diff --git a/tools/confutils/cli_args.nim b/tools/confutils/cli_args.nim
index a99ba43ee..7d531159b 100644
--- a/tools/confutils/cli_args.nim
+++ b/tools/confutils/cli_args.nim
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ hence would have reachability issues.""",
     numShardsInNetwork* {.
       desc:
         "Enables autosharding and set number of shards in the cluster, set to `0` to use static sharding",
-      defaultValue: 1,
+      defaultValue: 0,
       name: "num-shards-in-network"
     .}: uint16