diff --git a/src/sync.jl b/src/sync.jl
index 914b5ee..2f15e5b 100644
--- a/src/sync.jl
+++ b/src/sync.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 function sync(u::MatrixUser;
-              timeout = 0, since::Union{String,Nothing} = nothing, full = false)
+              timeout = 0, since::Union{String,Nothing} = nothing, full = false,
+              presence = "offline")
     req = Dict("timeout" => string(timeout),
+               "set_presence" => presence,
                "full" => string(full))
     since === nothing ? nothing : (req["since"] = string(since))
     get(u, "sync"; extraquery = req)
@@ -9,9 +11,9 @@ end
 function sync!(s::MatrixSync)
     # initial sync
     res = s.last in [nothing, ""] ?
-        sync(s.user, timeout = s.timeout, full = true) :
+        sync(s.user, timeout = s.timeout, full = true, presence = s.presence) :
         # updates
-        sync(s.user, since = s.last, timeout = s.timeout, full = false)
+        sync(s.user, since = s.last, timeout = s.timeout, full = false, presence = s.presence)
     res = JSON.parse(String(res.body))
     s.last = res["next_batch"]
     s.sync = res
diff --git a/src/types.jl b/src/types.jl
index 00cd6f8..7ce79a4 100644
--- a/src/types.jl
+++ b/src/types.jl
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ mutable struct MatrixSync
     user::MatrixUser
     last::Union{Nothing,String}
     timeout::Int
+    presence::String
     sync
 end