diff --git a/common/arg.cpp b/common/arg.cpp
index acf4c8f8a8..f2aec895ba 100644
--- a/common/arg.cpp
+++ b/common/arg.cpp
@@ -835,6 +835,19 @@ bool common_arg_utils::is_autoy(const std::string & value) {
 }
 
 common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_example ex, void(*print_usage)(int, char **)) {
+    // per-example default params
+    // we define here to make sure it's included in llama-gen-docs
+    if (ex == LLAMA_EXAMPLE_COMPLETION) {
+        params.use_jinja = false;   // disable jinja by default
+
+    } else if (ex == LLAMA_EXAMPLE_MTMD) {
+        params.use_jinja = false;   // disable jinja by default
+        params.sampling.temp = 0.2; // lower temp by default for better quality
+
+    } else if (ex == LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER) {
+        params.n_parallel = -1;     // auto by default
+    }
+
     params.use_color = tty_can_use_colors();
 
     // load dynamic backends
@@ -1107,7 +1120,7 @@ common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_ex
     ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_SWA_FULL"));
     add_opt(common_arg(
         {"--ctx-checkpoints", "--swa-checkpoints"}, "N",
-        string_format("max number of context checkpoints to create per slot (default: %d)\n"
+        string_format("max number of context checkpoints to create per slot (default: %d)"
             "[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/15293)", params.n_ctx_checkpoints),
         [](common_params & params, int value) {
             params.n_ctx_checkpoints = value;
@@ -1115,7 +1128,7 @@ common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_ex
     ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_CTX_CHECKPOINTS").set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_CLI}));
     add_opt(common_arg(
         {"--cache-ram", "-cram"}, "N",
-        string_format("set the maximum cache size in MiB (default: %d, -1 - no limit, 0 - disable)\n"
+        string_format("set the maximum cache size in MiB (default: %d, -1 - no limit, 0 - disable)"
             "[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/16391)", params.cache_ram_mib),
         [](common_params & params, int value) {
             params.cache_ram_mib = value;
@@ -1123,12 +1136,11 @@ common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_ex
     ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_CACHE_RAM").set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_CLI}));
     add_opt(common_arg(
         {"--kv-unified", "-kvu"},
-        string_format("use single unified KV buffer for the KV cache of all sequences (default: %s)\n"
-            "[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/14363)", params.kv_unified ? "true" : "false"),
+        "use single unified KV buffer shared across all sequences (default: enabled if number of slots is auto)",
         [](common_params & params) {
             params.kv_unified = true;
         }
-    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_KV_UNIFIED"));
+    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_KV_UNIFIED").set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
     add_opt(common_arg(
         {"--context-shift"},
         {"--no-context-shift"},
@@ -1888,13 +1900,27 @@ common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_ex
             LOG_WRN("DEPRECATED: --defrag-thold is deprecated and no longer necessary to specify\n");
         }
     ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_DEFRAG_THOLD"));
-    add_opt(common_arg(
-        {"-np", "--parallel"}, "N",
-        string_format("number of parallel sequences to decode (default: %d)", params.n_parallel),
-        [](common_params & params, int value) {
-            params.n_parallel = value;
-        }
-    ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_N_PARALLEL"));
+    if (ex == LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER) {
+        // this is to make sure this option appears in the server-specific section of the help message
+        add_opt(common_arg(
+            {"-np", "--parallel"}, "N",
+            string_format("number of server slots (default: %d, -1 = auto)", params.n_parallel),
+            [](common_params & params, int value) {
+                if (value == 0) {
+                    throw std::invalid_argument("error: invalid value for n_parallel\n");
+                }
+                params.n_parallel = value;
+            }
+        ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_N_PARALLEL").set_examples({LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER}));
+    } else {
+        add_opt(common_arg(
+            {"-np", "--parallel"}, "N",
+            string_format("number of parallel sequences to decode (default: %d)", params.n_parallel),
+            [](common_params & params, int value) {
+                params.n_parallel = value;
+            }
+        ).set_env("LLAMA_ARG_N_PARALLEL"));
+    }
     add_opt(common_arg(
         {"-ns", "--sequences"}, "N",
         string_format("number of sequences to decode (default: %d)", params.n_sequences),
diff --git a/examples/gen-docs/gen-docs.cpp b/examples/gen-docs/gen-docs.cpp
index e9f7bf9313..dc76c4cf53 100644
--- a/examples/gen-docs/gen-docs.cpp
+++ b/examples/gen-docs/gen-docs.cpp
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ static void write_table(std::ofstream & file, std::vector<common_arg *> & opts)
     }
 }
 
-static void export_md(std::string fname, llama_example ex) {
+static void export_md(std::string fname, llama_example ex, std::string name) {
     std::ofstream file(fname, std::ofstream::out | std::ofstream::trunc);
 
     common_params params;
@@ -72,13 +72,14 @@ static void export_md(std::string fname, llama_example ex) {
     write_table(file, common_options);
     file << "\n\n**Sampling params**\n\n";
     write_table(file, sparam_options);
-    file << "\n\n**Example-specific params**\n\n";
+    file << "\n\n**" << name << "-specific params**\n\n";
     write_table(file, specific_options);
 }
 
 int main(int, char **) {
-    export_md("autogen-main.md", LLAMA_EXAMPLE_COMPLETION);
-    export_md("autogen-server.md", LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER);
+    // TODO: add CLI
+    export_md("autogen-completion.md", LLAMA_EXAMPLE_COMPLETION, "Tool");
+    export_md("autogen-server.md", LLAMA_EXAMPLE_SERVER, "Server");
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/tools/completion/completion.cpp b/tools/completion/completion.cpp
index 85480f3369..29770515f5 100644
--- a/tools/completion/completion.cpp
+++ b/tools/completion/completion.cpp
@@ -87,9 +87,6 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
     common_params params;
     g_params = &params;
 
-    // disable jinja by default
-    params.use_jinja = false;
-
     if (!common_params_parse(argc, argv, params, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_COMPLETION, print_usage)) {
         return 1;
     }
diff --git a/tools/mtmd/mtmd-cli.cpp b/tools/mtmd/mtmd-cli.cpp
index 332d2049e5..3ee1c2eccf 100644
--- a/tools/mtmd/mtmd-cli.cpp
+++ b/tools/mtmd/mtmd-cli.cpp
@@ -270,8 +270,6 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
     ggml_time_init();
 
     common_params params;
-    params.use_jinja = false;   // disable jinja by default
-    params.sampling.temp = 0.2; // lower temp by default for better quality
 
     if (!common_params_parse(argc, argv, params, LLAMA_EXAMPLE_MTMD, show_additional_info)) {
         return 1;
diff --git a/tools/server/README.md b/tools/server/README.md
index ef4990faf1..9a2b9b1f36 100644
--- a/tools/server/README.md
+++ b/tools/server/README.md
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ For the ful list of features, please refer to [server's changelog](https://githu
 | `-ub, --ubatch-size N` | physical maximum batch size (default: 512)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_UBATCH) |
 | `--keep N` | number of tokens to keep from the initial prompt (default: 0, -1 = all) |
 | `--swa-full` | use full-size SWA cache (default: false)<br/>[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/13194#issuecomment-2868343055)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_SWA_FULL) |
-| `--kv-unified, -kvu` | use single unified KV buffer for the KV cache of all sequences (default: false)<br/>[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/14363)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_KV_UNIFIED) |
 | `-fa, --flash-attn [on\|off\|auto]` | set Flash Attention use ('on', 'off', or 'auto', default: 'auto')<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_FLASH_ATTN) |
 | `--perf, --no-perf` | whether to enable internal libllama performance timings (default: false)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_PERF) |
 | `-e, --escape, --no-escape` | whether to process escapes sequences (\n, \r, \t, \', \", \\) (default: true) |
@@ -67,11 +66,10 @@ For the ful list of features, please refer to [server's changelog](https://githu
 | `--yarn-beta-fast N` | YaRN: low correction dim or beta (default: -1.0)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_YARN_BETA_FAST) |
 | `-kvo, --kv-offload, -nkvo, --no-kv-offload` | whether to enable KV cache offloading (default: enabled)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_KV_OFFLOAD) |
 | `--repack, -nr, --no-repack` | whether to enable weight repacking (default: enabled)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_REPACK) |
-| `--no-host` | bypass host buffer allowing extra buffers to be used<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_HOST) |
+| `--no-host` | bypass host buffer allowing extra buffers to be used<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_NO_HOST) |
 | `-ctk, --cache-type-k TYPE` | KV cache data type for K<br/>allowed values: f32, f16, bf16, q8_0, q4_0, q4_1, iq4_nl, q5_0, q5_1<br/>(default: f16)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CACHE_TYPE_K) |
 | `-ctv, --cache-type-v TYPE` | KV cache data type for V<br/>allowed values: f32, f16, bf16, q8_0, q4_0, q4_1, iq4_nl, q5_0, q5_1<br/>(default: f16)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CACHE_TYPE_V) |
 | `-dt, --defrag-thold N` | KV cache defragmentation threshold (DEPRECATED)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_DEFRAG_THOLD) |
-| `-np, --parallel N` | number of parallel sequences to decode (default: 1)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_N_PARALLEL) |
 | `--mlock` | force system to keep model in RAM rather than swapping or compressing<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_MLOCK) |
 | `--mmap, --no-mmap` | whether to memory-map model (if disabled, slower load but may reduce pageouts if not using mlock) (default: enabled)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_MMAP) |
 | `--numa TYPE` | attempt optimizations that help on some NUMA systems<br/>- distribute: spread execution evenly over all nodes<br/>- isolate: only spawn threads on CPUs on the node that execution started on<br/>- numactl: use the CPU map provided by numactl<br/>if run without this previously, it is recommended to drop the system page cache before using this<br/>see https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues/1437<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_NUMA) |
@@ -150,19 +148,20 @@ For the ful list of features, please refer to [server's changelog](https://githu
 | `-jf, --json-schema-file FILE` | File containing a JSON schema to constrain generations (https://json-schema.org/), e.g. `{}` for any JSON object<br/>For schemas w/ external $refs, use --grammar + example/json_schema_to_grammar.py instead |
 
 
-**Example-specific params**
+**Server-specific params**
 
 | Argument | Explanation |
 | -------- | ----------- |
-| `--ctx-checkpoints, --swa-checkpoints N` | max number of context checkpoints to create per slot (default: 8)<br/>[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/15293)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CTX_CHECKPOINTS) |
-| `--cache-ram, -cram N` | set the maximum cache size in MiB (default: 8192, -1 - no limit, 0 - disable)<br/>[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/16391)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CACHE_RAM) |
+| `--ctx-checkpoints, --swa-checkpoints N` | max number of context checkpoints to create per slot (default: 8)[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/15293)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CTX_CHECKPOINTS) |
+| `--cache-ram, -cram N` | set the maximum cache size in MiB (default: 8192, -1 - no limit, 0 - disable)[(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/16391)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CACHE_RAM) |
+| `--kv-unified, -kvu` | use single unified KV buffer shared across all sequences (default: enabled if number of slots is auto)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_KV_UNIFIED) |
 | `--context-shift, --no-context-shift` | whether to use context shift on infinite text generation (default: disabled)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CONTEXT_SHIFT) |
 | `-r, --reverse-prompt PROMPT` | halt generation at PROMPT, return control in interactive mode<br/> |
 | `-sp, --special` | special tokens output enabled (default: false) |
 | `--warmup, --no-warmup` | whether to perform warmup with an empty run (default: enabled) |
 | `--spm-infill` | use Suffix/Prefix/Middle pattern for infill (instead of Prefix/Suffix/Middle) as some models prefer this. (default: disabled) |
 | `--pooling {none,mean,cls,last,rank}` | pooling type for embeddings, use model default if unspecified<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_POOLING) |
-| `-cb, --cont-batching, -nocb, --no-cont-batching` | whether to enable continuous batching (a.k.a dynamic batching) (default: enabled)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CONT_BATCHING) |
+| `-np, --parallel N` | number of server slots (default: -1, -1 = auto)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_N_PARALLEL) |
 | `-cb, --cont-batching, -nocb, --no-cont-batching` | whether to enable continuous batching (a.k.a dynamic batching) (default: enabled)<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_CONT_BATCHING) |
 | `-mm, --mmproj FILE` | path to a multimodal projector file. see tools/mtmd/README.md<br/>note: if -hf is used, this argument can be omitted<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_MMPROJ) |
 | `-mmu, --mmproj-url URL` | URL to a multimodal projector file. see tools/mtmd/README.md<br/>(env: LLAMA_ARG_MMPROJ_URL) |
diff --git a/tools/server/server.cpp b/tools/server/server.cpp
index d5bef3df44..235ae4e8c0 100644
--- a/tools/server/server.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server.cpp
@@ -73,13 +73,8 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv, char ** envp) {
         return 1;
     }
 
-    // TODO: should we have a separate n_parallel parameter for the server?
-    //       https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/16736#discussion_r2483763177
-    // TODO: this is a common configuration that is suitable for most local use cases
-    //       however, overriding the parameters is a bit confusing - figure out something more intuitive
-    if (params.n_parallel == 1 && params.kv_unified == false && !params.has_speculative()) {
-        LOG_WRN("%s: setting n_parallel = 4 and kv_unified = true (add -kvu to disable this)\n", __func__);
-
+    if (params.n_parallel < 0) {
+        LOG_INF("%s: n_parallel is set to auto, using n_parallel = 4 and kv_unified = true\n", __func__);
         params.n_parallel = 4;
         params.kv_unified = true;
     }