diff --git a/factorio.yaml b/factorio.yaml
index bfd3f05..22841fc 100644
--- a/factorio.yaml
+++ b/factorio.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels: *id001
       annotations:
-        factorio.brunner.ninja/config-revision: {{ printf "%s%s%s%s%s%s" (.Files.Get "scripts/start.sh") (.Files.Get "scripts/health.sh") (.Files.Get "scripts/collect.sh") (.Files.Get "scripts/collector-health.sh") (.Files.Get "server-settings.json") (.Files.Get "server-adminlist.json") | sha256sum }}
+        factorio.brunner.ninja/config-revision: {{ printf "%s%s%s%s%s%s%s" (.Files.Get "scripts/start.sh") (.Files.Get "scripts/disable-recycler.sh") (.Files.Get "scripts/health.sh") (.Files.Get "scripts/collect.sh") (.Files.Get "scripts/collector-health.sh") (.Files.Get "server-settings.json") (.Files.Get "server-adminlist.json") | sha256sum }}
     spec:
       automountServiceAccountToken: false
       terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 180
diff --git a/scripts/disable-recycler.sh b/scripts/disable-recycler.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5be9d1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/disable-recycler.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+mod_list=${1:-/factorio/mods/mod-list.json}
+mkdir -p "$(dirname "$mod_list")"
+
+if [[ ! -s "$mod_list" ]]; then
+  printf '{"mods":[{"name":"base","enabled":true}]}\n' > "$mod_list"
+fi
+
+tmp_file="${mod_list}.tmp"
+jq '
+  if (.mods | map(.name) | index("recycler")) then
+    .mods |= map(if .name == "recycler" then .enabled = false else . end)
+  else
+    .mods += [{"name":"recycler","enabled":false}]
+  end
+' "$mod_list" > "$tmp_file"
+mv "$tmp_file" "$mod_list"
diff --git a/scripts/start.sh b/scripts/start.sh
index 0a1044c..61f8bfb 100755
--- a/scripts/start.sh
+++ b/scripts/start.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ cp /settings/server-settings.json /factorio/config/server-settings.json
 cp /settings/server-adminlist.json /factorio/config/server-adminlist.json
 cp /credentials/rcon-password /factorio/config/rconpw
 chmod 600 /factorio/config/rconpw
+# Recycler is shipped with Factorio 2.1 and is auto-enabled if omitted from
+# mod-list.json. This vanilla server does not use the Space Age expansion.
+/scripts/disable-recycler.sh /factorio/mods/mod-list.json
 # Upstream uses bash xtrace, which would otherwise log the RCON password.
 exec 3>/dev/null
 export BASH_XTRACEFD=3
diff --git a/templates/configmaps.yaml b/templates/configmaps.yaml
index 686f261..e6ca3ad 100644
--- a/templates/configmaps.yaml
+++ b/templates/configmaps.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ metadata:
 data:
   start.sh: |
 {{ .Files.Get "scripts/start.sh" | indent 4 }}
+  disable-recycler.sh: |
+{{ .Files.Get "scripts/disable-recycler.sh" | indent 4 }}
   health.sh: |
 {{ .Files.Get "scripts/health.sh" | indent 4 }}
   collect.sh: |
diff --git a/tests/test_mod_list.py b/tests/test_mod_list.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..262bc16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_mod_list.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import json
+import subprocess
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+SCRIPT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "scripts/disable-recycler.sh"
+
+
+class ModListTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_disables_recycler_without_changing_other_mods(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as directory:
+            path = Path(directory) / "mod-list.json"
+            path.write_text(json.dumps({"mods": [
+                {"name": "base", "enabled": True},
+                {"name": "recycler", "enabled": True},
+                {"name": "my-mod", "enabled": True},
+            ]}))
+
+            subprocess.run(["bash", str(SCRIPT), str(path)], check=True)
+            mods = {mod["name"]: mod["enabled"] for mod in json.loads(path.read_text())["mods"]}
+
+            self.assertFalse(mods["recycler"])
+            self.assertTrue(mods["base"])
+            self.assertTrue(mods["my-mod"])
+
+    def test_adds_recycler_disabled_to_new_mod_list(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as directory:
+            path = Path(directory) / "mods" / "mod-list.json"
+
+            subprocess.run(["bash", str(SCRIPT), str(path)], check=True)
+            mods = {mod["name"]: mod["enabled"] for mod in json.loads(path.read_text())["mods"]}
+
+            self.assertTrue(mods["base"])
+            self.assertFalse(mods["recycler"])
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()