diff --git a/bastebin.nginx.conf b/bastebin.nginx.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2136b02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bastebin.nginx.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+server {
+    listen 80;
+    server_name bastebin.com www.bastebin.com;
+
+    # Static files serving - offload from Flask/Gunicorn
+    location /static/ {
+        alias /home/colby/projects/bastebin/static/;
+        expires 30d;
+        add_header Cache-Control "public, no-transform";
+    }
+
+    # Proxy all other requests to Gunicorn
+    location / {
+        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:5500;
+        
+        # Standard proxy headers
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+
+        # Timeouts and keeping connections alive
+        proxy_http_version 1.1;
+        proxy_set_header Connection "";
+        proxy_connect_timeout 90;
+        proxy_send_timeout 90;
+        proxy_read_timeout 90;
+
+        # Max payload size (matching 2MB config or slightly above)
+        client_max_body_size 5M;
+
+        # Buffer settings
+        proxy_buffers 16 16k;
+        proxy_buffer_size 32k;
+    }
+
+    # Log files - ensure these directories exist or use /var/log/nginx
+    access_log /var/log/nginx/bastebin.access.log;
+    error_log /var/log/nginx/bastebin.error.log;
+}
diff --git a/config.json b/config.json
index 1a4f492..ba11e66 100644
--- a/config.json
+++ b/config.json
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
   "server": {
     "host": "0.0.0.0",
-    "port": 5000,
+    "port": 5500,
     "debug": false,
     "secret_key": "ce81867ddcc16729b42d7ae0564140e6bcc83bcf5dbbe77b7e5b6c5aa4199347"
   },
diff --git a/production.py b/production.py
index 9ca815d..46a7851 100644
--- a/production.py
+++ b/production.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Usage:
 """
 
 import argparse
+import json
 import multiprocessing
 import os
 import signal
@@ -168,13 +169,42 @@ def _build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
 
 
 def main() -> None:
+    # 1. Load config for defaults
+    config_path = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'config.json')
+    config = {}
+    if os.path.exists(config_path):
+        try:
+            with open(config_path, 'r') as f:
+                config = json.load(f)
+        except (json.JSONDecodeError, IOError):
+            pass
+
+    server_cfg = config.get('server', {})
+    default_host = server_cfg.get('host', '0.0.0.0')
+    default_port = server_cfg.get('port', 5000)
+
+    # 2. Parse arguments
     parser = _build_parser()
     args   = parser.parse_args()
 
+    # 3. Resolve merge (CLI > config > absolute defaults)
     default_workers = max(2, multiprocessing.cpu_count() + 1)
+    
+    # Check if user provided CLI arguments. 
+    # args.host and args.port always have values because of 'default' in ArgumentParser.
+    # We'll re-parse or check the sys.argv.
+    
+    host    = default_host
+    port    = default_port
+    
+    # Simple check: if '--host' or '--port' is in sys.argv, use the arg value.
+    # Otherwise, use the config value.
+    if '--host' in sys.argv:
+        host = args.host
+    if '--port' in sys.argv:
+        port = args.port
+        
     workers = getattr(args, 'workers', None) or default_workers
-    host    = getattr(args, 'host',    '0.0.0.0')
-    port    = getattr(args, 'port',    5000)
 
     if args.command == 'start':
         cmd_start(host, port, workers)