diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 96b51134a..19960144e 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -70,9 +70,12 @@ func main() {
 		sdkGRPC.InitMeta(loadedConfig.ClientID, loadedConfig.CloudAccountID)
 
 		controller, commander, reporter := createGrpcClients(ctx, loadedConfig)
-		if err := controller.Connect(); err != nil {
-			log.Warnf("Unable to connect to control plane: %v", err)
-			return
+		
+		if controller != nil {
+			if err := controller.Connect(); err != nil {
+				log.Warnf("Unable to connect to control plane: %v", err)
+				return
+			}
 		}
 
 		binary := core.NewNginxBinary(env, loadedConfig)
@@ -131,7 +134,16 @@ func handleSignals(
 	}()
 }
 
+func connectionUnavilable(loadedConfig *config.Config) bool {
+	return loadedConfig.Server.Host == "" || loadedConfig.Server.GrpcPort == 0 
+}
+
 func createGrpcClients(ctx context.Context, loadedConfig *config.Config) (client.Controller, client.Commander, client.MetricReporter) {
+	if connectionUnavilable(loadedConfig) {
+		log.Infof("GRPC clients not created")
+		return nil, nil, nil
+	}
+	
 	grpcDialOptions := setDialOptions(loadedConfig)
 	secureMetricsDialOpts, err := sdkGRPC.SecureDialOptions(
 		loadedConfig.TLS.Enable,
@@ -175,11 +187,21 @@ func createGrpcClients(ctx context.Context, loadedConfig *config.Config) (client
 func loadPlugins(commander client.Commander, binary *core.NginxBinaryType, env *core.EnvironmentType, reporter client.MetricReporter, loadedConfig *config.Config) []core.Plugin {
 	var corePlugins []core.Plugin
 
+	if commander != nil {
+		corePlugins = append(corePlugins,
+			plugins.NewCommander(commander, loadedConfig),
+		)
+	}
+
+	if reporter != nil {
+		corePlugins = append(corePlugins,
+			plugins.NewMetricsSender(reporter),
+		)
+	}
+
 	corePlugins = append(corePlugins,
 		plugins.NewConfigReader(loadedConfig),
 		plugins.NewNginx(commander, binary, env, loadedConfig),
-		plugins.NewCommander(commander, loadedConfig),
-		plugins.NewMetricsSender(reporter),
 		plugins.NewOneTimeRegistration(loadedConfig, binary, env, sdkGRPC.NewMessageMeta(uuid.NewString()), version),
 		plugins.NewMetrics(loadedConfig, env, binary),
 		plugins.NewMetricsThrottle(loadedConfig, env),
diff --git a/src/core/config/defaults.go b/src/core/config/defaults.go
index 2cdfc9140..57fea002d 100644
--- a/src/core/config/defaults.go
+++ b/src/core/config/defaults.go
@@ -37,8 +37,6 @@ var (
 			Path:  "/var/log/nginx-agent",
 		},
 		Server: Server{
-			Host:     "127.0.0.1",
-			GrpcPort: 443,
 			Command:  "",
 			Metrics:  "",
 			// token needs to be validated on the server side - can be overridden by the config value or the cli / environment variable
@@ -200,12 +198,10 @@ var (
 		&StringFlag{
 			Name:         ServerHost,
 			Usage:        "The IP address of the server host. IPv4 addresses and hostnames are supported.",
-			DefaultValue: Defaults.Server.Host,
 		},
 		&IntFlag{
 			Name:         ServerGrpcport,
 			Usage:        "The desired GRPC port to use for nginx-agent traffic.",
-			DefaultValue: Defaults.Server.GrpcPort,
 		},
 		&StringFlag{
 			Name:         ServerToken,
diff --git a/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/core/config/defaults.go b/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/core/config/defaults.go
index 2cdfc9140..57fea002d 100644
--- a/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/core/config/defaults.go
+++ b/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/core/config/defaults.go
@@ -37,8 +37,6 @@ var (
 			Path:  "/var/log/nginx-agent",
 		},
 		Server: Server{
-			Host:     "127.0.0.1",
-			GrpcPort: 443,
 			Command:  "",
 			Metrics:  "",
 			// token needs to be validated on the server side - can be overridden by the config value or the cli / environment variable
@@ -200,12 +198,10 @@ var (
 		&StringFlag{
 			Name:         ServerHost,
 			Usage:        "The IP address of the server host. IPv4 addresses and hostnames are supported.",
-			DefaultValue: Defaults.Server.Host,
 		},
 		&IntFlag{
 			Name:         ServerGrpcport,
 			Usage:        "The desired GRPC port to use for nginx-agent traffic.",
-			DefaultValue: Defaults.Server.GrpcPort,
 		},
 		&StringFlag{
 			Name:         ServerToken,
diff --git a/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/extensions/nginx-app-protect/monitoring/processor/nap.go b/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/extensions/nginx-app-protect/monitoring/processor/nap.go
index 6d824f1ba..ea34ce712 100644
--- a/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/extensions/nginx-app-protect/monitoring/processor/nap.go
+++ b/test/performance/vendor/github.com/nginx/agent/v2/src/extensions/nginx-app-protect/monitoring/processor/nap.go
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ func setValue(napConfig *NAPConfig, key, value string, logger *logrus.Entry) err
 	case requestStatus:
 		napConfig.RequestStatus = value
 	case severity:
-		napConfig.Severity = value
+		napConfig.Severity = strings.ToLower(value)
 	case sigSetNames:
 		napConfig.SigSetNames = replaceEncodedList(value, listSeperator)
 	case threatCampaignNames: