diff --git a/librecomp/include/librecomp/mods.hpp b/librecomp/include/librecomp/mods.hpp
index 08c4ab4..4ccc92b 100644
--- a/librecomp/include/librecomp/mods.hpp
+++ b/librecomp/include/librecomp/mods.hpp
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ namespace recomp {
             std::vector<std::string> authors;
             std::vector<Dependency> dependencies;
             bool runtime_toggleable;
+            bool enabled_by_default;
         };
 
         struct ModManifest {
@@ -237,6 +238,7 @@ namespace recomp {
             Version minimum_recomp_version;
             Version version;
             bool runtime_toggleable;
+            bool enabled_by_default = true;
 
             std::vector<NativeLibraryManifest> native_libraries;
             std::unique_ptr<ModFileHandle> file_handle;
@@ -476,7 +478,8 @@ namespace recomp {
                     .version = manifest.version,
                     .authors = manifest.authors,
                     .dependencies = manifest.dependencies,
-                    .runtime_toggleable = is_runtime_toggleable()
+                    .runtime_toggleable = is_runtime_toggleable(),
+                    .enabled_by_default = manifest.enabled_by_default
                 };
             }
         private:
diff --git a/librecomp/src/mod_manifest.cpp b/librecomp/src/mod_manifest.cpp
index 4a03c90..768dd18 100644
--- a/librecomp/src/mod_manifest.cpp
+++ b/librecomp/src/mod_manifest.cpp
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ const std::string short_description_key = "short_description";
 const std::string version_key = "version";
 const std::string authors_key = "authors";
 const std::string minimum_recomp_version_key = "minimum_recomp_version";
+const std::string enabled_by_default_key = "enabled_by_default";
 const std::string dependencies_key = "dependencies";
 const std::string native_libraries_key = "native_libraries";
 const std::string config_schema_key = "config_schema";
@@ -573,6 +574,12 @@ recomp::mods::ModOpenError recomp::mods::parse_manifest(ModManifest& ret, const
         return current_error;
     }
 
+    // Enabled by default (optional)
+    current_error = try_get<json::boolean_t>(ret.enabled_by_default, manifest_json, enabled_by_default_key, false, error_param);
+    if (current_error != ModOpenError::Good) {
+        return current_error;
+    }
+
     // Dependencies (optional)
     std::vector<std::string> dep_strings{};
     current_error = try_get_vec<json::string_t>(dep_strings, manifest_json, dependencies_key, false, error_param);
diff --git a/librecomp/src/mods.cpp b/librecomp/src/mods.cpp
index 575784b..b13e16a 100644
--- a/librecomp/src/mods.cpp
+++ b/librecomp/src/mods.cpp
@@ -862,8 +862,11 @@ void recomp::mods::ModContext::load_mods_config() {
 
     // Enable mods that are specified in the configuration or mods that are considered new.
     for (size_t i = 0; i < opened_mods.size(); i++) {
-        const std::string &mod_id = opened_mods[i].manifest.mod_id;
-        if (!opened_mod_is_known[i] || (config_enabled_mods.find(mod_id) != config_enabled_mods.end())) {
+        const ModHandle& mod = opened_mods[i];
+        const std::string &mod_id = mod.manifest.mod_id;
+        bool is_default_enabled = !opened_mod_is_known[i] && mod.manifest.enabled_by_default;
+        bool is_manually_enabled = config_enabled_mods.contains(mod_id);
+        if (is_default_enabled || is_manually_enabled) {
             enable_mod(mod_id, true, false);
         }
     }