diff --git a/cmd/tile38-server/main.go b/cmd/tile38-server/main.go
index 99c9a10f..c250f609 100644
--- a/cmd/tile38-server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/tile38-server/main.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	_ "net/http/pprof"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"runtime/pprof"
 	"strconv"
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
 
+	"github.com/tidwall/gjson"
 	"github.com/tidwall/tile38/core"
 	"github.com/tidwall/tile38/internal/hservice"
 	"github.com/tidwall/tile38/internal/log"
@@ -76,6 +78,7 @@ Basic Options:
   -p port     : listening port (default: 9851)
   -d path     : data directory (default: data)
   -s socket   : listen on unix socket file
+  -l encoding : set log encoding to json or text (default: text) 
   -q          : no logging. totally silent output
   -v          : enable verbose logging
   -vv         : enable very verbose logging
@@ -177,10 +180,6 @@ Developer Options:
 		case "--nohup", "-nohup":
 			nohup = true
 			continue
-		case "--logjson", "-logjson":
-			log.LogJSON = true
-			log.Build("")
-			continue
 		case "--appendonly", "-appendonly":
 			i++
 			if i < len(os.Args) {
@@ -261,6 +260,7 @@ Developer Options:
 		unixSocket  string
 		verbose     bool
 		veryVerbose bool
+		logEncoding string
 		quiet       bool
 		pidfile     string
 		cpuprofile  string
@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@ Developer Options:
 	flag.StringVar(&host, "h", "", "The listening host")
 	flag.StringVar(&unixSocket, "s", "", "Listen on a unix socket")
 	flag.StringVar(&dir, "d", "data", "The data directory")
+	flag.StringVar(&logEncoding, "l", "text", "The log encoding json or text (default: text)")
 	flag.BoolVar(&verbose, "v", false, "Enable verbose logging")
 	flag.BoolVar(&quiet, "q", false, "Quiet logging. Totally silent")
 	flag.BoolVar(&veryVerbose, "vv", false, "Enable very verbose logging")
@@ -281,6 +282,17 @@ Developer Options:
 	flag.StringVar(&memprofile, "memprofile", "", "write memory profile to `file`")
 	flag.Parse()
 
+	if logEncoding == "json" {
+		log.LogJSON = true
+		data, _ := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(dir, "config"))
+		if gjson.GetBytes(data, "logconfig.encoding").String() == "json" {
+			c := gjson.GetBytes(data, "logconfig").String()
+			log.Build(c)
+		} else {
+			log.Build("")
+		}
+	}
+
 	var logw io.Writer = os.Stderr
 	if quiet {
 		logw = ioutil.Discard
diff --git a/internal/server/server.go b/internal/server/server.go
index a9270f47..74a0a607 100644
--- a/internal/server/server.go
+++ b/internal/server/server.go
@@ -154,6 +154,8 @@ func Serve(opts Options) error {
 		core.QueueFileName = path.Join(opts.Dir, "queue.db")
 	}
 
+	log.Infof("Server started, Tile38 version %s, git %s", core.Version, core.GitSHA)
+
 	// Initialize the s
 	s := &Server{
 		unix:      opts.UnixSocketPath,
@@ -195,14 +197,6 @@ func Serve(opts Options) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	lcfg := s.config.logConfig()
-	if lcfg != "" {
-		log.LogJSON = true
-		log.Build(lcfg)
-	}
-
-	log.Infof("Server started, Tile38 version %s, git %s", core.Version, core.GitSHA)
-
 	// Send "500 Internal Server" error instead of "200 OK" for json responses
 	// with `"ok":false`. T38HTTP500ERRORS=1
 	s.http500Errors, _ = strconv.ParseBool(os.Getenv("T38HTTP500ERRORS"))