diff --git a/packages/server/src/AppConfig.test.ts b/packages/server/src/AppConfig.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0ea89eb5659
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/server/src/AppConfig.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, jest } from '@jest/globals'
+
+const ORIGINAL_ENV = process.env
+
+describe('AppConfig', () => {
+    afterEach(() => {
+        process.env = ORIGINAL_ENV
+        jest.resetModules()
+    })
+
+    it('treats whitespace-padded true values as enabled', async () => {
+        process.env = { ...ORIGINAL_ENV, SHOW_COMMUNITY_NODES: ' true ' }
+
+        const { appConfig } = await import('./AppConfig')
+
+        expect(appConfig.showCommunityNodes).toBe(true)
+    })
+
+    it('keeps whitespace-padded false values disabled', async () => {
+        process.env = { ...ORIGINAL_ENV, SHOW_COMMUNITY_NODES: ' false ' }
+
+        const { appConfig } = await import('./AppConfig')
+
+        expect(appConfig.showCommunityNodes).toBe(false)
+    })
+
+    it('defaults to disabled when the env var is unset', async () => {
+        process.env = { ...ORIGINAL_ENV }
+        delete process.env.SHOW_COMMUNITY_NODES
+
+        const { appConfig } = await import('./AppConfig')
+
+        expect(appConfig.showCommunityNodes).toBe(false)
+    })
+})
diff --git a/packages/server/src/AppConfig.ts b/packages/server/src/AppConfig.ts
index 8a838254e0a..e5061d74414 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/AppConfig.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/AppConfig.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
+const parseBooleanEnv = (value: string | undefined, defaultValue: boolean) => {
+    if (value == null) {
+        return defaultValue
+    }
+
+    return value.trim().toLowerCase() === 'true'
+}
+
 export const appConfig = {
-    showCommunityNodes: process.env.SHOW_COMMUNITY_NODES ? process.env.SHOW_COMMUNITY_NODES.toLowerCase() === 'true' : false
+    showCommunityNodes: parseBooleanEnv(process.env.SHOW_COMMUNITY_NODES, false)
     // todo: add more config options here like database, log, storage, credential and allow modification from UI
 }