diff --git a/backend/enviroment/getEnvVariables.ts b/backend/enviroment/getEnvVariables.ts
index 7f071b0..4c7b20e 100644
--- a/backend/enviroment/getEnvVariables.ts
+++ b/backend/enviroment/getEnvVariables.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const getEnvVariables = () => {
 
     const processType = process.env.NODE_ENV;
 
-    if (processType === 'production') {
+    if (processType === 'production' || processType === undefined) {
 
         require('dotenv').config({ path: configPath + "/prod.env"})
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ba055a8..e6cebc0 100755
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     "build:dev": "tsc && webpack --env development",
     "dev-server": "webpack-dev-server",
     "test": "NODE_ENV=test env-cmd -f ./config/test.env jest --config=jest.config.json --watchAll --runInBand",
-    "start:dev": "node dist/server/serverStart.js",
+    "start:dev": "NODE_ENV=dev node dist/server/serverStart.js",
     "start": "node dist/server/serverStart.js --env production",
     "create-indexes-database": "node serverUtils/createIndexes.js",
     "increase-node-memory": "export NODE_OPTIONS=--max_old_space_size=8000",