diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin_dashboard_controller.js b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin_dashboard_controller.js
index 8ec0442a3ba4b0..a62912807e0e72 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin_dashboard_controller.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/controllers/admin_dashboard_controller.js
@@ -8,5 +8,9 @@
 **/
 Discourse.AdminDashboardController = Ember.Controller.extend({
   loading: true,
-  versionCheck: null
+  versionCheck: null,
+
+  foundProblems: function() {
+    return(this.get('problems') && this.get('problems').length > 0);
+  }.property('problems')
 });
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js
index 769d19870aeaf0..8f3176acb28bd8 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Discourse.AdminDashboardRoute = Discourse.Route.extend({
           c.set(report.type, Discourse.Report.create(report));
         });
         c.set('totalUsers', d.total_users);
+        c.set('problems', d.problems);
         c.set('loading', false);
       });
     }
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars
index 63e02055b32b8f..04858ad3d260ed 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars
@@ -1,4 +1,21 @@
 <div class="dashboard-left">
+  {{#if foundProblems}}
+    <div class="dashboard-stats detected-problems">
+      <div class="look-here"><i class="icon icon-warning-sign"></i></div>
+      <div class="problem-messages">
+        <p>
+          {{i18n admin.dashboard.problems_found}}
+          <ul>
+            {{#each problem in problems}}
+              <li>{{problem}}</li>
+            {{/each}}
+          </ul>
+        </p>
+      </div>
+      <div class="clearfix"></div>
+    </div>
+  {{/if}}
+
   {{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.version_checks}}
     <div {{bindAttr class=":dashboard-stats :version-check versionCheck.critical_updates:critical:normal"}}>
       <table class="table table-condensed table-hover">
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/admin/admin_base.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/admin/admin_base.scss
index 981cef860b5fd6..636600def275fc 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/admin/admin_base.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/admin/admin_base.scss
@@ -367,6 +367,31 @@ table {
     }
   }
 
+  &.detected-problems {
+    @include border-radius-all(5px);
+    background-color: #eee;
+    border: 1px solid #ccc;
+    margin-bottom: 20px;
+    margin-top: 10px;
+    box-shadow: inset 0 0 10px #bbb;
+
+    .look-here {
+      float: left;
+      margin: 20px 20px 0 20px;
+
+      .icon {
+        font-size: 32px;
+        vertical-align: middle;
+        color: $darkish_gray;
+      }
+    }
+
+    .problem-messages {
+      float: left;
+      width: 355px;
+    }
+  }
+
   &.totals {
     width: 160px;
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/dashboard_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/dashboard_controller.rb
index ce9b2691345217..032d72552358ab 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/dashboard_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/dashboard_controller.rb
@@ -2,12 +2,7 @@
 class Admin::DashboardController < Admin::AdminController
 
   def index
-    render_json_dump({
-      reports: ['visits', 'signups', 'topics', 'posts', 'flags', 'users_by_trust_level', 'likes', 'emails'].map { |type| Report.find(type) },
-      total_users: User.count
-    }.merge(
-      SiteSetting.version_checks? ? {version_check: DiscourseUpdates.check_version} : {}
-    ))
+    render_json_dump(AdminDashboardData.fetch)
   end
 
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/admin_dashboard_data.rb b/app/models/admin_dashboard_data.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..f08aed0fdd7a6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/admin_dashboard_data.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+class AdminDashboardData
+
+  REPORTS = ['visits', 'signups', 'topics', 'posts', 'flags', 'users_by_trust_level', 'likes', 'emails']
+
+  def self.fetch
+    AdminDashboardData.new
+  end
+
+  def as_json
+    @json ||= {
+      reports: REPORTS.map { |type| Report.find(type) },
+      total_users: User.count,
+      problems: [rails_env_check].compact
+    }.merge(
+      SiteSetting.version_checks? ? {version_check: DiscourseUpdates.check_version} : {}
+    )
+  end
+
+  def rails_env_check
+    I18n.t("dashboard.rails_env_warning", env: Rails.env) unless Rails.env == 'production'
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/config/locales/client.en.yml b/config/locales/client.en.yml
index 5a6fa50c724aed..aef417a34b032c 100644
--- a/config/locales/client.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/client.en.yml
@@ -698,6 +698,7 @@ en:
         update_often: 'Please update often!'
         total_users: "Total Users"
         moderator_short: "mod"
+        problems_found: "Some problems have been found with your installation of Discourse:"
 
         reports:
           today: "Today"
diff --git a/config/locales/server.en.yml b/config/locales/server.en.yml
index 07b3de15716b00..0c76bc7a70ec11 100644
--- a/config/locales/server.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/server.en.yml
@@ -283,6 +283,9 @@ en:
       xaxis: "Day"
       yaxis: "Number of Emails"
 
+  dashboard:
+    rails_env_warning: "Your server is running in %{env} mode."
+
   site_settings:
     default_locale: "The default language of this Discourse instance (ISO 639-1 Code)"
     min_post_length: "Minimum post length in characters"
diff --git a/spec/models/admin_dashboard_data_spec.rb b/spec/models/admin_dashboard_data_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..eb368a6df48098
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/models/admin_dashboard_data_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe AdminDashboardData do
+
+  describe "rails_env_check" do
+    subject { AdminDashboardData.new.rails_env_check }
+
+    it 'returns nil when running in production mode' do
+      Rails.stubs(:env).returns('production')
+      subject.should be_nil
+    end
+
+    it 'returns a string when running in development mode' do
+      Rails.stubs(:env).returns('development')
+      subject.should_not be_nil
+    end
+
+    it 'returns a string when running in test mode' do
+      Rails.stubs(:env).returns('test')
+      subject.should_not be_nil
+    end
+  end
+
+end
\ No newline at end of file