diff --git a/core/config.go b/core/config.go
index f25539e4..23fdc7f8 100644
--- a/core/config.go
+++ b/core/config.go
@@ -1,13 +1,27 @@
 package core
 
 import (
+	"flag"
+
 	"github.com/safing/portbase/config"
+	"github.com/safing/portbase/log"
 )
 
 var (
-	devMode config.BoolOption
+	devMode        config.BoolOption
+	defaultDevMode bool
 )
 
+func init() {
+	flag.BoolVar(&defaultDevMode, "devmode", false, "force development mode")
+}
+
+func logFlagOverrides() {
+	if defaultDevMode {
+		log.Warning("core: core/devMode default config is being forced by -devmode flag")
+	}
+}
+
 func registerConfig() error {
 	err := config.Register(&config.Option{
 		Name:           "Development Mode",
@@ -15,7 +29,7 @@ func registerConfig() error {
 		Description:    "In Development Mode security restrictions are lifted/softened to enable easier access to Portmaster for debugging and testing purposes. This is potentially very insecure, only activate if you know what you are doing.",
 		ExpertiseLevel: config.ExpertiseLevelDeveloper,
 		OptType:        config.OptTypeBool,
-		DefaultValue:   true,
+		DefaultValue:   defaultDevMode,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/core/main.go b/core/main.go
index b216ce3e..12e1b9dd 100644
--- a/core/main.go
+++ b/core/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 
+	"github.com/safing/portbase/api"
 	"github.com/safing/portbase/modules"
 	"github.com/safing/portbase/notifications"
 
@@ -37,11 +38,22 @@ func prep() error {
 		return errors.New("please set the data directory using --data=/path/to/data/dir")
 	}
 
+	// set api listen address
+	api.SetDefaultAPIListenAddress("127.0.0.1:817")
+
+	// init config
+	err := registerConfig()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	// initialize structure
 	return structure.Initialize(dataDir, 0755)
 }
 
 func start() error {
+	logFlagOverrides()
+
 	// init DB
 	err := startDB()
 	if err != nil {