diff --git a/env.sample.php b/env.sample.php
index 9ba9898..b4fe4fd 100644
--- a/env.sample.php
+++ b/env.sample.php
@@ -7,7 +7,13 @@
  */
 
 $SETTINGS = [
+    // If true, PHP errors and warnings are outputted, screwing up the JSON.
+    // Makes it easy to debug though!
     "debugmode" => true,
+    // If this is true and the database isn't configured, everything crashes.
+    // set to false if no endpoints require a database, or if Medoo isn't being used
+    // to access the database.
+    "require_database" => false,
     "database" => [
         "database_type" => "mysql",
         "database_name" => "mysql",
@@ -16,6 +22,8 @@ $SETTINGS = [
         "password" => "",
         "charset" => "utf8"
     ],
+    // If memcached is available, enable it. Otherwise a non-persistent shim is used,
+    // which is pointless. See lib/Memcache.lib.php.
     "memcached" => [
         "enable" => true,
         "server" => "127.0.0.1",
@@ -26,6 +34,8 @@ $SETTINGS = [
     // Include trailing slash
     "urlbase" => "/",
 
+
+    // Third party API keys and configs for various endpoints go here
     "openweathermap_appid" => "",
     "weather_summary_hours" => 8,
 
diff --git a/required.php b/required.php
index 59a0c93..abdca18 100644
--- a/required.php
+++ b/required.php
@@ -43,12 +43,16 @@ if (envhas("timezone")) {
 
 // Initialize database driver
 use Medoo\Medoo;
+
 $database;
 try {
     $database = new Medoo(env("database", []));
 } catch (Exception $ex) {
-    http_response_code(500);
-    Logger::log("Database error: $ex");
+    if (env("require_database")) {
+        http_response_code(500);
+        Logger::log("Database error: $ex");
+        exit("Database error.");
+    }
 }
 
 $memcacheconfig = env("memcached", [