diff --git a/cmd/hive/cmd/service.go b/cmd/hive/cmd/service.go
index f8df69473..7862db58e 100644
--- a/cmd/hive/cmd/service.go
+++ b/cmd/hive/cmd/service.go
@@ -266,8 +266,8 @@ var viperblockStartCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
 
-		// Resolve sharded WAL setting: default true unless explicitly set to false
-		shardWAL := true
+		// Resolve sharded WAL setting: default false unless explicitly set to true
+		shardWAL := false
 		if nodeConfig.Viperblock.ShardWAL != nil {
 			shardWAL = *nodeConfig.Viperblock.ShardWAL
 		}
diff --git a/cmd/hive/cmd/templates/hive.toml b/cmd/hive/cmd/templates/hive.toml
index 25af32add..e28ed1d81 100644
--- a/cmd/hive/cmd/templates/hive.toml
+++ b/cmd/hive/cmd/templates/hive.toml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ token = "{{.NatsToken}}"
 [nodes.{{.Node}}.nats.sub]
 
 [nodes.{{.Node}}.viperblock]
-shardwal = true
+shardwal = false
 
 [nodes.{{.Node}}.predastore]
 host = "{{.BindIP}}:8443"
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index ea760bfe1..3f8c32dfb 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/kdomanski/iso9660 v0.4.0
 	github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.3.0
 	github.com/mulgadc/predastore v1.0.0
-	github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v1.0.13
+	github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v1.0.14
 	github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.11.6
 	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.43.0
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 74e264e2a..7d628a54c 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -274,8 +274,8 @@ github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v0.0.0-20180701023420-4b7aa43c6742/go.mod h1:bx2lN
 github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.1/go.mod h1:bx2lNnkwVCuqBIxFjflWJWanXIb3RllmbCylyMrvgv0=
 github.com/mulgadc/predastore v1.0.0 h1:IZ5V/EL+k+zz0zGoTYp+1BgODb43JxHsb/kvORuydKI=
 github.com/mulgadc/predastore v1.0.0/go.mod h1:x46A1z091hlZkMt3kkcuLSy2PAzSgROr6ft04qcYOU4=
-github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v1.0.13 h1:dDH8G4NlQ33t+KQtLmMMOBXgrMfz7qW5N+1jgWHe8F4=
-github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v1.0.13/go.mod h1:dV1eRKaIjH8YfuCk2Bd4hxKd3Rx5mWfO6gelJ9SbbeY=
+github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v1.0.14 h1:nlnxdRSzoyGEu8ZvE5yvg+HBDqfLcCNYdGcmAUG2O2E=
+github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v1.0.14/go.mod h1:dV1eRKaIjH8YfuCk2Bd4hxKd3Rx5mWfO6gelJ9SbbeY=
 github.com/mwitkow/go-conntrack v0.0.0-20161129095857-cc309e4a2223/go.mod h1:qRWi+5nqEBWmkhHvq77mSJWrCKwh8bxhgT7d/eI7P4U=
 github.com/mwitkow/go-conntrack v0.0.0-20190716064945-2f068394615f/go.mod h1:qRWi+5nqEBWmkhHvq77mSJWrCKwh8bxhgT7d/eI7P4U=
 github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.7.4 h1:jXFuDDxs/GQjGDZGhNgH4tXzSUK6WQi2rsj4xmsNOtI=
diff --git a/hive/config/config.go b/hive/config/config.go
index 500e83b6c..3ecaca7e6 100644
--- a/hive/config/config.go
+++ b/hive/config/config.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ type AWSGWConfig struct {
 }
 
 type ViperblockConfig struct {
-	ShardWAL *bool `mapstructure:"shardwal"` // Enable sharded WAL (default true when nil)
+	ShardWAL *bool `mapstructure:"shardwal"` // Enable sharded WAL (default false when nil)
 }
 
 type PredastoreConfig struct {
diff --git a/hive/config/config_test.go b/hive/config/config_test.go
index 57c79f43d..72765edc6 100644
--- a/hive/config/config_test.go
+++ b/hive/config/config_test.go
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ region = "us-east-1"
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	n := cfg.Nodes["n1"]
-	assert.Nil(t, n.Viperblock.ShardWAL, "ShardWAL should be nil when not configured (defaults to true in service)")
+	assert.Nil(t, n.Viperblock.ShardWAL, "ShardWAL should be nil when not configured (defaults to false in service)")
 }
 
 func TestLoadConfig_ViperblockShardWAL_True(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/hive/nbd/nbd.go b/hive/nbd/nbd.go
index 709b08a24..61b6797b4 100644
--- a/hive/nbd/nbd.go
+++ b/hive/nbd/nbd.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ type NBDKitConfig struct {
 	BaseDir    string `json:"base_dir"`
 	Host       string `json:"host"`
 	CacheSize  int    `json:"cache_size"`
-	ShardWAL   bool   `json:"shardwal"` // Enable sharded WAL (default true)
+	ShardWAL   bool   `json:"shardwal"` // Enable sharded WAL (default false)
 	UseTCP     bool   `json:"use_tcp"`  // If true, use TCP transport; otherwise use Unix socket
 }
 
diff --git a/hive/services/viperblockd/viperblockd.go b/hive/services/viperblockd/viperblockd.go
index 3e10c1e6c..027d41df5 100644
--- a/hive/services/viperblockd/viperblockd.go
+++ b/hive/services/viperblockd/viperblockd.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	// Socket is faster for local connections, TCP required for remote/DPU scenarios
 	NBDTransport config.NBDTransport
 
-	// ShardWAL enables sharded WAL for mounted volumes (default true)
+	// ShardWAL enables sharded WAL for mounted volumes (default false)
 	ShardWAL bool
 
 	mu sync.Mutex