diff --git a/tools/server/server-task.cpp b/tools/server/server-task.cpp
index 3018ac90f8..39b0f7b755 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-task.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-task.cpp
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ task_params server_task::params_from_json_cmpl(
     defaults.antiprompt    = params_base.antiprompt;
 
     // enabling this will output extra debug information in the HTTP responses from the server
-    params.verbose           = params_base.verbosity > 9;
+    params.verbose           = params_base.verbosity > 9 || json_value(data, "verbose", false);
     params.timings_per_token = json_value(data, "timings_per_token", false);
 
     params.stream           = json_value(data,       "stream",             false);