diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 5070ec0..2e4c5ca 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -137,6 +137,8 @@ DECOMPOSEDS3_BUCKET=
 
 
 # Define SMTP settings if you would like to send OpenCloud email notifications.
+# To actually send notifications, you also need to enable the 'notifications' service
+# by adding it to the START_ADDITIONAL_SERVICES variable below.
 #
 # NOTE: when configuring Inbucket, these settings have no effect, see inbucket.yml for details.
 # SMTP host to connect to.
@@ -157,12 +159,11 @@ SMTP_TRANSPORT_ENCRYPTION=
 # Allow insecure connections to the SMTP server. Defaults to false.
 SMTP_INSECURE=
 
-# Addititional services to be started on opencloud startup
-# The following list of services is not startet automatically and must be
+# Additional services to be started on opencloud startup
+# The following list of services is not started automatically and must be
 # manually defined for startup:
-# IMPORTANT: The notification service is MANDATORY, do not delete!
 # IMPORTANT: Add any services to the startup list comma separated like "notifications,antivirus" etc.
-START_ADDITIONAL_SERVICES="notifications"
+START_ADDITIONAL_SERVICES=""
 
 
 ## Default Enabled Services ##