diff --git a/config/config.default.php b/config/config.default.php
index 11635c24..1110fca8 100644
--- a/config/config.default.php
+++ b/config/config.default.php
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@ return [
 
     // Redirect to this site after logging in or when pressing the top-left button
     // Must be one of news, meetings, user_shifts, angeltypes, user_questions
-    'home_site'               => 'news',
+    'home_site'               => env('HOME_SITE', 'news'),
 
     // Number of News shown on one site
-    'display_news'            => 10,
+    'display_news'            => env('DISPLAY_NEWS', 10),
 
     // Users are able to sign up
     'registration_enabled'    => (bool)env('REGISTRATION_ENABLED', true),
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ return [
     'signup_requires_arrival' => false,
 
     // Whether newly-registered user should automatically be marked as arrived
-    'autoarrive'              => false,
+    'autoarrive'              => (bool)env('ANGEL_AUTOARRIVE', false),
 
     // Only allow shift signup this number of hours in advance
     // Setting this to 0 disables the feature
@@ -115,22 +115,22 @@ return [
     'password_algorithm'      => PASSWORD_DEFAULT,
 
     // The minimum length for passwords
-    'min_password_length'     => 8,
+    'min_password_length'     => env('PASSWORD_MINIMUM_LENGTH', 8),
 
     // Whether the DECT field should be enabled
-    'enable_dect'             => true,
+    'enable_dect'             => (bool)env('REGISTRATION_ENABLE_DECT', true),
 
     // Enables prename and lastname
-    'enable_user_name'        => false,
+    'enable_user_name'        => (bool)env('REGISTRATION_ENABLE_USERNAME', false),
 
     // Enable displaying the pronoun fields
-    'enable_pronoun'          => false,
+    'enable_pronoun'          => (bool)env('REGISTRATION_ENABLE_DECT', false),
 
     // Enables the planned arrival/leave date
-    'enable_planned_arrival'  => true,
+    'enable_planned_arrival'  => (bool)env('REGISTRATION_ENABLE_PLANNED_ARRIVAL', true),
 
     // Enables the T-Shirt configuration on signup and profile
-    'enable_tshirt_size'      => true,
+    'enable_tshirt_size'      => (bool)env('REGISTRATION_ENABLE_TSHIRT', true),
 
     // Number of shifts to freeload until angel is locked for shift signup.
     'max_freeloadable_shifts' => 2,
diff --git a/docker/deployment.env b/docker/deployment.env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d933ca9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/deployment.env
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# MAINTENANCE=false
+# APP_NAME="Engelsystem"
+# ENVIRONMENT= 'production'
+# APP_URL=null
+# FAQ_URL='https://events.ccc.de/congress/2013/wiki/Static:Volunteers'
+# MAIL_DRIVER='mail'
+# MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS='noreply@engelsystem.de'
+# MAIL_FROM_NAME=Engelsystem
+# MAIL_HOST='localhost'
+# MAIL_PORT=587
+# THEME=1
+# HOME_SITE='news'
+# DISPLAY_NEWS=10
+# REGISTRATION_ENABLED=true
+# PASSWORD_MINIMUM_LENGTH=8
+# REGISTRATION_ENABLE_DECT=true
+# REGISTRATION_ENABLE_USERNAME=false
+# REGISTRATION_ENABLE_DECT=false
+# REGISTRATION_ENABLE_PLANNED_ARRIVAL=true
+# REGISTRATION_ENABLE_TSHIRT=true
+# TIMEZONE='Europe/Berlin'
+# DEFAULT_LOCALE='en_US'
+# ADD_HEADERS=true
diff --git a/docker/docker-compose.yml b/docker/docker-compose.yml
index f7955ff2..4a7894bb 100644
--- a/docker/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+---
 version: "3.6"
 services:
   es_nginx:
@@ -22,6 +23,9 @@ services:
       MYSQL_USER: engelsystem
       MYSQL_PASSWORD: engelsystem
       MYSQL_DATABASE: engelsystem
+    # some optional env vars and their defaults can be seen in the env file
+    # for exact information have a look at config/config.default.php
+    env_file: deployment.env
     networks:
       - database
       - fpm