diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 94b5f90..f543e8c 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,2 +1,9 @@
-MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=CHANGEME
-MYSQL_REOSERV_PASSWORD=CHANGEME
\ No newline at end of file
+# database settings
+MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="CHANGEME"
+MYSQL_PASSWORD="CHANGEME"
+MYSQL_USER="reoserv"
+MYSQL_DATABASE="reoserv"
+TZ="UTC"
+
+# misc
+RUST_DEBUG="debug"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cb12b03..cd48743 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,51 +2,65 @@
 
 # REOSERV
 
-The rust powered [Endless Online](https://game.eoserv.net/) server emulator!
+The Rust-powered server emulator for [Endless Online](https://game.eoserv.net/) 🦀
 
-# Building
+## Prerequisites
 
-The only depency is rust and cargo. I recommend using [rustup](https://rustup.rs/) to install both.
+Before building the server, ensure you have the following installed:
 
-To build the server simply run
+- [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/)
+- [Cargo](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/appendix/glossary.html#cargo)
+- [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
 
-`cargo build`
+I recommend using [rustup](https://rustup.rs/) to install Rust and Cargo.
 
-or for release build
+## Building
 
-`cargo build --release`
+To build the server, simply run:
 
-# Database setup
+```sh
+cargo build
+```
 
-0. You should install docker-compose
-1. Create a .env file with the following (replacing <PASSWORD>s with your own secure password)
+For a release build, use:
 
+```sh
+cargo build --release
 ```
-MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=<ROOT_PASSWORD>
-MYSQL_REOSERV_PASSWORD=<REOSERV_PASSWORD>
-```
 
-2. Start the container
+## Database setup and Configuration
+
+1. Create a `.env` file at the root of the repository using `.env.example` as a template.  Replace `CHANGEME` with your own secure passwords, leaving other configuration options as is:
 
-`docker-compose up`
+```ini
+# database settings
+MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="CHANGEME"
+MYSQL_PASSWORD="CHANGEME"
+MYSQL_USER="reoserv"
+MYSQL_DATABASE="reoserv"
+TZ="UTC"
 
-# Configure the server
+# misc
+RUST_DEBUG="debug" # or "trace" for more detailed output
+```
 
-_You can either edit Config.toml directly or edit a copy Config.local.toml_
+2. Start the container:
 
-The only required change right now is the settings for the database connection.
+```sh
+docker compose up
+```
 
-If you're using the provided docker-compose file then all you need to do is set
-password to the same password you set to for `MYSQL_REOSERV_PASSWORD` in the .env file.
+3. Edit the server configuration in `config/Config.toml` or a copy of it (`config/Config.local.toml`). Edit the database connection settings to match the `MYSQL_PASSWORD` in the `.env` file.
 
-# Start server
+## Start the server
 
-You can run the server with
+To run the server, use:
 
-`cargo run`
+```sh
+cargo run
+```
 
-(if you want more logging then set the `RUST_LOG` environment variable to one
-of the following:
+The logging level can be adjusted by changing the `RUST_LOG` variable in the `.env` file. The options are:
 
-- debug: The human readable data structures for every packet will be printed
-- trace: The raw byte arrays for every packet will be printed
+- `debug`: This will print human-readable data structures for every packet.
+- `trace`: This will print the raw byte arrays for every packet.
diff --git a/compose.yml b/compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..898319f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+services:
+  db:
+    image: mariadb:latest
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    env_file:
+      - .env
+    ports:
+      - "3306:3306"
+    volumes:
+      - db-data:/var/lib/mysql
+      - ./db-init/:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e1c2e98..0000000
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-services:
-
-  db:
-    image: mariadb
-    restart: always
-    environment:
-      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}
-      MYSQL_USER: reoserv
-      MYSQL_DATABASE: reoserv
-      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_REOSERV_PASSWORD}
-      TZ: UTC
-    ports:
-      - "3306:3306"
-    volumes:
-      - ./db-init/:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/