diff --git a/umap/settings/base.py b/umap/settings/base.py
index f9fb2c4e..9700fff8 100644
--- a/umap/settings/base.py
+++ b/umap/settings/base.py
@@ -306,3 +306,10 @@ LOGGING = {
         },
     },
 }
+
+# WebSocket configuration
+
+WEBSOCKET_ENABLED = False
+WEBSOCKET_HOST = "localhost"
+WEBSOCKET_PORT = 8001
+WEBSOCKET_URI = "ws://localhost:8001"
diff --git a/umap/static/umap/js/umap.js b/umap/static/umap/js/umap.js
index b2aec42e..bc60fa18 100644
--- a/umap/static/umap/js/umap.js
+++ b/umap/static/umap/js/umap.js
@@ -254,6 +254,7 @@ U.Map = L.Map.extend({
   },
 
   initSyncEngine: async function () {
+    if (this.options.websocketEnabled == false) return
     console.log('this.options.syncEnabled', this.options.syncEnabled)
     if (this.options.syncEnabled != true) {
       this.sync.stop()
@@ -265,7 +266,7 @@ U.Map = L.Map.extend({
         `/map/${this.options.umap_id}/ws-token/`
       )
       if (!error) {
-        this.sync.start('ws://localhost:8001', response.token)
+        this.sync.start(this.options.websocketURI, response.token)
       }
     }
   },
@@ -1545,9 +1546,14 @@ U.Map = L.Map.extend({
   editCaption: function () {
     if (!this.editEnabled) return
     if (this.options.editMode !== 'advanced') return
-    const container = L.DomUtil.create('div', 'umap-edit-container'),
-      metadataFields = ['options.name', 'options.description', 'options.syncEnabled'],
-      title = L.DomUtil.create('h3', '', container)
+    const container = L.DomUtil.create('div', 'umap-edit-container')
+    const metadataFields = ['options.name', 'options.description']
+
+    if (this.options.websocketEnabled) {
+      metadataFields.push('options.syncEnabled')
+    }
+
+    const title = L.DomUtil.create('h3', '', container)
     title.textContent = L._('Edit map details')
     const builder = new U.FormBuilder(this, metadataFields, {
       className: 'map-metadata',
diff --git a/umap/views.py b/umap/views.py
index b3557d12..f37d5423 100644
--- a/umap/views.py
+++ b/umap/views.py
@@ -326,9 +326,9 @@ class UserDownload(DetailView, SearchMixin):
                 zip_file.writestr(file_name, geojson_file.getvalue())
 
         response = HttpResponse(zip_buffer.getvalue(), content_type="application/zip")
-        response[
-            "Content-Disposition"
-        ] = 'attachment; filename="umap_backup_complete.zip"'
+        response["Content-Disposition"] = (
+            'attachment; filename="umap_backup_complete.zip"'
+        )
         return response
 
 
@@ -503,6 +503,8 @@ class MapDetailMixin:
             ],
             "umap_version": VERSION,
             "featuresHaveOwner": settings.UMAP_DEFAULT_FEATURES_HAVE_OWNERS,
+            "websocketEnabled": settings.WEBSOCKET_ENABLED,
+            "websocketURI": settings.WEBSOCKET_URI,
         }
         created = bool(getattr(self, "object", None))
         if (created and self.object.owner) or (not created and not user.is_anonymous):
@@ -623,8 +625,8 @@ class MapView(MapDetailMixin, PermissionsMixin, DetailView):
 
     def get_datalayers(self):
         return [
-            l.metadata(self.request.user, self.request)
-            for l in self.object.datalayer_set.all()
+            dl.metadata(self.request.user, self.request)
+            for dl in self.object.datalayer_set.all()
         ]
 
     @property
@@ -674,9 +676,9 @@ class MapDownload(DetailView):
     def render_to_response(self, context, *args, **kwargs):
         umapjson = self.object.generate_umapjson(self.request)
         response = simple_json_response(**umapjson)
-        response[
-            "Content-Disposition"
-        ] = f'attachment; filename="umap_backup_{self.object.slug}.umap"'
+        response["Content-Disposition"] = (
+            f'attachment; filename="umap_backup_{self.object.slug}.umap"'
+        )
         return response
 
 
diff --git a/umap/ws.py b/umap/ws.py
index 76279b89..a2676393 100644
--- a/umap/ws.py
+++ b/umap/ws.py
@@ -98,8 +98,16 @@ async def handler(websocket):
 
 
 async def main():
-    print("WebSocket server waiting for connections")
-    async with serve(handler, "localhost", 8001):
+    if not settings.WEBSOCKET_ENABLED:
+        print("WEBSOCKET_ENABLED should be set to True to run the WebSocket Server")
+        exit(1)
+
+    async with serve(handler, settings.WEBSOCKET_HOST, settings.WEBSOCKET_PORT):
+        print(
+            (
+                f"Waiting for connections on {settings.WEBSOCKET_HOST}:{settings.WEBSOCKET_PORT}"
+            )
+        )
         await asyncio.Future()  # run forever