diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/enable-default-traces.md b/changelog/unreleased/enable-default-traces.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9b96930b92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/enable-default-traces.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Enhancement: Enabling tracing by default if not explicitly disabled
+
+https://github.com/cs3org/reva/pull/2515
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/revad/runtime/runtime.go b/cmd/revad/runtime/runtime.go
index 22d55eb30b..9783092c2c 100644
--- a/cmd/revad/runtime/runtime.go
+++ b/cmd/revad/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -311,6 +311,15 @@ func parseCoreConfOrDie(v interface{}) *coreConf {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	// tracing defaults to enabled if not explicitly configured
+	if v == nil {
+		c.TracingEnabled = true
+		c.TracingEndpoint = "localhost:6831"
+	} else if _, ok := v.(map[string]interface{})["tracing_enabled"]; !ok {
+		c.TracingEnabled = true
+		c.TracingEndpoint = "localhost:6831"
+	}
+
 	return c
 }