diff --git a/conf/default.conf.php b/conf/default.conf.php
--- a/conf/default.conf.php
+++ b/conf/default.conf.php
@@ -940,10 +940,12 @@
   // Directory that the Phabricator daemons should use to store the log file
   'phd.log-directory' => '/var/tmp/phd/log',
 
-  // Number of "TaskMaster" daemons that "phd start" should start. You can
-  // raise this if you have a task backlog, or explicitly launch more with
-  // "phd launch <N> taskmaster".
-  'phd.start-taskmasters' => 4,
+  // Daemons that "phd start" should start.
+  'phd.start-daemons' => array(
+    'PhabricatorTaskmasterDaemon' => 4,
+    'PhabricatorRepositoryPullLocalDaemon' => 1,
+    'PhabricatorGarbageCollectorDaemon' => 1,
+  ),
 
   // Launch daemons in "verbose" mode by default. This creates a lot of output,
   // but can help debug issues. Daemons launched in debug mode with "phd debug"
diff --git a/src/applications/config/option/PhabricatorPHDConfigOptions.php b/src/applications/config/option/PhabricatorPHDConfigOptions.php
--- a/src/applications/config/option/PhabricatorPHDConfigOptions.php
+++ b/src/applications/config/option/PhabricatorPHDConfigOptions.php
@@ -21,13 +21,18 @@
         ->setDescription(
           pht(
             "Directory that the daemons should use to store log files.")),
-      $this->newOption('phd.start-taskmasters', 'int', 4)
-        ->setSummary(pht("Number of TaskMaster daemons to start by default."))
+      $this->newOption(
+        'phd.start-daemons',
+        'map<string, int | list<list<string>>>',
+        array(
+          'PhabricatorTaskmasterDaemon' => 4,
+          'PhabricatorRepositoryPullLocalDaemon' => 1,
+          'PhabricatorGarbageCollectorDaemon' => 1,
+        ))
+        ->setLocked(true)
+        ->setSummary(pht('Daemons to start by default.'))
         ->setDescription(
-          pht(
-            "Number of 'TaskMaster' daemons that 'phd start' should start. ".
-            "You can raise this if you have a task backlog, or explicitly ".
-            "launch more with 'phd launch <N> taskmaster'.")),
+          pht('Number and type of daemons that `phd start` should start.')),
       $this->newOption('phd.verbose', 'bool', false)
         ->setBoolOptions(
           array(
diff --git a/src/applications/daemon/management/PhabricatorDaemonManagementWorkflow.php b/src/applications/daemon/management/PhabricatorDaemonManagementWorkflow.php
--- a/src/applications/daemon/management/PhabricatorDaemonManagementWorkflow.php
+++ b/src/applications/daemon/management/PhabricatorDaemonManagementWorkflow.php
@@ -229,14 +229,19 @@
       }
     }
 
-    $daemons = array(
-      array('PhabricatorRepositoryPullLocalDaemon', array()),
-      array('PhabricatorGarbageCollectorDaemon', array()),
-    );
-
-    $taskmasters = PhabricatorEnv::getEnvConfig('phd.start-taskmasters');
-    for ($ii = 0; $ii < $taskmasters; $ii++) {
-      $daemons[] = array('PhabricatorTaskmasterDaemon', array());
+    $daemons = array();
+    $start_daemons = PhabricatorEnv::getEnvConfig('phd.start-daemons');
+
+    foreach ($start_daemons as $daemon => $spec) {
+      if (is_integer($spec)) {
+        for ($ii = 0; $ii < $spec; $ii++) {
+          $daemons[] = array($daemon, array());
+        }
+      } else {
+        foreach ($spec as $argv) {
+          $daemons[] = array($daemon, $argv);
+        }
+      }
     }
 
     $this->willLaunchDaemons();