diff --git a/client/src/app/core/users/user-local-storage.service.ts b/client/src/app/core/users/user-local-storage.service.ts
index 431a57343..43da94213 100644
--- a/client/src/app/core/users/user-local-storage.service.ts
+++ b/client/src/app/core/users/user-local-storage.service.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ export class UserLocalStorageService {
 
     const defaultNSFWPolicy = htmlConfig.instance.defaultNSFWPolicy
     const defaultP2PEnabled = htmlConfig.defaults.p2p.webapp.enabled
+    const defaultAutoPlay = htmlConfig.defaults.player.autoPlay
 
     return {
       nsfwPolicy: this.localStorageService.getItem<NSFWPolicyType>(UserLocalStorageKeys.NSFW_POLICY) || defaultNSFWPolicy,
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ export class UserLocalStorageService {
       theme: this.localStorageService.getItem(UserLocalStorageKeys.THEME) || 'instance-default',
       videoLanguages,
 
-      autoPlayVideo: getBoolOrDefault(this.localStorageService.getItem(UserLocalStorageKeys.AUTO_PLAY_VIDEO), true),
+      autoPlayVideo: getBoolOrDefault(this.localStorageService.getItem(UserLocalStorageKeys.AUTO_PLAY_VIDEO), defaultAutoPlay),
       autoPlayNextVideo: getBoolOrDefault(this.localStorageService.getItem(UserLocalStorageKeys.AUTO_PLAY_NEXT_VIDEO), false),
       autoPlayNextVideoPlaylist: getBoolOrDefault(this.localStorageService.getItem(UserLocalStorageKeys.AUTO_PLAY_VIDEO_PLAYLIST), true)
     }
diff --git a/config/default.yaml b/config/default.yaml
index c54c0e5d2..8d5f3ad7b 100644
--- a/config/default.yaml
+++ b/config/default.yaml
@@ -150,6 +150,10 @@ defaults:
     embed:
       enabled: true
 
+  player:
+    # By default, playback starts automatically when opening a video
+    auto_play: true
+
 # From the project root directory
 storage:
   tmp: 'storage/tmp/' # Use to download data (imports etc), store uploaded files before and during processing...
diff --git a/config/production.yaml.example b/config/production.yaml.example
index 4275c8ff1..bcd7a6dc2 100644
--- a/config/production.yaml.example
+++ b/config/production.yaml.example
@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ defaults:
     embed:
       enabled: true
 
+  player:
+    # By default, playback starts automatically when opening a video
+    auto_play: true
+
 # From the project root directory
 storage:
   tmp: '/var/www/peertube/storage/tmp/' # Use to download data (imports etc), store uploaded files before and during processing...
diff --git a/packages/models/src/server/server-config.model.ts b/packages/models/src/server/server-config.model.ts
index 379bc5e25..3060d711f 100644
--- a/packages/models/src/server/server-config.model.ts
+++ b/packages/models/src/server/server-config.model.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ export interface ServerConfig {
         enabled: boolean
       }
     }
+
+    player: {
+      autoPlay: boolean
+    }
   }
 
   webadmin: {
diff --git a/packages/tests/src/api/server/config-defaults.ts b/packages/tests/src/api/server/config-defaults.ts
index 42b517ba2..419a7a11f 100644
--- a/packages/tests/src/api/server/config-defaults.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/src/api/server/config-defaults.ts
@@ -212,7 +212,50 @@ describe('Test config defaults', function () {
     })
   })
 
+  describe('Default player value', function () {
+
+    before(async function () {
+      const overrideConfig = {
+        defaults: {
+          player: {
+            auto_play: false
+          }
+        },
+        signup: {
+          limit: 15
+        }
+      }
+
+      await server.kill()
+      await server.run(overrideConfig)
+    })
+
+    it('Should have appropriate autoplay config', async function () {
+      const config = await server.config.getConfig()
+
+      expect(config.defaults.player.autoPlay).to.be.false
+    })
+
+    it('Should create a user with this default setting', async function () {
+      await server.users.create({ username: 'user_autoplay_1' })
+      const userToken = await server.login.getAccessToken('user_autoplay_1')
+
+      const { autoPlayVideo } = await server.users.getMyInfo({ token: userToken })
+      expect(autoPlayVideo).to.be.false
+    })
+
+    it('Should register a user with this default setting', async function () {
+      await server.registrations.register({ username: 'user_autoplay_2' })
+
+      const userToken = await server.login.getAccessToken('user_autoplay_2')
+
+      const { autoPlayVideo } = await server.users.getMyInfo({ token: userToken })
+      expect(autoPlayVideo).to.be.false
+    })
+  })
+
   describe('Default user attributes', function () {
+
     it('Should create a user and register a user with the default config', async function () {
       await server.config.updateExistingConfig({
         newConfig: {
diff --git a/server/core/initializers/checker-before-init.ts b/server/core/initializers/checker-before-init.ts
index 36cdb4ec1..bbc58aa11 100644
--- a/server/core/initializers/checker-before-init.ts
+++ b/server/core/initializers/checker-before-init.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ function checkMissedConfig () {
     'auto_blacklist.videos.of_users.enabled', 'trending.videos.interval_days',
     'client.videos.miniature.prefer_author_display_name', 'client.menu.login.redirect_on_single_external_auth',
     'defaults.publish.download_enabled', 'defaults.publish.comments_policy', 'defaults.publish.privacy', 'defaults.publish.licence',
+    'defaults.player.auto_play',
     'instance.name', 'instance.short_description', 'instance.description', 'instance.terms', 'instance.default_client_route',
     'instance.is_nsfw', 'instance.default_nsfw_policy', 'instance.robots', 'instance.securitytxt',
     'instance.server_country', 'instance.support.text', 'instance.social.external_link', 'instance.social.mastodon_link',
diff --git a/server/core/initializers/config.ts b/server/core/initializers/config.ts
index cf9b91c09..72fad9373 100644
--- a/server/core/initializers/config.ts
+++ b/server/core/initializers/config.ts
@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@ const CONFIG = {
       EMBED: {
         ENABLED: config.get<boolean>('defaults.p2p.embed.enabled')
       }
+    },
+    PLAYER: {
+      get AUTO_PLAY () { return config.get<boolean>('defaults.player.auto_play') }
     }
   },
 
diff --git a/server/core/lib/server-config-manager.ts b/server/core/lib/server-config-manager.ts
index 71f5f7351..5dd99b55a 100644
--- a/server/core/lib/server-config-manager.ts
+++ b/server/core/lib/server-config-manager.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ class ServerConfigManager {
           embed: {
             enabled: CONFIG.DEFAULTS.P2P.EMBED.ENABLED
           }
+        },
+        player: {
+          autoPlay: CONFIG.DEFAULTS.PLAYER.AUTO_PLAY
         }
       },
 
diff --git a/server/core/lib/user.ts b/server/core/lib/user.ts
index 39ec281a6..2121302db 100644
--- a/server/core/lib/user.ts
+++ b/server/core/lib/user.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ function buildUser (options: {
     p2pEnabled: CONFIG.DEFAULTS.P2P.WEBAPP.ENABLED,
     videosHistoryEnabled: CONFIG.USER.HISTORY.VIDEOS.ENABLED,
 
-    autoPlayVideo: true,
+    autoPlayVideo: CONFIG.DEFAULTS.PLAYER.AUTO_PLAY,
 
     role,
     emailVerified,