diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5a1ac15..b5913e7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ env vars
 * **POSTMOOGLE_DB_DSN** - database connection string
 * **POSTMOOGLE_DB_DIALECT** - database dialect (postgres, sqlite3)
 * **POSTMOOGLE_MAXSIZE** - max email size (including attachments) in megabytes
-* **POSTMOOGLE_USERS** - a space-separated list of whitelisted users allowed to use the bridge. If not defined, everyone is allowed. Example rule: `@someone:example.com @another:example.com @bot.*:example.com @*:another.com`
+* **POSTMOOGLE_USERS** - a space-separated list of whitelisted users allowed to use the bridge. If not defined, everyone on the homeserver are allowed. Example rule: `@someone:example.com @another:example.com @bot.*:example.com @*:another.com`
 * **POSTMOOGLE_ADMINS** - a space-separated list of admin users. See `POSTMOOGLE_USERS` for syntax examples
 
 You can find default values in [config/defaults.go](config/defaults.go)
diff --git a/bot/access.go b/bot/access.go
index 08b2967..31cd5cc 100644
--- a/bot/access.go
+++ b/bot/access.go
@@ -2,12 +2,21 @@ package bot
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"regexp"
 
 	"maunium.net/go/mautrix/id"
 
 	"gitlab.com/etke.cc/postmoogle/utils"
 )
 
+func parseMXIDpatterns(patterns []string, defaultPattern string) ([]*regexp.Regexp, error) {
+	if len(patterns) == 0 && defaultPattern != "" {
+		patterns = []string{defaultPattern}
+	}
+
+	return utils.WildcardMXIDsToRegexes(patterns)
+}
+
 func (b *Bot) allowAnyone(actorID id.UserID, targetRoomID id.RoomID) bool {
 	return true
 }
diff --git a/bot/bot.go b/bot/bot.go
index cd5f7e4..de25ddb 100644
--- a/bot/bot.go
+++ b/bot/bot.go
@@ -36,9 +36,23 @@ func New(
 	log *logger.Logger,
 	prefix string,
 	domain string,
-	allowedUsers []*regexp.Regexp,
-	allowedAdmins []*regexp.Regexp,
-) *Bot {
+	users []string,
+	admins []string,
+) (*Bot, error) {
+	_, homeserver, err := lp.GetClient().UserID.Parse()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var allowedUsers []*regexp.Regexp
+	allowedUsers, uerr := parseMXIDpatterns(users, "@*:"+homeserver)
+	if uerr != nil {
+		return nil, uerr
+	}
+	allowedAdmins, aerr := parseMXIDpatterns(admins, "")
+	if aerr != nil {
+		return nil, aerr
+	}
+
 	b := &Bot{
 		prefix:        prefix,
 		domain:        domain,
@@ -50,10 +64,9 @@ func New(
 		lp:            lp,
 		mu:            map[id.RoomID]*sync.Mutex{},
 	}
-
 	b.commands = b.buildCommandList()
 
-	return b
+	return b, nil
 }
 
 // Error message to the log and matrix room
diff --git a/cmd/cmd.go b/cmd/cmd.go
index 1ce08ba..a76978c 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -27,12 +27,7 @@ var (
 func main() {
 	quit := make(chan struct{})
 
-	cfg, err := config.New()
-	if err != nil {
-		log = logger.New("postmoogle.", "info")
-		log.Fatal("cannot read config: %v", err)
-	}
-
+	cfg := config.New()
 	log = logger.New("postmoogle.", cfg.LogLevel)
 
 	log.Info("#############################")
@@ -87,7 +82,12 @@ func initBot(cfg *config.Config) {
 		// nolint // Fatal = panic, not os.Exit()
 		log.Fatal("cannot initialize matrix bot: %v", err)
 	}
-	mxb = bot.New(lp, mxlog, cfg.Prefix, cfg.Domain, cfg.Users, cfg.Admins)
+
+	mxb, err = bot.New(lp, mxlog, cfg.Prefix, cfg.Domain, cfg.Users, cfg.Admins)
+	if err != nil {
+		// nolint // Fatal = panic, not os.Exit()
+		log.Fatal("cannot start matrix bot: %v", err)
+	}
 	log.Debug("bot has been created")
 }
 
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index a4b11db..9d3cec2 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -1,30 +1,15 @@
 package config
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
-	"regexp"
-
 	"gitlab.com/etke.cc/go/env"
-
-	"gitlab.com/etke.cc/postmoogle/utils"
 )
 
 const prefix = "postmoogle"
 
 // New config
-func New() (*Config, error) {
+func New() *Config {
 	env.SetPrefix(prefix)
 
-	userPatterns, err := getUserRegexPatterns("users")
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	adminPatterns, err := getUserRegexPatterns("admins")
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	cfg := &Config{
 		Homeserver:   env.String("homeserver", defaultConfig.Homeserver),
 		Login:        env.String("login", defaultConfig.Login),
@@ -35,8 +20,8 @@ func New() (*Config, error) {
 		NoEncryption: env.Bool("noencryption"),
 		MaxSize:      env.Int("maxsize", defaultConfig.MaxSize),
 		StatusMsg:    env.String("statusmsg", defaultConfig.StatusMsg),
-		Users:        userPatterns,
-		Admins:       adminPatterns,
+		Users:        env.Slice("users"),
+		Admins:       env.Slice("admins"),
 		Sentry: Sentry{
 			DSN: env.String("sentry.dsn", defaultConfig.Sentry.DSN),
 		},
@@ -47,19 +32,5 @@ func New() (*Config, error) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	return cfg, nil
-}
-
-func getUserRegexPatterns(key string) ([]*regexp.Regexp, error) {
-	mxidPatterns := env.Slice(key)
-	regexPatterns, err := utils.WildcardMXIDsToRegexes(mxidPatterns)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
-			"failed to convert wildcard %s patterns (`%s`) to regular expression: %s",
-			key,
-			mxidPatterns,
-			err,
-		)
-	}
-	return regexPatterns, nil
+	return cfg
 }
diff --git a/config/types.go b/config/types.go
index 94566b6..531ebfb 100644
--- a/config/types.go
+++ b/config/types.go
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 package config
 
-import "regexp"
-
 // Config of Postmoogle
 type Config struct {
 	// Homeserver url
@@ -24,10 +22,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	MaxSize int
 	// StatusMsg of the bot
 	StatusMsg string
-	// Users holds list of allowed users (wildcards supported), e.g.: @*:example.com, @bot.*:example.com, @admin:*. Empty = *
-	Users []*regexp.Regexp
-	// Admins holds list of admin users (wildcards supported), e.g.: @*:example.com, @bot.*:example.com, @admin:*. Empty = *
-	Admins []*regexp.Regexp
+	// Users holds list of allowed users (wildcards supported), e.g.: @*:example.com, @bot.*:example.com, @admin:*. Empty = homeserver only
+	Users []string
+	// Admins holds list of admin users (wildcards supported), e.g.: @*:example.com, @bot.*:example.com, @admin:*. Empty = no admins
+	Admins []string
 
 	// DB config
 	DB DB