diff --git a/edexOsgi/build.edex/deploy-common/external-rules.xml b/edexOsgi/build.edex/deploy-common/external-rules.xml
index 2b42ce321e..ed165411aa 100644
--- a/edexOsgi/build.edex/deploy-common/external-rules.xml
+++ b/edexOsgi/build.edex/deploy-common/external-rules.xml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
         TODO: if necessary, these could be read from a properties file.
         1) utility -> /awips2/edex/data/utility
         2) resources -> /awips2/edex/conf/resources
+        3) modes -> /awips2/edex/conf/modes
     -->
     <target name="enact.external-rules">
         <!-- parameters -->
@@ -33,5 +34,15 @@
                 </copy>
             </then>
         </if>
+    	
+    	<mkdir dir="${deployment._root}/conf/modes" />
+    	<if>
+    		<available file="${plugin._directory}/modes" type="dir" />
+    		<then>
+    			<copy todir="${deployment._root}/conf/modes" overwrite="true" verbose="true">
+    				<fileset dir="${plugin._directory}/modes" />
+    			</copy>
+    		</then>
+    	</if>
     </target>
 </project>
diff --git a/edexOsgi/build.edex/esb/conf/modes.xml b/edexOsgi/build.edex/esb/conf/modes/modes.xml
similarity index 99%
rename from edexOsgi/build.edex/esb/conf/modes.xml
rename to edexOsgi/build.edex/esb/conf/modes/modes.xml
index de39a7d5a8..d33787e6a2 100644
--- a/edexOsgi/build.edex/esb/conf/modes.xml
+++ b/edexOsgi/build.edex/esb/conf/modes/modes.xml
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
        By including or excluding specific spring files we can determine at startup
        which services the EDEX instance should start.
        
-       If you provide no command line argument, EDEX will default to include
-       all spring files it discovers.  It will print out the files it is using for the
+       If you provide no command line argument, EDEX will list available modes and exit.  
+       It will print out the files it is using for the
        configuration, so you can look at the no argument configuration to
        determine what files to possibly include or exclude.