public static String getID(String associatedSetting) {

        if (IDConfig == null) {
            try {
                IDConfig = Util.readJSONFile("./data/ids.json");
            } catch (IOException ex) {
                Logger.error("IDHelper.loadIDs", "Failed to load 'ids.json'!", false, ex);
                return null;
            }
        }

        String idmode = (String) IDConfig.get("mode");

        if (idmode.equalsIgnoreCase("default")) {
            return null;
        } else if (idmode.startsWith("file::")) {
            return getIDFromFile(idmode.split("::")[1], associatedSetting);
        } else {
            return getIDFromConfig(idmode, associatedSetting);
        }
    }