diff --git a/data/config.toml b/data/config.toml
index cb73b7ce305854bc9522f8008b6fb66f3fac63aa..40becd7524b41c4c3b353146547d44893370cfb4 100644
--- a/data/config.toml
+++ b/data/config.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ mapfile = "data/region_hohenlohe.tif" # location of the map file
 outdir = "results" # location and name of the output folder
 logfile = "simulation.log" # name of the log file
 loglevel = "debug" # verbosity level: "debug", "normal", "errors"
-quietmode = false # if true, only print log statements to file, not the screen
 runtime = 5 # duration in days that the simulation will run for
 seed = 0 # seed value for the RNG (0 -> random value)
 
diff --git a/src/core/input.jl b/src/core/input.jl
index 2c97daee53cd833b871fe83633773c93e4c13cf9..8626428a2a76ddc8ba341ad0613440f4b4e69f63 100644
--- a/src/core/input.jl
+++ b/src/core/input.jl
@@ -74,11 +74,6 @@ function getsettings(configfile::String)
         outdir = defaultoutdir*"_"*string(Dates.today())*"_s"*string(settings["core"]["seed"])
         settings["core"]["outdir"] = outdir
     end
-    # Flags are automatically set to false by ArgParse if they are not given -
-    # this should not override a given config file value
-    if !commandline["quietmode"] && !isnothing(configs) && "quietmode" in keys(configs["core"]) && configs["core"]["quietmode"]
-        settings["core"]["quietmode"] = true
-    end
     settings
 end
 
@@ -109,9 +104,6 @@ function parsecommandline()
             help = "verbosity: \"debug\", \"normal\", or \"errors\""
             arg_type = String
             required = false
-        "--quietmode", "-q"
-            help = "don't print output to screen"
-            action = :store_true
         "--runtime", "-r"
            help = "duration in days that the simulation will run"
            arg_type = Int
diff --git a/src/parameters.toml b/src/parameters.toml
index 29d79cc07d7d11e922aa05be888560cd45ac6c12..b0c98a464744e9d68a68e5e12634069f6d8ae112 100644
--- a/src/parameters.toml
+++ b/src/parameters.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ mapfile = "data/region_jena.tif" # location of the map file
 outdir = "results" # location and name of the output folder
 logfile = "simulation.log" # name of the log file
 loglevel = "debug" # verbosity level: "debug", "normal", "errors"
-quietmode = false # if true, only print log statements to file, not the screen
 runtime = 10 # duration in days that the simulation will run for
 seed = 0 # seed value for the RNG (0 -> random value)