diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index c53106d..ba5fb60 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-# Copy to .env (loaded by your process manager) or export before `npm start`.
+# Loaded automatically at startup via dotenv (`import 'dotenv/config'`),
+# so `npm start` and `npm run seed` read these without a process manager.
 # Newbury Nights configuration
 
 # Port the Node/Express app listens on (nginx terminates HTTPS in front of this).
-PORT=3000
+PORT=33033
 
 # Secret used to sign JWTs. CHANGE THIS to a long random string in production.
 JWT_SECRET=change-me-to-a-long-random-string