diff --git a/releases.moxie b/releases.moxie
index cc32d81..b6ed96d 100644
--- a/releases.moxie
+++ b/releases.moxie
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
     - Freemarker 2.3.20 (ticket-124)
     - Lucene 4.10.0 (ticket-159)
     - SSHD 0.13.0 (ticket-218)
+    settings:
+    - { name: web.displayUserPanel, defaultValue: 'true' }
     contributors:
     - James Moger
     - David Ostrovsky
diff --git a/src/main/distrib/data/defaults.properties b/src/main/distrib/data/defaults.properties
index aa69331..056b47a 100644
--- a/src/main/distrib/data/defaults.properties
+++ b/src/main/distrib/data/defaults.properties
@@ -1344,6 +1344,12 @@
 # RESTART REQUIRED
 web.debugMode = false
 
+# Allows to hide the user logon form or dropdown menu from the top pane 
+# if it's not needed.
+#
+# SINCE 1.7.0
+web.displayUserPanel = true
+
 # Force a default locale for all users, ignoring the browser's settings.
 # An empty value allows Gitblit to use the translation preferred by the browser.
 #
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/gitblit/wicket/pages/RootPage.java b/src/main/java/com/gitblit/wicket/pages/RootPage.java
index c4d4dd1..37e9870 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/gitblit/wicket/pages/RootPage.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/gitblit/wicket/pages/RootPage.java
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@
 		boolean authenticateAdmin = app().settings().getBoolean(Keys.web.authenticateAdminPages, true);
 		boolean allowAdmin = app().settings().getBoolean(Keys.web.allowAdministration, true);
 		boolean allowLucene = app().settings().getBoolean(Keys.web.allowLuceneIndexing, true);
+		boolean displayUserPanel = app().settings().getBoolean(Keys.web.displayUserPanel, true);
 		boolean isLoggedIn = GitBlitWebSession.get().isLoggedIn();
 
 		if (authenticateAdmin) {
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@
 			}
 		}
 
-		if (authenticateView || authenticateAdmin) {
+		if (displayUserPanel && (authenticateView || authenticateAdmin)) {
 			if (isLoggedIn) {
 				UserMenu userFragment = new UserMenu("userPanel", "userMenuFragment", RootPage.this);
 				add(userFragment);