diff --git a/server/Makefile b/server/Makefile
index 775dd2123..22f32a911 100644
--- a/server/Makefile
+++ b/server/Makefile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ RM = rm -f
 DOXY = doxygen
 
 # Debug level (if not set via 'make V=?')
-V ?= 5
+V ?= 2
 
 # Some details about the compiled version
 GIT_TAG = $(shell git describe --tags --abbrev=0)
diff --git a/server/etc/example.conf b/server/etc/example.conf
index 797e63586..a4939d13c 100644
--- a/server/etc/example.conf
+++ b/server/etc/example.conf
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 affinity = 0x02;	# Mask of cores the server should run on
 priority = 50;		# Scheduler priority for the server
+debug = 5;		# The level of verbosity for debug messages
 
 nodes = {
 	acs = {
diff --git a/server/include/cfg.h b/server/include/cfg.h
index 6ff93dbdc..3af19c375 100644
--- a/server/include/cfg.h
+++ b/server/include/cfg.h
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ struct settings {
 	int priority;
 	/** Process affinity of the server and all created threads */
 	int affinity;
+	/** Debug log level */
+	int debug;
 
 	/** A libconfig object pointing to the root of the config file */
 	config_setting_t *cfg;
diff --git a/server/include/utils.h b/server/include/utils.h
index f2d56330c..7d21c483a 100644
--- a/server/include/utils.h
+++ b/server/include/utils.h
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ struct settings;
 struct sockaddr_in;
 struct sockaddr;
 
+extern int debug;
+
 /** Logs variadic messages to stdout.
  *
  * @param lvl The log level
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ struct timespec timespec_rate(double rate);
 
 /** Printf alike debug message with level. */
 #define debug(lvl, msg, ...) do { \
-	if (lvl <= V) \
+	if (lvl <= debug) \
 		print(DEBUG, msg, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
 	} while (0)
 
diff --git a/server/src/cfg.c b/server/src/cfg.c
index 87d334c38..d718b5d4b 100644
--- a/server/src/cfg.c
+++ b/server/src/cfg.c
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ int config_parse_global(config_setting_t *cfg, struct settings *set)
 {
 	config_setting_lookup_int(cfg, "affinity", &set->affinity);
 	config_setting_lookup_int(cfg, "priority", &set->priority);
+	config_setting_lookup_int(cfg, "debug", &set->debug);
+
+	debug = set->debug;
 
 	set->cfg = cfg;
 
diff --git a/server/src/server.c b/server/src/server.c
index 65fe12fd4..bd5d643f6 100644
--- a/server/src/server.c
+++ b/server/src/server.c
@@ -144,13 +144,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	}
 
 	info("This is %s %s", BLU("s2ss"), BLU(VERSION));
-	debug(1, "Running with debug level: %u", V);
 
-	/* Check priviledges */
-	if (getuid() != 0)
-		error("The server requires superuser privileges!");
-
-	/* Setup signals */
+	/* Setup exit handler */
 	struct sigaction sa_quit = {
 		.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO,
 		.sa_sigaction = quit
@@ -165,6 +160,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	config_init(&config);
 	config_parse(argv[1], &config, &settings, &nodes, &paths);
 
+	debug(1, "Running with debug level: %u", settings.debug);
+
+	/* Check priviledges */
+	if (getuid() != 0)
+		error("The server requires superuser privileges!");
+
 	/* Check for realtime kernel patch */
 	struct stat st;
 	if (stat("/sys/kernel/realtime", &st))
diff --git a/server/src/utils.c b/server/src/utils.c
index 3ec6c7520..76246bf4d 100644
--- a/server/src/utils.c
+++ b/server/src/utils.c
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 #include "cfg.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 
+/* This global variable contains the debug level for debug() and assert() macros */
+int debug = V;
+
 void print(enum log_level lvl, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	struct timespec ts;