diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index 976f60e9..f92c39ec 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_USER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\userfiles",
         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_BACKUP_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\backupfiles",
         "AYANOVA_FOLDER_TEMPORARY_SERVER_FILES": "c:\\temp\\RavenTestData\\tempfiles",
-        "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE": "true",
+        "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE": "false",
         "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE_SEEDLEVEL": "small",
         "AYANOVA_SERVER_TEST_MODE_TZ_OFFSET": "-7",
         "AYANOVA_BACKUP_PG_DUMP_PATH": "C:\\data\\code\\postgres_13\\bin\\"
diff --git a/server/AyaNova/Controllers/FormUserOptionsController.cs b/server/AyaNova/Controllers/FormUserOptionsController.cs
index d1977d43..69fdb893 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/Controllers/FormUserOptionsController.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/Controllers/FormUserOptionsController.cs
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ namespace AyaNova.Api.Controllers
             if (!ModelState.IsValid)
                 return BadRequest(new ApiErrorResponse(ModelState));
             var o = await biz.GetAsync(formKey);
-            if (o == null) return NotFound(new ApiErrorResponse(ApiErrorCode.NOT_FOUND));
+           //note: this route unique in that it's expected that a formUserOptions object may not exist so just return null as client end expects
             return Ok(ApiOkResponse.Response(o));
         }