegistrationInfo>) -> Result<Aut
 
 async fn auth_server(request: &mut Request, json_body: &Option<CanonicalJsonValue>) -> Result<Auth> {
 	if !services().globals.allow_federation() {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config("Federation is disabled."));
+		return Err!(Config("allow_federation", "Federation is disabled."));
 	}
 
 	let TypedHeader(Authorization(x_matrix)) = request
diff --git a/src/api/routes.rs b/src/api/routes.rs
index b22a32cb..3a8b2c74 100644
--- a/src/api/routes.rs
+++ b/src/api/routes.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use axum::{
 	routing::{any, get, post},
 	Router,
 };
-use conduit::{Error, Server};
+use conduit::{err, Error, Server};
 use http::Uri;
 use ruma::api::client::error::ErrorKind;
 
@@ -236,4 +236,4 @@ async fn initial_sync(_uri: Uri) -> impl IntoResponse {
 	Error::BadRequest(ErrorKind::GuestAccessForbidden, "Guest access not implemented")
 }
 
-async fn federation_disabled() -> impl IntoResponse { Error::bad_config("Federation is disabled.") }
+async fn federation_disabled() -> impl IntoResponse { err!(Config("allow_federation", "Federation is disabled.")) }
diff --git a/src/core/config/check.rs b/src/core/config/check.rs
index 95b4df4e..67d19c72 100644
--- a/src/core/config/check.rs
+++ b/src/core/config/check.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
-use crate::{error::Error, warn, Config};
+use crate::{error, error::Error, info, warn, Config, Err};
 
 pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
+	#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+	info!("Note: conduwuit was built without optimisations (i.e. debug build)");
+
 	#[cfg(all(feature = "rocksdb", not(feature = "sha256_media")))] // prevents catching this in `--all-features`
 	warn!(
 		"Note the rocksdb feature was deleted from conduwuit. SQLite support was removed and RocksDB is the only \
@@ -16,7 +19,7 @@ pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 	config.warn_unknown_key();
 
 	if config.sentry && config.sentry_endpoint.is_none() {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config("Sentry cannot be enabled without an endpoint set"));
+		return Err!(Config("sentry_endpoint", "Sentry cannot be enabled without an endpoint set"));
 	}
 
 	#[cfg(all(feature = "hardened_malloc", feature = "jemalloc"))]
@@ -27,7 +30,8 @@ pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 
 	#[cfg(not(unix))]
 	if config.unix_socket_path.is_some() {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config(
+		return Err!(Config(
+			"unix_socket_path",
 			"UNIX socket support is only available on *nix platforms. Please remove \"unix_socket_path\" from your \
 			 config.",
 		));
@@ -44,7 +48,7 @@ pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 				if Path::new("/proc/vz").exists() /* Guest */ && !Path::new("/proc/bz").exists()
 				/* Host */
 				{
-					crate::error!(
+					error!(
 						"You are detected using OpenVZ with a loopback/localhost listening address of {addr}. If you \
 						 are using OpenVZ for containers and you use NAT-based networking to communicate with the \
 						 host and guest, this will NOT work. Please change this to \"0.0.0.0\". If this is expected, \
@@ -53,7 +57,7 @@ pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 				}
 
 				if Path::new("/.dockerenv").exists() {
-					crate::error!(
+					error!(
 						"You are detected using Docker with a loopback/localhost listening address of {addr}. If you \
 						 are using a reverse proxy on the host and require communication to conduwuit in the Docker \
 						 container via NAT-based networking, this will NOT work. Please change this to \"0.0.0.0\". \
@@ -62,7 +66,7 @@ pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 				}
 
 				if Path::new("/run/.containerenv").exists() {
-					crate::error!(
+					error!(
 						"You are detected using Podman with a loopback/localhost listening address of {addr}. If you \
 						 are using a reverse proxy on the host and require communication to conduwuit in the Podman \
 						 container via NAT-based networking, this will NOT work. Please change this to \"0.0.0.0\". \
@@ -75,36 +79,40 @@ pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 
 	// rocksdb does not allow max_log_files to be 0
 	if config.rocksdb_max_log_files == 0 {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config(
-			"rocksdb_max_log_files cannot be 0. Please set a value at least 1.",
+		return Err!(Config(
+			"max_log_files",
+			"rocksdb_max_log_files cannot be 0. Please set a value at least 1."
 		));
 	}
 
 	// yeah, unless the user built a debug build hopefully for local testing only
 	#[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
 	if config.server_name == "your.server.name" {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config(
-			"You must specify a valid server name for production usage of conduwuit.",
+		return Err!(Config(
+			"server_name",
+			"You must specify a valid server name for production usage of conduwuit."
 		));
 	}
 
-	#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
-	crate::info!("Note: conduwuit was built without optimisations (i.e. debug build)");
-
 	// check if the user specified a registration token as `""`
 	if config.registration_token == Some(String::new()) {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config("Registration token was specified but is empty (\"\")"));
+		return Err!(Config(
+			"registration_token",
+			"Registration token was specified but is empty (\"\")"
+		));
 	}
 
 	if config.max_request_size < 5_120_000 {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config("Max request size is less than 5MB. Please increase it."));
+		return Err!(Config(
+			"max_request_size",
+			"Max request size is less than 5MB. Please increase it."
+		));
 	}
 
 	// check if user specified valid IP CIDR ranges on startup
 	for cidr in &config.ip_range_denylist {
 		if let Err(e) = ipaddress::IPAddress::parse(cidr) {
-			crate::error!("Error parsing specified IP CIDR range from string: {e}");
-			return Err(Error::bad_config("Error parsing specified IP CIDR ranges from strings"));
+			return Err!(Config("ip_range_denylist", "Parsing specified IP CIDR range from string: {e}."));
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -112,13 +120,14 @@ pub fn check(config: &Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 		&& !config.yes_i_am_very_very_sure_i_want_an_open_registration_server_prone_to_abuse
 		&& config.registration_token.is_none()
 	{
-		return Err(Error::bad_config(
+		return Err!(Config(
+			"registration_token",
 			"!! You have `allow_registration` enabled without a token configured in your config which means you are \
 			 allowing ANYONE to register on your conduwuit instance without any 2nd-step (e.g. registration token).\n
 If this is not the intended behaviour, please set a registration token with the `registration_token` config option.\n
 For security and safety reasons, conduwuit will shut down. If you are extra sure this is the desired behaviour you \
 			 want, please set the following config option to true:
-`yes_i_am_very_very_sure_i_want_an_open_registration_server_prone_to_abuse`",
+`yes_i_am_very_very_sure_i_want_an_open_registration_server_prone_to_abuse`"
 		));
 	}
 
@@ -135,8 +144,9 @@ For security and safety reasons, conduwuit will shut down. If you are extra sure
 	}
 
 	if config.allow_outgoing_presence && !config.allow_local_presence {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config(
-			"Outgoing presence requires allowing local presence. Please enable \"allow_local_presence\".",
+		return Err!(Config(
+			"allow_local_presence",
+			"Outgoing presence requires allowing local presence. Please enable 'allow_local_presence'."
 		));
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/core/config/mod.rs b/src/core/config/mod.rs
index aadfe564..d12e7780 100644
--- a/src/core/config/mod.rs
+++ b/src/core/config/mod.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ use url::Url;
 
 pub use self::check::check;
 use self::proxy::ProxyConfig;
-use crate::error::Error;
+use crate::{error::Error, Err};
 
 pub mod check;
 pub mod proxy;
@@ -433,13 +433,13 @@ impl Config {
 		};
 
 		let config = match raw_config.extract::<Self>() {
-			Err(e) => return Err(Error::BadConfig(format!("{e}"))),
+			Err(e) => return Err!("There was a problem with your configuration file: {e}"),
 			Ok(config) => config,
 		};
 
 		// don't start if we're listening on both UNIX sockets and TCP at same time
 		if Self::is_dual_listening(&raw_config) {
-			return Err(Error::bad_config("dual listening on UNIX and TCP sockets not allowed."));
+			return Err!(Config("address", "dual listening on UNIX and TCP sockets not allowed."));
 		};
 
 		Ok(config)
diff --git a/src/core/error.rs b/src/core/error.rs
index a9f44dc9..77faae3a 100644
--- a/src/core/error.rs
+++ b/src/core/error.rs
@@ -18,35 +18,36 @@ use crate::{debug::panic_str, debug_error, error};
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! err {
 	(error!($($args:tt),+)) => {{
-		error!($($args),+);
-		$crate::error::Error::Err(format!($($args),+))
+		$crate::error!($($args),+);
+		$crate::error::Error::Err(std::format!($($args),+))
 	}};
 
 	(debug_error!($($args:tt),+)) => {{
-		debug_error!($($args),+);
-		$crate::error::Error::Err(format!($($args),+))
+		$crate::debug_error!($($args),+);
+		$crate::error::Error::Err(std::format!($($args),+))
 	}};
 
 	($variant:ident(error!($($args:tt),+))) => {{
-		error!($($args),+);
-		$crate::error::Error::$variant(format!($($args),+))
+		$crate::error!($($args),+);
+		$crate::error::Error::$variant(std::format!($($args),+))
 	}};
 
 	($variant:ident(debug_error!($($args:tt),+))) => {{
-		debug_error!($($args),+);
-		$crate::error::Error::$variant(format!($($args),+))
+		$crate::debug_error!($($args),+);
+		$crate::error::Error::$variant(std::format!($($args),+))
 	}};
 
-	($variant:ident(format!($($args:tt),+))) => {
-		$crate::error::Error::$variant(format!($($args),+))
-	};
+	(Config($item:literal, $($args:tt),+)) => {{
+		$crate::error!(config = %$item, $($args),+);
+		$crate::error::Error::Config($item, std::format!($($args),+))
+	}};
 
 	($variant:ident($($args:tt),+)) => {
-		$crate::error::Error::$variant(format!($($args),+))
+		$crate::error::Error::$variant(std::format!($($args),+))
 	};
 
 	($string:literal$(,)? $($args:tt),*) => {
-		$crate::error::Error::Err(format!($string, $($args),*))
+		$crate::error::Error::Err(std::format!($string, $($args),*))
 	};
 }
 
@@ -123,8 +124,8 @@ pub enum Error {
 	// conduwuit
 	#[error("Arithmetic operation failed: {0}")]
 	Arithmetic(&'static str),
-	#[error("There was a problem with your configuration: {0}")]
-	BadConfig(String),
+	#[error("There was a problem with the '{0}' directive in your configuration: {1}")]
+	Config(&'static str, String),
 	#[error("{0}")]
 	BadDatabase(&'static str),
 	#[error("{0}")]
@@ -145,11 +146,6 @@ impl Error {
 		Self::BadDatabase(message)
 	}
 
-	pub fn bad_config(message: &str) -> Self {
-		error!("BadConfig: {}", message);
-		Self::BadConfig(message.to_owned())
-	}
-
 	#[must_use]
 	pub fn from_panic(e: Box<dyn Any + Send>) -> Self { Self::Panic(panic_str(&e), e) }
 
diff --git a/src/main/tracing.rs b/src/main/tracing.rs
index 67977088..0217f38a 100644
--- a/src/main/tracing.rs
+++ b/src/main/tracing.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use conduit::{
 	config::Config,
-	debug_warn,
+	debug_warn, err,
 	log::{capture, LogLevelReloadHandles},
-	Error, Result,
+	Result,
 };
 use tracing_subscriber::{layer::SubscriberExt, reload, EnvFilter, Layer, Registry};
 
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@ pub(crate) type TracingFlameGuard = ();
 pub(crate) fn init(config: &Config) -> Result<(LogLevelReloadHandles, TracingFlameGuard, Arc<capture::State>)> {
 	let reload_handles = LogLevelReloadHandles::default();
 
-	let console_filter =
-		EnvFilter::try_new(&config.log).map_err(|e| Error::BadConfig(format!("in the 'log' setting: {e}.")))?;
+	let console_filter = EnvFilter::try_new(&config.log).map_err(|e| err!(Config("log", "{e}.")))?;
 	let console_layer = tracing_subscriber::fmt::Layer::new();
 	let (console_reload_filter, console_reload_handle) = reload::Layer::new(console_filter.clone());
 	reload_handles.add("console", Box::new(console_reload_handle));
@@ -32,8 +31,8 @@ pub(crate) fn init(config: &Config) -> Result<(LogLevelReloadHandles, TracingFla
 
 	#[cfg(feature = "sentry_telemetry")]
 	let subscriber = {
-		let sentry_filter = EnvFilter::try_new(&config.sentry_filter)
-			.map_err(|e| Error::BadConfig(format!("in the 'sentry_filter' setting: {e}.")))?;
+		let sentry_filter =
+			EnvFilter::try_new(&config.sentry_filter).map_err(|e| err!(Config("sentry_filter", "{e}.")))?;
 		let sentry_layer = sentry_tracing::layer();
 		let (sentry_reload_filter, sentry_reload_handle) = reload::Layer::new(sentry_filter);
 		reload_handles.add("sentry", Box::new(sentry_reload_handle));
@@ -44,9 +43,9 @@ pub(crate) fn init(config: &Config) -> Result<(LogLevelReloadHandles, TracingFla
 	let (subscriber, flame_guard) = {
 		let (flame_layer, flame_guard) = if config.tracing_flame {
 			let flame_filter = EnvFilter::try_new(&config.tracing_flame_filter)
-				.map_err(|e| Error::BadConfig(format!("in the 'tracing_flame_filter' setting: {e}.")))?;
+				.map_err(|e| err!(Config("tracing_flame_filter", "{e}.")))?;
 			let (flame_layer, flame_guard) = tracing_flame::FlameLayer::with_file(&config.tracing_flame_output_path)
-				.map_err(|e| Error::BadConfig(format!("in the 'tracing_flame_output_path' setting: {e}.")))?;
+				.map_err(|e| err!(Config("tracing_flame_output_path", "{e}.")))?;
 			let flame_layer = flame_layer
 				.with_empty_samples(false)
 				.with_filter(flame_filter);
@@ -55,8 +54,8 @@ pub(crate) fn init(config: &Config) -> Result<(LogLevelReloadHandles, TracingFla
 			(None, None)
 		};
 
-		let jaeger_filter = EnvFilter::try_new(&config.jaeger_filter)
-			.map_err(|e| Error::BadConfig(format!("in the 'jaeger_filter' setting: {e}.")))?;
+		let jaeger_filter =
+			EnvFilter::try_new(&config.jaeger_filter).map_err(|e| err!(Config("jaeger_filter", "{e}.")))?;
 		let jaeger_layer = config.allow_jaeger.then(|| {
 			opentelemetry::global::set_text_map_propagator(opentelemetry_jaeger::Propagator::new());
 			let tracer = opentelemetry_jaeger::new_agent_pipeline()
diff --git a/src/service/globals/resolver.rs b/src/service/globals/resolver.rs
index 3082f2fd..3002decf 100644
--- a/src/service/globals/resolver.rs
+++ b/src/service/globals/resolver.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use std::{
 	time::Duration,
 };
 
-use conduit::{error, Config, Error, Result};
+use conduit::{error, Config, Result};
 use hickory_resolver::TokioAsyncResolver;
 use reqwest::dns::{Addrs, Name, Resolve, Resolving};
 use ruma::OwnedServerName;
@@ -33,10 +33,7 @@ impl Resolver {
 	#[allow(clippy::as_conversions, clippy::cast_sign_loss, clippy::cast_possible_truncation)]
 	pub(super) fn new(config: &Config) -> Self {
 		let (sys_conf, mut opts) = hickory_resolver::system_conf::read_system_conf()
-			.map_err(|e| {
-				error!("Failed to set up hickory dns resolver with system config: {e}");
-				Error::bad_config("Failed to set up hickory dns resolver with system config.")
-			})
+			.inspect_err(|e| error!("Failed to set up hickory dns resolver with system config: {e}"))
 			.expect("DNS system config must be valid");
 
 		let mut conf = hickory_resolver::config::ResolverConfig::new();
diff --git a/src/service/rooms/alias/mod.rs b/src/service/rooms/alias/mod.rs
index 4af1035e..97eb0f48 100644
--- a/src/service/rooms/alias/mod.rs
+++ b/src/service/rooms/alias/mod.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ mod remote;
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use conduit::{Error, Result};
+use conduit::{err, Error, Result};
 use data::Data;
 use ruma::{
 	api::{appservice, client::error::ErrorKind},
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ impl Service {
 						.rooms
 						.alias
 						.resolve_local_alias(room_alias)?
-						.ok_or_else(|| Error::bad_config("Room does not exist."))?,
+						.ok_or_else(|| err!(BadConfig("Room does not exist.")))?,
 				));
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/service/sending/resolve.rs b/src/service/sending/resolve.rs
index d38509ba..91041a2f 100644
--- a/src/service/sending/resolve.rs
+++ b/src/service/sending/resolve.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use std::{
 	time::SystemTime,
 };
 
+use conduit::Err;
 use hickory_resolver::{error::ResolveError, lookup::SrvLookup};
 use ipaddress::IPAddress;
 use ruma::{OwnedServerName, ServerName};
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ fn handle_resolve_error(e: &ResolveError) -> Result<()> {
 
 fn validate_dest(dest: &ServerName) -> Result<()> {
 	if dest == services().globals.server_name() {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config("Won't send federation request to ourselves"));
+		return Err!("Won't send federation request to ourselves");
 	}
 
 	if dest.is_ip_literal() || IPAddress::is_valid(dest.host()) {
diff --git a/src/service/sending/send.rs b/src/service/sending/send.rs
index f4825ff3..18a98828 100644
--- a/src/service/sending/send.rs
+++ b/src/service/sending/send.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::{fmt::Debug, mem};
 
+use conduit::Err;
 use http::{header::AUTHORIZATION, HeaderValue};
 use ipaddress::IPAddress;
 use reqwest::{Client, Method, Request, Response, Url};
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ where
 	T: OutgoingRequest + Debug + Send,
 {
 	if !services().globals.allow_federation() {
-		return Err(Error::bad_config("Federation is disabled."));
+		return Err!(Config("allow_federation", "Federation is disabled."));
 	}
 
 	let actual = resolve::get_actual_dest(dest).await?;