diff --git a/server/include/config.h b/server/include/config.h
index e94e66df4..94155a252 100644
--- a/server/include/config.h
+++ b/server/include/config.h
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
 #define IPPROTO_S2SS		137
 #define ETH_P_S2SS		0xBABE
 
+#define TOOLS_USE_TIMESTAMP	1
+
 /* Hook function configuration */
 #define HOOK_FIR_INDEX		 1 /**< The first value of message should be filtered. */
 #define HOOK_TS_INDEX		-1 /**< The last value of message should be overwritten by a timestamp. */
diff --git a/server/src/receive.c b/server/src/receive.c
index 41348e7cc..f9e14952f 100644
--- a/server/src/receive.c
+++ b/server/src/receive.c
@@ -100,12 +100,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		node_reverse(node);
 	
 	node->refcnt++;
-	pool = alloc(sizeof(struct msg) * node->combine);
 
 	node_init(argc-optind, argv+optind, &set);
 	node_start(node);
 	node_start_defer(node);
 
+	pool = alloc(sizeof(struct msg) * node->combine);
+
 	/* Print header */
 	fprintf(stderr, "# %-6s %-8s %-12s\n", "dev_id", "seq_no", "data");
 
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			if (msg_verify(&pool[i]))
 				warn("Failed to verify message");
 
-#if 1
+#if TOOLS_USE_TIMESTAMP
 			struct timespec ts;
 			clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts);
 			fprintf(stdout, "%17.6f\t", ts.tv_sec + ts.tv_nsec / 1e9);
diff --git a/server/src/send.c b/server/src/send.c
index c12e6c221..245ef586f 100644
--- a/server/src/send.c
+++ b/server/src/send.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		for (int i=0; i<node->combine; i++) {
 			msg_fscan(stdin, &pool[i]);
 
-#if 1 /* Preprend timestamp */
+#if TOOLS_USE_TIMESTAMP
 			struct timespec ts;
 			clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts);
 			fprintf(stdout, "%17.6f\t", ts.tv_sec + ts.tv_nsec / 1e9);