diff --git a/simlib/mixnet-sims/Cargo.toml b/simlib/mixnet-sims/Cargo.toml
index 33a6759..94cf492 100644
--- a/simlib/mixnet-sims/Cargo.toml
+++ b/simlib/mixnet-sims/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ anyhow = "1.0.93"
 clap = { version = "4.5.20", features = ["derive"] }
 crossbeam = "0.8.4"
 ctrlc = "3.4"
+humantime = "2"
 parking_lot = "0.12.3"
 rand = "0.8"
 serde = { version = "1.0.214", features = ["derive"] }
diff --git a/simlib/mixnet-sims/config/mixnode.json b/simlib/mixnet-sims/config/mixnode.json
index 8c9b3b0..817b5c8 100644
--- a/simlib/mixnet-sims/config/mixnode.json
+++ b/simlib/mixnet-sims/config/mixnode.json
@@ -38,12 +38,12 @@
   ],
   "connected_peers_count": 3,
   "data_message_lottery_interval": "20s",
-  "stake_proportion": "1.0",
+  "stake_proportion": 1.0,
   "epoch_duration": "432000s",
   "slot_duration": "20s",
   "persistent_transmission": {
-    "max_emission_frequency": "1.0",
-    "drop_message_probability": "0.0"
+    "max_emission_frequency": 1.0,
+    "drop_message_probability": 0.0
   },
   "number_of_mix_layers": 4,
   "max_delay_seconds": 10,
diff --git a/simlib/mixnet-sims/src/settings.rs b/simlib/mixnet-sims/src/settings.rs
index c057eb9..14e949c 100644
--- a/simlib/mixnet-sims/src/settings.rs
+++ b/simlib/mixnet-sims/src/settings.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use netrunner::settings::SimulationSettings;
 use nomos_mix::persistent_transmission::PersistentTransmissionSettings;
-use serde::Deserialize;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer};
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
@@ -8,12 +8,23 @@ pub struct SimSettings {
     #[serde(flatten)]
     pub simulation_settings: SimulationSettings,
     pub connected_peers_count: usize,
+    #[serde(deserialize_with = "deserialize_duration_with_human_time")]
     pub data_message_lottery_interval: Duration,
     pub stake_proportion: f64,
+    #[serde(deserialize_with = "deserialize_duration_with_human_time")]
     pub epoch_duration: Duration,
+    #[serde(deserialize_with = "deserialize_duration_with_human_time")]
     pub slot_duration: Duration,
     pub persistent_transmission: PersistentTransmissionSettings,
     pub number_of_mix_layers: usize,
     pub max_delay_seconds: u64,
     pub slots_per_epoch: usize,
 }
+
+fn deserialize_duration_with_human_time<'de, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Duration, D::Error>
+where
+    D: Deserializer<'de>,
+{
+    let s = String::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+    humantime::parse_duration(&s).map_err(serde::de::Error::custom)
+}