diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 68a351523..07dcd94b5 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -43,9 +43,6 @@ const (
 
 	// DefaultMaxWritesPerRequest is the default number of writes per request.
 	DefaultMaxWritesPerRequest = 5000
-
-	// DefaultDiagnosticsInterval is the default sync frequency diagnostic metrics.
-	DefaultDiagnosticsInterval = 1 * time.Hour
 )
 
 // ClusterTypes set of cluster types.
@@ -91,10 +88,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	LogPath string `toml:"log-path"`
 
 	Metric struct {
-		Service            string   `toml:"service"`
-		Host               string   `toml:"host"`
-		PollInterval       Duration `toml:"poll-interval"`
-		DiagnosticInterval Duration `toml:"diagnostics"`
+		Service      string   `toml:"service"`
+		Host         string   `toml:"host"`
+		PollInterval Duration `toml:"poll-interval"`
+		Diagnostics  bool     `toml:"diagnostics"`
 	} `toml:"metric"`
 
 	TLS TLSConfig
@@ -112,7 +109,7 @@ func NewConfig() *Config {
 	c.Cluster.Hosts = []string{}
 	c.AntiEntropy.Interval = Duration(DefaultAntiEntropyInterval)
 	c.Metric.Service = DefaultMetrics
-	c.Metric.DiagnosticInterval = Duration(DefaultDiagnosticsInterval)
+	c.Metric.Diagnostics = true
 	c.TLS = TLSConfig{}
 	return c
 }
diff --git a/ctl/server.go b/ctl/server.go
index a39c86e3e..46777df48 100644
--- a/ctl/server.go
+++ b/ctl/server.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func BuildServerFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, srv *server.Command) {
 	flags.StringVarP(&srv.Config.Cluster.Type, "cluster.type", "", "gossip", "Determine how the cluster handles membership and state sharing. Choose from [static, gossip]")
 	flags.StringVarP(&srv.Config.Metric.Service, "metric.service", "", "nop", "Default URI on which pilosa should listen.")
 	flags.StringVarP(&srv.Config.Metric.Host, "metric.host", "", "", "Default URI to send metrics.")
-	flags.DurationVarP((*time.Duration)(&srv.Config.Metric.DiagnosticInterval), "metric.diagnostics", "", time.Hour*1, "Diagnostic reporting interval back to Pilosa.")
+	flags.BoolVarP((&srv.Config.Metric.Diagnostics), "metric.diagnostics", "", true, "Enabled diagnostics reporting.")
 	flags.DurationVarP((*time.Duration)(&srv.Config.Metric.PollInterval), "metric.poll-interval", "", time.Minute*0, "Polling interval metrics.")
 	SetTLSConfig(flags, &srv.Config.TLS.CertificatePath, &srv.Config.TLS.CertificateKeyPath, &srv.Config.TLS.SkipVerify)
 }
diff --git a/docs/administration.md b/docs/administration.md
index 861d7f6a1..8d8762086 100644
--- a/docs/administration.md
+++ b/docs/administration.md
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ Each Pilosa cluster is configured by default to share anonymous usage details wi
 <strong id="open_files">OpenFiles:</strong> Open file handle count.
 <strong id="go_routines">GoRoutines:</strong> Go routine count.
 
-You can opt-out of the Pilosa diagnostics reporting by setting the `diagnostics` configuration option under `metric` to `0m0s`.
+You can opt-out of the Pilosa diagnostics reporting by setting either the `metric.diagnostics` configuration option to false, using the `PILOSA_METRIC_DIAGNOSTICS` environment variable, or the TOML configuration file `[metric]` `diagnostics` option.
 
 #### Metrics
 
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index d786d0513..e74f6798f 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -206,16 +206,16 @@ Any flag that has a value that is a comma separated list on the command line bec
     poll-interval = "0m15s"
     ```
 
-##### Metric Diagnostics Interval
+##### Metric Diagnostics
 
-* Description: Diagnostic reporting interval. To disable diagnostics set to zero.
-* Flag: `metric.diagnostics=”60m0s”`
-* Env: `PILOSA_METRIC_DIAGNOSTICS=60m0s`
+* Description: Enable diagnostic reporting. To disable diagnostics set to false.
+* Flag: `metric.diagnostics`
+* Env: `PILOSA_METRIC_DIAGNOSTICS`
 * Config:
 
     ```toml
     [metric]
-    diagnostics = "60m0s"
+    diagnostics = true
     ```
 
 
diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index d9b4209fc..ff6a57808 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -517,6 +517,7 @@ func (s *Server) checkMaxSlices(scheme string, hostPort string) (map[string]uint
 // monitorDiagnostics periodically polls the the Pilosa Indexes for cluster info.
 func (s *Server) monitorDiagnostics() {
 	if s.DiagnosticInterval <= 0 {
+		s.Logger().Printf("diagnostics disabled")
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index fb18137ad..7c4ad8081 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ func init() {
 const (
 	// DefaultDataDir is the default data directory.
 	DefaultDataDir = "~/.pilosa"
+
+	// DefaultDiagnosticsInterval is the default sync frequency diagnostic metrics.
+	DefaultDiagnosticsInterval = 1 * time.Hour
 )
 
 // Command represents the state of the pilosa server command.
@@ -143,8 +146,10 @@ func (m *Command) SetupServer() error {
 	m.Server.Logger().Printf("Using data from: %s\n", m.Config.DataDir)
 	m.Server.Holder.Path = m.Config.DataDir
 	m.Server.MetricInterval = time.Duration(m.Config.Metric.PollInterval)
+	if m.Config.Metric.Diagnostics {
+		m.Server.DiagnosticInterval = time.Duration(DefaultDiagnosticsInterval)
+	}
 	m.Server.Holder.Stats, err = NewStatsClient(m.Config.Metric.Service, m.Config.Metric.Host)
-	m.Server.DiagnosticInterval = time.Duration(m.Config.Metric.DiagnosticInterval)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}