Index: logback-classic/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/classic/joran/action/ConsolePluginAction.java
===================================================================
--- logback-classic/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/classic/joran/action/ConsolePluginAction.java	(revision 1959)
+++ logback-classic/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/classic/joran/action/ConsolePluginAction.java	(working copy)
@@ -12,13 +12,16 @@
 public class ConsolePluginAction extends Action {
 
   private static final String PORT_ATTR = "port";
+  private static final String SILENT_ATTR = "silent";
   private static final Integer DEFAULT_PORT = 4321;
 
   @Override
   public void begin(InterpretationContext ec, String name, Attributes attributes)
       throws ActionException {
     String portStr = attributes.getValue(PORT_ATTR);
+    String silentStr = attributes.getValue(SILENT_ATTR);
     Integer port = null;
+    boolean silentMode = false;
     
     if (portStr == null) {
       port = DEFAULT_PORT;
@@ -30,9 +33,18 @@
             + " in ConsolePlugin config is not a correct number");
       }
     }
+    
+    if (
+      (silentStr == null) || silentStr.equals("")
+	    || silentStr.equals("false") || silentStr.equals("null")) {
+	  addInfo(SILENT_ATTR + " attribute not set");
+	} else {
+	  silentMode = true;
+	}
 
     LoggerContext lc = (LoggerContext)ec.getContext();
     SocketAppender appender = new SocketAppender();
+    appender.setSilentMode(silentMode);
     appender.setContext(lc);
     appender.setIncludeCallerData(true);
     appender.setRemoteHost("localhost");
Index: logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/net/SocketAppenderBase.java
===================================================================
--- logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/net/SocketAppenderBase.java	(revision 1959)
+++ logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/net/SocketAppenderBase.java	(working copy)
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@
 
   protected int counter = 0;
 
+  private boolean silentMode = false;
+
   // reset the ObjectOutputStream every 70 calls
   private static final int RESET_FREQUENCY = 70;
 
@@ -140,7 +142,9 @@
         msg += " We will try again later.";
         fireConnector(); // fire the connector thread
       }
-      addError(msg, e);
+      if (!silentMode) {
+        addError(msg, e);
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -258,8 +262,12 @@
   public int getReconnectionDelay() {
     return reconnectionDelay;
   }
+  /** Option to be silent when using <consolePlugin/> **/
+  public void setSilentMode(boolean silentMode) {
+	this.silentMode = silentMode;
+  }
 
-  /**
+/**
    * The Connector will reconnect when the server becomes available again. It
    * does this by attempting to open a new connection every
    * <code>reconnectionDelay</code> milliseconds.
Index: logback-site/src/site/pages/consolePlugin.html
===================================================================
--- logback-site/src/site/pages/consolePlugin.html	(revision 1959)
+++ logback-site/src/site/pages/consolePlugin.html	(working copy)
@@ -113,6 +113,26 @@
     of this document.
    </p>
    
+   <p>
+    If no server is listening on the configured port, an ERROR will be printed to system out. Optionally
+    you can specify that the consolePlugin should be silent with the silent attribute.
+    This is typically useful when running i.e. on a buildserver and you don't want the buildlog polluted
+    with messages like:    
+   </p>
+   <div class="source"><pre>12:12:57,706 |-ERROR in ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SocketAppender[null] - Could not connect to remote logback server at [localhost]. We will try again later. java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: connect
+        at java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: connect
+        at      at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(Native Method)
+        ....(stacktrace abbreviated)</pre></div>
+   
+   
+   <div class="source"><pre>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
+
+&lt;configuration&gt;
+
+  &lt;consolePlugin silent="true" /&gt;
+  
+&lt;/configuration&gt;</pre></div> 
+   
    <h3>Using the logback plugin</h3>
    
    <p>