diff --git a/.devnet/start.sh b/.devnet/start.sh
index 5214836d71..f61cea6af0 100755
--- a/.devnet/start.sh
+++ b/.devnet/start.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ start_snarkos_in_tmux() {
     tmux new-session -d -s snarkos-session
 
     # Send the snarkOS start command to the tmux session with the NODE_ID
-    tmux send-keys -t "snarkos-session" "snarkos start --nodisplay --bft 0.0.0.0:5000 --rest 0.0.0.0:3030 --peers $NODE_IP:4130 --validators $NODE_IP:5000 --verbosity $VERBOSITY --dev $NODE_ID --dev-traffic --dev-num-validators $NUM_INSTANCES --validator --metrics" C-m
+    tmux send-keys -t "snarkos-session" "snarkos start --nodisplay --bft 0.0.0.0:5000 --rest 0.0.0.0:3030 --peers $NODE_IP:4130 --validators $NODE_IP:5000 --verbosity $VERBOSITY --dev $NODE_ID --dev-num-validators $NUM_INSTANCES --validator --metrics" C-m
 
     exit  # Exit root user
 EOF
diff --git a/cli/src/commands/start.rs b/cli/src/commands/start.rs
index ad2b1a7825..e0b149c6bd 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/start.rs
+++ b/cli/src/commands/start.rs
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ pub struct Start {
     #[clap(long)]
     pub dev_num_validators: Option<u16>,
     /// If developtment mode is enabled, specify whether node 0 should generate traffic to drive the network
-    #[clap(default_value = "false", long = "dev-traffic")]
-    pub dev_traffic: bool,
+    #[clap(default_value = "false", long = "no-dev-txs")]
+    pub no_dev_txs: bool,
     /// Specify the path to a directory containing the ledger
     #[clap(long = "storage_path")]
     pub storage_path: Option<PathBuf>,
@@ -527,13 +527,13 @@ impl Start {
             None => StorageMode::from(self.dev),
         };
 
-        // Determine whether to generate background traffic in dev mode.
-        let dev_traffic = match self.dev {
-            Some(_) => self.dev_traffic,
+        // Determine whether to generate background transactions in dev mode.
+        let dev_txs = match self.dev {
+            Some(_) => !self.no_dev_txs,
             None => {
-                // If the `dev_traffic` flag is set, inform the user that it is ignored.
-                if self.dev_traffic {
-                    eprintln!("The '--dev-traffic' flag is ignored because '--dev' is not set");
+                // If the `no_dev_txs` flag is set, inform the user that it is ignored.
+                if self.no_dev_txs {
+                    eprintln!("The '--no-dev-txs' flag is ignored because '--dev' is not set");
                 }
                 false
             }
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ impl Start {
         // Initialize the node.
         let bft_ip = if self.dev.is_some() { self.bft } else { None };
         match node_type {
-            NodeType::Validator => Node::new_validator(self.node, bft_ip, rest_ip, self.rest_rps, account, &trusted_peers, &trusted_validators, genesis, cdn, storage_mode, dev_traffic).await,
+            NodeType::Validator => Node::new_validator(self.node, bft_ip, rest_ip, self.rest_rps, account, &trusted_peers, &trusted_validators, genesis, cdn, storage_mode, dev_txs).await,
             NodeType::Prover => Node::new_prover(self.node, account, &trusted_peers, genesis, storage_mode).await,
             NodeType::Client => Node::new_client(self.node, rest_ip, self.rest_rps, account, &trusted_peers, genesis, cdn, storage_mode).await,
         }
diff --git a/devnet.sh b/devnet.sh
index f4458625a2..e91627335a 100755
--- a/devnet.sh
+++ b/devnet.sh
@@ -64,12 +64,12 @@ for validator_index in "${validator_indices[@]}"; do
 
   # Send the command to start the validator to the new window and capture output to the log file
   if [ "$validator_index" -eq 0 ]; then
-    tmux send-keys -t "devnet:window$validator_index" "snarkos start --nodisplay --dev $validator_index --dev-traffic --dev-num-validators $total_validators --validator --logfile $log_file --metrics" C-m
+    tmux send-keys -t "devnet:window$validator_index" "snarkos start --nodisplay --dev $validator_index --dev-num-validators $total_validators --validator --logfile $log_file --metrics" C-m
   else
     # Create a new window with a unique name
     window_index=$((validator_index + index_offset))
     tmux new-window -t "devnet:$window_index" -n "window$validator_index"
-    tmux send-keys -t "devnet:window$validator_index" "snarkos start --nodisplay --dev $validator_index --dev-traffic --dev-num-validators $total_validators --validator --logfile $log_file" C-m
+    tmux send-keys -t "devnet:window$validator_index" "snarkos start --nodisplay --dev $validator_index --dev-num-validators $total_validators --validator --logfile $log_file" C-m
   fi
 done
 
diff --git a/node/src/node.rs b/node/src/node.rs
index 0203f505e0..d98376d384 100644
--- a/node/src/node.rs
+++ b/node/src/node.rs
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ impl<N: Network> Node<N> {
         genesis: Block<N>,
         cdn: Option<String>,
         storage_mode: StorageMode,
-        dev_traffic: bool,
+        dev_txs: bool,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
         Ok(Self::Validator(Arc::new(
             Validator::new(
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ impl<N: Network> Node<N> {
                 genesis,
                 cdn,
                 storage_mode,
-                dev_traffic,
+                dev_txs,
             )
             .await?,
         )))
diff --git a/node/src/validator/mod.rs b/node/src/validator/mod.rs
index 0c3431ddc4..23b4f76920 100644
--- a/node/src/validator/mod.rs
+++ b/node/src/validator/mod.rs
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
         genesis: Block<N>,
         cdn: Option<String>,
         storage_mode: StorageMode,
-        dev_traffic: bool,
+        dev_txs: bool,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
         // Prepare the shutdown flag.
         let shutdown: Arc<AtomicBool> = Default::default();
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
             shutdown,
         };
         // Initialize the transaction pool.
-        node.initialize_transaction_pool(storage_mode, dev_traffic)?;
+        node.initialize_transaction_pool(storage_mode, dev_txs)?;
 
         // Initialize the REST server.
         if let Some(rest_ip) = rest_ip {
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
     // }
 
     /// Initialize the transaction pool.
-    fn initialize_transaction_pool(&self, storage_mode: StorageMode, dev_traffic: bool) -> Result<()> {
+    fn initialize_transaction_pool(&self, storage_mode: StorageMode, dev_txs: bool) -> Result<()> {
         use snarkvm::console::{
             program::{Identifier, Literal, ProgramID, Value},
             types::U64,
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ impl<N: Network, C: ConsensusStorage<N>> Validator<N, C> {
             // If the node is running in development mode, only generate if you are allowed.
             StorageMode::Development(id) => {
                 // If the node is not the first node, or if we should not create dev traffic, do not start the loop.
-                if id != 0 || !dev_traffic {
+                if id != 0 || !dev_txs {
                     return Ok(());
                 }
             }
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ mod tests {
         let node = SocketAddr::from_str("0.0.0.0:4130").unwrap();
         let rest = SocketAddr::from_str("0.0.0.0:3030").unwrap();
         let storage_mode = StorageMode::Development(0);
-        let dev_traffic = true;
+        let dev_txs = true;
 
         // Initialize an (insecure) fixed RNG.
         let mut rng = ChaChaRng::seed_from_u64(1234567890u64);
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ mod tests {
             genesis,
             None,
             storage_mode,
-            dev_traffic,
+            dev_txs,
         )
         .await
         .unwrap();