diff --git a/apps/arweave/src/ar.erl b/apps/arweave/src/ar.erl
index 473cadf59..360dea491 100644
--- a/apps/arweave/src/ar.erl
+++ b/apps/arweave/src/ar.erl
@@ -678,10 +678,11 @@ start(Config) ->
 			timer:sleep(2000),
 			erlang:halt()
 	end,
-	ok = application:set_env(arweave, config, Config),
-	filelib:ensure_dir(Config#config.log_dir ++ "/"),
+	Config2 = ar_config:set_dependent_flags(Config),
+	ok = application:set_env(arweave, config, Config2),
+	filelib:ensure_dir(Config2#config.log_dir ++ "/"),
 	warn_if_single_scheduler(),
-	case Config#config.nonce_limiter_server_trusted_peers of
+	case Config2#config.nonce_limiter_server_trusted_peers of
 		[] ->
 			VDFSpeed = ar_bench_vdf:run_benchmark(),
 			?LOG_INFO([{event, vdf_benchmark}, {vdf_s, VDFSpeed / 1000000}]);
diff --git a/apps/arweave/src/ar_config.erl b/apps/arweave/src/ar_config.erl
index ad2479f90..116ef35a2 100644
--- a/apps/arweave/src/ar_config.erl
+++ b/apps/arweave/src/ar_config.erl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 -module(ar_config).
 
--export([validate_config/1, auto_join/0, verify/0, use_remote_vdf_server/0,
+-export([validate_config/1, set_dependent_flags/1, use_remote_vdf_server/0,
 		pull_from_remote_vdf_server/0, compute_own_vdf/0, is_vdf_server/0,
 		is_public_vdf_server/0, parse/1, parse_storage_module/1, log_config/1]).
 
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 %%% Public interface.
 %%%===================================================================
 
+-spec validate_config(Config :: #config{}) -> boolean().
 validate_config(Config) ->
 	validate_init(Config) andalso
 	validate_storage_modules(Config) andalso
@@ -21,13 +22,11 @@ validate_config(Config) ->
 	validate_packing_difficulty(Config) andalso
 	validate_verify(Config).
 
-auto_join() ->
-	{ok, Config} = application:get_env(arweave, config),
-	Config#config.auto_join andalso not Config#config.verify.
-
-verify() ->
-	{ok, Config} = application:get_env(arweave, config),
-	Config#config.verify.
+-spec set_dependent_flags(Config :: #config{}) -> #config{}.
+%% @doc Some flags force other flags to be set.
+set_dependent_flags(Config) ->
+	Config2 = set_verify_flags(Config),
+	Config2.
 
 use_remote_vdf_server() ->
 	{ok, Config} = application:get_env(arweave, config),
@@ -990,3 +989,32 @@ validate_verify(#config{ verify = true,
 	false;
 validate_verify(_Config) ->
 	true.
+
+disable_vdf(Config) ->
+	RemovePublicVDFServer = 
+		lists:filter(fun(Item) -> Item =/= public_vdf_server end, Config#config.enable),
+	Config#config{
+		nonce_limiter_client_peers = [],
+		nonce_limiter_server_trusted_peers = [],
+		enable = RemovePublicVDFServer,
+		disable = [compute_own_vdf | Config#config.disable]
+	}.
+
+set_verify_flags(#config{ verify = false } = Config) ->
+	Config;
+set_verify_flags(Config) ->
+	io:format("~n~nWARNING: The verify flag is set. Forcing the following options:"),
+	io:format("~n  - auto_join = false"),
+	io:format("~n  - start_from_latest_state = true"),
+	io:format("~n  - sync_jobs = 0"),
+	io:format("~n  - block_pollers = 0"),
+	io:format("~n  - header_sync_jobs = 0"),
+	io:format("~n  - all VDF features disabled"),
+	Config2 = disable_vdf(Config),
+	Config2#config{
+		auto_join = false,
+		start_from_latest_state = true,
+		sync_jobs = 0,
+		block_pollers = 0,
+		header_sync_jobs = 0
+	}.
diff --git a/apps/arweave/src/ar_node_worker.erl b/apps/arweave/src/ar_node_worker.erl
index 6ba61fba7..ebedf43c0 100644
--- a/apps/arweave/src/ar_node_worker.erl
+++ b/apps/arweave/src/ar_node_worker.erl
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ init([]) ->
 	validate_trusted_peers(Config),
 	StartFromLocalState = Config#config.start_from_latest_state orelse
 			Config#config.start_from_block /= undefined,
-	case {StartFromLocalState, Config#config.init, ar_config:auto_join()} of
+	case {StartFromLocalState, Config#config.init, Config#config.auto_join} of
 		{false, false, true} ->
 			ar_join:start(ar_peers:get_trusted_peers());
 		{true, _, _} ->
diff --git a/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter.erl b/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter.erl
index 90d9441e5..afbcd2bf2 100644
--- a/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter.erl
+++ b/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter.erl
@@ -408,27 +408,22 @@ apply_external_update(Update, Peer) ->
 %%%===================================================================
 
 init([]) ->
-	case ar_config:verify() of
+	ok = ar_events:subscribe(node_state),
+	State =
+		case ar_node:is_joined() of
+			true ->
+				Blocks = get_blocks(),
+				handle_initialized(Blocks, #state{});
+			_ ->
+				#state{}
+		end,
+	case ar_config:use_remote_vdf_server() and not ar_config:compute_own_vdf() of
 		true ->
-			ignore;
+			gen_server:cast(?MODULE, check_external_vdf_server_input);
 		false ->
-			ok = ar_events:subscribe(node_state),
-			State =
-			case ar_node:is_joined() of
-				true ->
-					Blocks = get_blocks(),
-					handle_initialized(Blocks, #state{});
-				_ ->
-					#state{}
-			end,
-			case ar_config:use_remote_vdf_server() and not ar_config:compute_own_vdf() of
-				true ->
-					gen_server:cast(?MODULE, check_external_vdf_server_input);
-				false ->
-					ok
-			end,
-			{ok, start_worker(State#state{ autocompute = ar_config:compute_own_vdf() })}
-	end.
+			ok
+	end,
+	{ok, start_worker(State#state{ autocompute = ar_config:compute_own_vdf() })}.
 
 get_blocks() ->
 	B = ar_node:get_current_block(),
diff --git a/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter_server_sup.erl b/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter_server_sup.erl
index eab8540a4..fb3898e2a 100644
--- a/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter_server_sup.erl
+++ b/apps/arweave/src/ar_nonce_limiter_server_sup.erl
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ start_link() ->
 %% ===================================================================
 
 init([]) ->
-	case ar_config:is_vdf_server() andalso not ar_config:verify() of
+	case ar_config:is_vdf_server() of
 		false ->
 			ignore;
 		true ->