diff --git a/config.template.toml b/config.template.toml
index 16ab7ac..860da18 100644
--- a/config.template.toml
+++ b/config.template.toml
@@ -8,10 +8,6 @@ maintenance = false
 [DATABASE]
 dsn = "postgres://mystbin:mystbin@database:5432/mystbin"
 
-[REDIS]
-limiter = "redis://redis:6379/0"  # Optional
-sessions = "redis://redis:6379/1" # Optional
-
 [LIMITS]
 paste_get = { rate = 30, per = 60, priority = 1, bucket = "ip" }
 paste_get_day = { rate = 7200, per = 86400, priority = 2, bucket = "ip" }
@@ -24,6 +20,10 @@ char_limit = 300_000
 file_limit = 5
 name_limit = 25
 
+[REDIS] # optional key
+limiter = "redis://redis:6379/0"  # required if key present
+sessions = "redis://redis:6379/1" # required if key present
+
 [GITHUB] # optional key
 token = "..." # a github token capable of creating gists, non-optional if the above key is provided
 timeout = 10  # how long to wait between posting gists if there's an influx of tokens posted. Non-optional
diff --git a/core/server.py b/core/server.py
index bd86119..bed80bc 100644
--- a/core/server.py
+++ b/core/server.py
@@ -47,8 +47,15 @@ def __init__(self, *, database: Database, session: aiohttp.ClientSession | None
         ]
         routes: list[Mount | Route] = [Mount("/static", app=StaticFiles(directory="web/static"), name="static")]
 
-        limit_redis = starlette_plus.Redis(url=CONFIG["REDIS"]["limiter"]) if CONFIG["REDIS"]["limiter"] else None
-        sess_redis = starlette_plus.Redis(url=CONFIG["REDIS"]["sessions"]) if CONFIG["REDIS"]["sessions"] else None
+        if redis_key := CONFIG.get("REDIS"):
+            limit_url = redis_key["limiter"]
+            session_url = redis_key["sessions"]
+        else:
+            limit_url = None
+            session_url = None
+
+        limit_redis = starlette_plus.Redis(url=limit_url)
+        sess_redis = starlette_plus.Redis(url=session_url)
 
         global_limits = [CONFIG["LIMITS"]["global_limit"]]
         middleware = [
diff --git a/types_/config.py b/types_/config.py
index b196186..8be4827 100644
--- a/types_/config.py
+++ b/types_/config.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class Github(TypedDict):
 class Config(TypedDict):
     SERVER: Server
     DATABASE: Database
-    REDIS: Redis
+    REDIS: NotRequired[Redis]
     LIMITS: Limits
     PASTES: Pastes
     GITHUB: NotRequired[Github]