diff --git a/ctrl/sbbs.ini b/ctrl/sbbs.ini
index 39803951ac778ec46f45801e7a5e35f4cf870e09..05f90c6e0349fdf5826a4b026269fc63a335c931 100644
--- a/ctrl/sbbs.ini
+++ b/ctrl/sbbs.ini
@@ -2,39 +2,35 @@
 
 ; Synchronet Startup Configuration (Initialization) File
 
-; Synchronet Console (sbbs) will use these settings by default.
-; $SBBSCTRL/$HOSTNAME.ini, if it exists, will be used instead.
-; Command-line options, if specified, will override these settings.
+; $SBBSCTRL/$HOSTNAME.ini, if it exists, will be loaded instead of sbbs.ini.
+; sbbs Command-line options, if specified, will override these settings.
 
 ; $Id$
 
 [Global]
 ; Override system address for this instance (optional):
 	Hostname=
-; IP address of default network interface (default's to ANY/ALL interfaces):
+; IP address of network interface to bind to (defaults to ANY/ALL interfaces):
 	Interface=
 ; Override the SBBSCTRL environment variable (optional):
 	CtrlDirectory=
 ; Override the default system "temp" directory (optional):
 ; If you do override this, do NOT use the system-wide temp dir (ie: /tmp or
-;   windows\temp... use a subdirectory.  Synchronet assumes it is the only user
-;   of this temp dir.
+; windows\temp... use a subdirectory.  Synchronet assumes it is the only user
+; of this temp dir.
 	TempDirectory=
-; Increase value to decrease semaphore file checking frequency:
+; Increase this value to decrease semaphore file checking frequency (actually an interval):
 	SemFileCheckFrequency=5	; seconds
-; Set the number of times a bind() will be attempted for each port.
+; Set the number of times a bind will be attempted for each port.
 ; increase this if you get errors binding to ports on reloads
 	BindRetryCount=2
 ; Delay between bind retries
 	BindRetryDelay=15
-; Bit-mask to determine which log messages will be recorded/displayed
-; 0xff = all messages
-; 0x7f = no debug messages
-; 0x3f = notifications, warnings, and errors only
-; 0x1f = warnings and errors only
-; 0x0f = errors only
-; May be over-ridden on a per-server basis
-	LogMask=0xff
+; Highest log level to actually log/print (ignore all higher/less-severe log entries):
+; This log level may be overridden for each server/service
+; Supported log levels in decreasing severity (ala syslog):
+; Emergency, Alert, Critical, Error, Warning, Notice, Informational, Debugging
+	LogLevel=Debugging
 
 [BBS]
 ; Set to 'false' to disable Telnet/Rlogin/Event server:
@@ -47,18 +43,27 @@
 	TelnetPort=23
 ; TCP port for RLogin server:
 	RLoginPort=513
+
 ; This server handles this range of BBS nodes:
+; LastNode should not be higher than the number of nodes configured in SCFG->Nodes
 	FirstNode=1
 	LastNode=4
+
+; Windows only:
 ; Increase this value to decrease the frequency of forced CPU time-slice yields in DOS externals:
-	ExternalYield=10
+; NOTE: this configuration knob has been *moved* to YieldInterval in exec/sbbsexec.ini
+;	ExternalYield=10
+; Sound (*.wav) files to play on specific events:
+	AnswerSound=
+	HangupSound=
+
+; Unix only:
 ; Must install install/termcap or terminfo to use the following TERM setting:
 ; ExternalTermANSI=ansi-bbs
 	ExternalTermDumb=dumb
 ; To change the default dosemu/doscmd path, uncomment and set:
 ; DOSemuPath=
-	AnswerSound=
-	HangupSound=
+
 ; At what size to send the current output buffer regardless of timeout
 ; ie: Send output whenever there are at least this many bytes waiting.
 ; This should definately not be higher than the MTU.
@@ -99,7 +104,6 @@ Options = XTRN_MINIMIZED | SYSOP_AVAILABLE | USE_2ND_RLOGIN | ALLOW_RLOGIN
 
 [Mail]
 	AutoStart=true
-	LogFile=1
 	MaxClients=10
 	MaxInactivity=120
 	Interface=
@@ -154,7 +158,6 @@ Options=ALLOW_POP3
 
 [FTP]
 	AutoStart=true
-	LogFile=1
 	Port=21
 	MaxClients=10
 	MaxInactivity=300
@@ -162,11 +165,13 @@ Options=ALLOW_POP3
 	Interface=
 
     ; Passive transfer settings to work-around broken/stupid firewall/NAT devices
+    ; see docs/tcpip_faq.html for details
+    ; the LOOKUP_PASV_IP option can be useful for dynamic IPs
 	PasvIpAddress=0.0.0.0
 	PasvPortLow=1024
 	PasvPortHigh=65535
 
-    ; Sound/wave files to play on specific events
+    ; Sound/wave files to play on specific events (Windows only):
 	AnswerSound=
 	HangupSound=
 	HackAttemptSound=
@@ -228,6 +233,7 @@ Options=NO_HOST_LOOKUP
 
 [Services]
 	AutoStart=true
+; Override the global/default values here:
 	Interface=
 	AnswerSound=
 	HangupSound=