diff --git a/sei-tendermint/config/statesync_compat_test.go b/sei-tendermint/config/statesync_compat_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3af54cff44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sei-tendermint/config/statesync_compat_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+package config_test
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/sei-protocol/sei-chain/sei-tendermint/cmd/tendermint/commands"
+	tmconfig "github.com/sei-protocol/sei-chain/sei-tendermint/config"
+)
+
+// This test (and TestFreshStateSyncConfigValidatesWithoutHiddenKnobs) mutate the
+// global viper singleton via commands.ParseConfig, so they must not run in
+// parallel with other tests in this package.
+
+func TestHiddenStateSyncKnobsStillParseFromExistingConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	viper.Reset()
+	t.Cleanup(viper.Reset)
+
+	configPath := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "config.toml")
+	err := os.WriteFile(configPath, []byte(`
+[statesync]
+enable = true
+rpc-servers = "localhost:26657,localhost:26659"
+trust-height = 10
+trust-hash = "AABB"
+trust-period = "168h0m0s"
+backfill-blocks = "100"
+backfill-duration = "5m0s"
+discovery-time = "20s"
+temp-dir = "/tmp/statesync"
+chunk-request-timeout = "30s"
+fetchers = "5"
+verify-light-block-timeout = "2m0s"
+blacklist-ttl = "10m0s"
+`), 0600)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	viper.SetConfigFile(configPath)
+	require.NoError(t, viper.ReadInConfig())
+
+	cfg, err := commands.ParseConfig(tmconfig.DefaultConfig())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, cfg.StateSync.Enable)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"localhost:26657", "localhost:26659"}, cfg.StateSync.RPCServers)
+	require.Equal(t, int64(10), cfg.StateSync.TrustHeight)
+	require.Equal(t, "AABB", cfg.StateSync.TrustHash)
+	require.Equal(t, int64(100), cfg.StateSync.BackfillBlocks)
+	require.Equal(t, 5*time.Minute, cfg.StateSync.BackfillDuration)
+	require.Equal(t, 20*time.Second, cfg.StateSync.DiscoveryTime)
+	require.Equal(t, "/tmp/statesync", cfg.StateSync.TempDir)
+	require.Equal(t, 30*time.Second, cfg.StateSync.ChunkRequestTimeout)
+	require.Equal(t, int32(5), cfg.StateSync.Fetchers)
+	require.Equal(t, 2*time.Minute, cfg.StateSync.VerifyLightBlockTimeout)
+	require.Equal(t, 10*time.Minute, cfg.StateSync.BlacklistTTL)
+}
+
+// TestFreshStateSyncConfigValidatesWithoutHiddenKnobs mirrors the freshly-rendered
+// template (no hidden tuning knobs in the file) and verifies that ParseConfig
+// still produces a valid StateSyncConfig that passes ValidateBasic. This guards
+// against future regressions where someone removes or zeros a default in
+// DefaultStateSyncConfig without realizing the template no longer carries it.
+func TestFreshStateSyncConfigValidatesWithoutHiddenKnobs(t *testing.T) {
+	viper.Reset()
+	t.Cleanup(viper.Reset)
+
+	configPath := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "config.toml")
+	err := os.WriteFile(configPath, []byte(`
+[statesync]
+enable = true
+rpc-servers = "localhost:26657,localhost:26659"
+trust-height = 10
+trust-hash = "AABB"
+trust-period = "168h0m0s"
+`), 0600)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	viper.SetConfigFile(configPath)
+	require.NoError(t, viper.ReadInConfig())
+
+	cfg, err := commands.ParseConfig(tmconfig.DefaultConfig())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	defaults := tmconfig.DefaultStateSyncConfig()
+	require.Equal(t, defaults.BackfillBlocks, cfg.StateSync.BackfillBlocks)
+	require.Equal(t, defaults.BackfillDuration, cfg.StateSync.BackfillDuration)
+	require.Equal(t, defaults.DiscoveryTime, cfg.StateSync.DiscoveryTime)
+	require.Equal(t, defaults.ChunkRequestTimeout, cfg.StateSync.ChunkRequestTimeout)
+	require.Equal(t, defaults.Fetchers, cfg.StateSync.Fetchers)
+	require.Equal(t, defaults.VerifyLightBlockTimeout, cfg.StateSync.VerifyLightBlockTimeout)
+	require.Equal(t, defaults.BlacklistTTL, cfg.StateSync.BlacklistTTL)
+
+	require.NoError(t, cfg.StateSync.ValidateBasic())
+}
diff --git a/sei-tendermint/config/toml.go b/sei-tendermint/config/toml.go
index 63998e32bb..d6c00997d4 100644
--- a/sei-tendermint/config/toml.go
+++ b/sei-tendermint/config/toml.go
@@ -458,38 +458,18 @@ trust-hash = "{{ .StateSync.TrustHash }}"
 # period should suffice.
 trust-period = "{{ .StateSync.TrustPeriod }}"
 
-# Backfill sequentially fetches after state sync completes, verifies and stores light blocks in reverse order.
-# backfill-blocks means it will keep reverse fetching up to backfill-blocks number of blocks behind state sync position
-# backfill-duration means it will keep fetching up to backfill-duration old time
-# The actual backfill process will take at backfill-blocks as priority:
-# - If backfill-blocks is set, use backfill-blocks to backfill
-# - If backfill-blocks is not set to be greater than 0, use backfill-duration to backfill
-backfill-blocks = "{{ .StateSync.BackfillBlocks }}"
-backfill-duration = "{{ .StateSync.BackfillDuration }}"
-
-# Time to spend discovering snapshots before initiating a restore.
-discovery-time = "{{ .StateSync.DiscoveryTime }}"
-
-# Temporary directory for state sync snapshot chunks, defaults to os.TempDir().
-# The synchronizer will create a new, randomly named directory within this directory
-# and remove it when the sync is complete.
-temp-dir = "{{ .StateSync.TempDir }}"
-
 # Whether to use local snapshot only for state sync or not.
 # If this is true, then state sync will look for existing snapshots
 # which are located in the snapshot-dir configured in app.toml (default to [home-dir]/data/snapshots)
 use-local-snapshot = {{ .StateSync.UseLocalSnapshot }}
 
-# The timeout duration before re-requesting a chunk, possibly from a different
-# peer (default: 15 seconds).
-chunk-request-timeout = "{{ .StateSync.ChunkRequestTimeout }}"
-
-# The number of concurrent chunk and block fetchers to run (default: 4).
-fetchers = "{{ .StateSync.Fetchers }}"
-
-verify-light-block-timeout = "{{ .StateSync.VerifyLightBlockTimeout }}"
-
-blacklist-ttl = "{{ .StateSync.BlacklistTTL }}"
+# Advanced state-sync tuning knobs are intentionally omitted from this template:
+#   - backfill-blocks, backfill-duration: post-sync historical light-block backfill
+#   - discovery-time, temp-dir: snapshot discovery and chunk staging
+#   - chunk-request-timeout, fetchers: chunk transfer behavior
+#   - verify-light-block-timeout, blacklist-ttl: light client verification
+# They are still parsed if set explicitly here; see the Sei docs for the full list
+# and recommended values.
 
 #######################################################################
 ###         Consensus Configuration Options                         ###
diff --git a/sei-tendermint/config/toml_test.go b/sei-tendermint/config/toml_test.go
index cf27c4484a..762a31af79 100644
--- a/sei-tendermint/config/toml_test.go
+++ b/sei-tendermint/config/toml_test.go
@@ -80,4 +80,40 @@ func checkConfig(t *testing.T, configFile string) {
 			t.Errorf("config file was expected to contain %s but did not", e)
 		}
 	}
+
+	// Expert-only state sync tuning knobs are intentionally left out of the
+	// generated template, while still being parsed from existing config files.
+	var hiddenStateSyncElems = []string{
+		"backfill-blocks",
+		"backfill-duration",
+		"discovery-time",
+		"temp-dir",
+		"chunk-request-timeout",
+		"fetchers",
+		"verify-light-block-timeout",
+		"blacklist-ttl",
+	}
+	for _, e := range hiddenStateSyncElems {
+		if configContainsKey(configFile, e) {
+			t.Errorf("config file was not expected to contain %s", e)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func configContainsKey(configFile string, key string) bool {
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(configFile, "\n") {
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		rest, ok := strings.CutPrefix(line, key)
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		// Require the next character to be the assignment '=' or any whitespace
+		// followed by '=', so we don't match keys whose name happens to be a
+		// prefix of another key (e.g. "fetchers" vs "fetchers-extra").
+		rest = strings.TrimLeft(rest, " \t")
+		if strings.HasPrefix(rest, "=") {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
 }