diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-api/lib/admin/index.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-api/lib/admin/index.js
index 078779f5a..8406fa8e9 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-api/lib/admin/index.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-api/lib/admin/index.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ module.exports = {
 
         // Flows/state
         adminApp.get("/flows/state", needsPermission("flows.read"), flows.getState, apiUtil.errorHandler);
-        if (!settings.runtimeState || settings.runtimeState.enabled !== false) {
+        if (settings.runtimeState && settings.runtimeState.enabled === true) {
             adminApp.post("/flows/state", needsPermission("flows.write"), flows.postState, apiUtil.errorHandler);
         }
 
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/runtime.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/runtime.js
index 939517877..49960e382 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/runtime.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/runtime.js
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 RED.runtime = (function() {
     let state = ""
-    let settings = {ui: true, enabled: true};
+    let settings = {ui: false, enabled: false};
     const STOPPED = "stopped"
     const STARTED = "started"
     return {
         init: function() {
             // refresh the current runtime status from server
-            settings = RED.settings.runtimeState;
+            settings = Object.assign({}, settings, RED.settings.runtimeState);
             RED.runtime.requestState()
 
             // {id:"flows-run-state", started: false, state: "stopped", retain:true}
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ RED.runtime = (function() {
             // disable pointer events on node buttons (e.g. inject/debug nodes)
             $(".red-ui-flow-node-button").toggleClass("red-ui-flow-node-button-stopped", state === STOPPED)
             // show/hide Start/Stop based on current state
-            if(!RED.settings.runtimeState || RED.settings.runtimeState.ui !== false) {
+            if(settings.enabled === true && settings.ui === true) {
                 RED.menu.setVisible("deploymenu-item-runtime-stop", state === STARTED)
                 RED.menu.setVisible("deploymenu-item-runtime-start", state === STOPPED)
             }
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/deploy.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/deploy.js
index ab36df9ff..3766763c7 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/deploy.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/deploy.js
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ RED.deploy = (function() {
                     {id:"deploymenu-item-node",toggle:"deploy-type",icon:"red/images/deploy-nodes.svg",label:RED._("deploy.modifiedNodes"),sublabel:RED._("deploy.modifiedNodesDesc"),onselect:function(s) { if(s){changeDeploymentType("nodes")}}},
                     null
             ]
-            if(!RED.settings.runtimeState || RED.settings.runtimeState.ui !== false) {
+            if(RED.settings.runtimeState && RED.settings.runtimeState.ui === true) {
                 mainMenuItems.push({id:"deploymenu-item-runtime-start", icon:"red/images/start.svg",label:"Start"/*RED._("deploy.startFlows")*/,sublabel:"Start Flows" /*RED._("deploy.startFlowsDesc")*/,onselect:"core:start-flows", visible:false})
                 mainMenuItems.push({id:"deploymenu-item-runtime-stop", icon:"red/images/stop.svg",label:"Stop"/*RED._("deploy.startFlows")*/,sublabel:"Stop Flows" /*RED._("deploy.startFlowsDesc")*/,onselect:"core:stop-flows", visible:false})
             }
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/flows.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/flows.js
index 83ef68021..b3c471a5a 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/flows.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/flows.js
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ var api = module.exports = {
             }
         }
 
-        if(runtime.settings.runtimeState ? runtime.settings.runtimeState.enabled === false : false) {
+        if(!runtime.settings.runtimeState || runtime.settings.runtimeState.enabled !== true) {
             throw (makeError("Method Not Allowed", "not_allowed", 405))
         }
         switch (opts.requestedState) {
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/settings.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/settings.js
index 7e17f57b5..6c13596ce 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/settings.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/runtime/lib/api/settings.js
@@ -153,11 +153,11 @@ var api = module.exports = {
             }
 
             safeSettings.runtimeState = {
-                //unless runtimeState.ui and runtimeState.enabled are explicitly false, they will default to true.
-                enabled: (runtime.settings.runtimeState && runtime.settings.runtimeState.enabled === false) ? false : true,
-                ui: (runtime.settings.runtimeState && runtime.settings.runtimeState.ui === false) ? false : true
+                //unless runtimeState.ui and runtimeState.enabled are explicitly true, they will default to false.
+                enabled: !!runtime.settings.runtimeState && runtime.settings.runtimeState.enabled === true,
+                ui: !!runtime.settings.runtimeState && runtime.settings.runtimeState.ui === true
             }
-            if(safeSettings.runtimeState.enabled === false) {
+            if(safeSettings.runtimeState.enabled !== true) {
                 safeSettings.runtimeState.ui = false; // cannot have UI without endpoint
             }
 
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/node-red/settings.js b/packages/node_modules/node-red/settings.js
index 26e5ca8de..fae6c8079 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/node-red/settings.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/node-red/settings.js
@@ -269,17 +269,17 @@ module.exports = {
         ui: true,
     },
     /** Configure runtimeState options 
-     * - enabled:  When `enabled` is `true` (or unset), runtime Start/Stop will
-     *   be available at http://localhost:1880/flows/state  
-     * - ui: When `ui` is `true` (or unset), the action `core:start-flows` and 
-     *   `core:stop-flows` be available to logged in users of node-red editor
+     * - enabled:  When `enabled` is `true` flows runtime can be Started/Stoped 
+     *   by POSTing to available at http://localhost:1880/flows/state  
+     * - ui: When `ui` is `true`, the action `core:start-flows` and 
+     *   `core:stop-flows` will be available to logged in users of node-red editor
      *   Also, the deploy menu (when set to default) will show a stop or start button
      */
     runtimeState: {
         /** enable or disable flows/state endpoint. Must be set to `false` to disable */
-        enabled: true,
+        enabled: false,
         /** show or hide runtime stop/start options in the node-red editor. Must be set to `false` to hide */
-        ui: true,
+        ui: false,
     },
     /** Configure the logging output */
     logging: {