diff --git a/docs/pages/prerender/+Page.mdx b/docs/pages/prerender/+Page.mdx
index 1de7dc33d5f..084f28c7ed0 100644
--- a/docs/pages/prerender/+Page.mdx
+++ b/docs/pages/prerender/+Page.mdx
@@ -183,6 +183,50 @@ You can then manually trigger pre-rendering using:
  - <Link href="/api#prerender" doNotInferSectionTitle />
 
 
+### `value`
+
+When you set `prerender` to an object then you also enable pre-rendering. In other words:
+
+```js
+// pages/+config.js
+
+export default {
+  // Setting it to an empty object:
+  prerender: {},
+  // Is equivalent to:
+  prerender: true
+}
+```
+
+By setting `prerender.value` to `null` you opt-out from this. In other words:
+
+```js
+// pages/+config.js
+
+export default {
+  // This:
+  prerender: { value: null },
+  // Is equivalent to that:
+  prerender: null
+}
+```
+
+It's used by <Link href="/extensions">Vike extensions</Link> to change pre-rendering settings without enabling pre-rendering on behalf of the user.
+
+```js
+// node_modules/vike-some-extension/+config.js
+
+export default {
+  prerender: {
+    // Change pre-rendering setting:
+    partial: true,
+    // Without enabling pre-rendering:
+    value: null
+  }
+}
+```
+
+
 ## See also
 
 - <Link href="/pre-rendering" />
diff --git a/test/playground/pages/+config.ts b/test/playground/pages/+config.ts
index 7162c6e1019..941617f8d76 100644
--- a/test/playground/pages/+config.ts
+++ b/test/playground/pages/+config.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ import vikeReact from 'vike-react/config'
 
 export default {
   title: 'Big Playground',
+  prerenderSetOverEffect: true,
   prerender: {
-    // TEST: prerender.noExtraDir
+    value: null,
+    parallel: 4,
     noExtraDir: true
   },
   redirects: {
diff --git a/test/playground/vite.config.ts b/test/playground/vite.config.ts
index 99d65dd814f..1330a470d91 100644
--- a/test/playground/vite.config.ts
+++ b/test/playground/vite.config.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ type Vike = ReturnType<typeof getVikeConfig>
 // TEST: getVikeConfig()
 function testVikeConfig(vike: Vike) {
   assert(typeof vike.config.prerender![0] === 'object')
-  assert(vike.config.prerender![0].noExtraDir)
+  assert(vike.config.prerender![0].parallel === 4)
   assert(vike.pages)
   assert(vike.pages['/pages/index']!.config.prerender![0] === false)
   assert(vike.pages['/pages/markdown']!.config.prerender![0])
@@ -65,4 +65,7 @@ function testPrerenderSettings(vike: Vike) {
     const wasPrerendered = pageIdsPrerendered.includes(pageId)
     assert(wasPrerendered === prerendered, debug)
   })
+
+  // TEST: prerender.noExtraDir
+  prerenderContext.output.forEach(({ filePath }) => assert(!filePath.endsWith('index.html'), filePath))
 }
diff --git a/vike/node/plugin/plugins/commonConfig.ts b/vike/node/plugin/plugins/commonConfig.ts
index ca16d23f213..c31049e9df1 100644
--- a/vike/node/plugin/plugins/commonConfig.ts
+++ b/vike/node/plugin/plugins/commonConfig.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ import { isViteCliCall } from '../shared/isViteCliCall.js'
 import { isVikeCliOrApi } from '../../api/context.js'
 import { getVikeConfig2, type VikeConfigObject } from './importUserCode/v1-design/getVikeConfig.js'
 import { assertViteRoot, getViteRoot, normalizeViteRoot } from '../../api/prepareViteApiCall.js'
-import { isPrerenderEnabled, temp_disablePrerenderAutoRun } from '../../prerender/context.js'
+import { temp_disablePrerenderAutoRun } from '../../prerender/context.js'
 import type { PrerenderContextPublic } from '../../prerender/runPrerender.js'
+import { resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal } from '../../prerender/resolvePrerenderConfig.js'
 const pluginName = 'vike:commonConfig'
 
 declare module 'vite' {
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ function commonConfig(vikeVitePluginOptions: unknown): Plugin[] {
             },
             // TODO/v1-release: remove https://github.com/vikejs/vike/issues/2122
             configVikePromise: Promise.resolve({
-              prerender: isPrerenderEnabled(vikeConfig)
+              prerender: resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal(vikeConfig).isEnabled
             })
           }
         }
diff --git a/vike/node/plugin/plugins/importUserCode/v1-design/getVikeConfig.ts b/vike/node/plugin/plugins/importUserCode/v1-design/getVikeConfig.ts
index 728d02f952e..6562adb5fb8 100644
--- a/vike/node/plugin/plugins/importUserCode/v1-design/getVikeConfig.ts
+++ b/vike/node/plugin/plugins/importUserCode/v1-design/getVikeConfig.ts
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ async function loadVikeConfig(userRootDir: string, vikeVitePluginOptions: unknow
     userRootDir
   )
 
-  // interop vike(options) in vite.config.js
+  // Backwards compatibility for vike(options) in vite.config.js
   temp_interopVikeVitePlugin(pageConfigGlobal, vikeVitePluginOptions, userRootDir)
 
   // global
@@ -917,9 +917,7 @@ function assertMetaUsage(
   })
 }
 
-// TODO/now update perma links
-// https://github.com/vikejs/vike/blob/052ed41ffe67097c25026d7409f8741c820ea6c8/test/playground/vite.config.ts#L39
-// https://github.com/vikejs/vike/blob/052ed41ffe67097c25026d7409f8741c820ea6c8/test/playground/pages/config-meta/effect/e2e-test.ts#L16
+// Test: https://github.com/vikejs/vike/blob/441a37c4c1a3b07bb8f6efb1d1f7be297a53974a/test/playground/vite.config.ts#L39
 function applyEffectsConfVal(configValueSources: ConfigValueSources, configDefinitions: ConfigDefinitions) {
   objectEntries(configDefinitions).forEach(([configNameEffect, configDefEffect]) => {
     const sourceEffect = configValueSources[configNameEffect]?.[0]
@@ -938,6 +936,7 @@ function applyEffectsConfVal(configValueSources: ConfigValueSources, configDefin
     )
   })
 }
+// Test: https://github.com/vikejs/vike/blob/441a37c4c1a3b07bb8f6efb1d1f7be297a53974a/test/playground/pages/config-meta/effect/e2e-test.ts#L16
 function applyEffectsMetaEnv(configValueSources: ConfigValueSources, configDefinitions: ConfigDefinitions) {
   objectEntries(configDefinitions).forEach(([configNameEffect, configDefEffect]) => {
     const sourceEffect = configValueSources[configNameEffect]?.[0]
diff --git a/vike/node/prerender/context.ts b/vike/node/prerender/context.ts
index ee2991fe2b5..39f1b37fd92 100644
--- a/vike/node/prerender/context.ts
+++ b/vike/node/prerender/context.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-export { isPrerenderEnabled }
 export { isPrerenderAutoRunEnabled }
 export { temp_disablePrerenderAutoRun }
 export { isPrerendering }
@@ -9,14 +8,10 @@ import { getGlobalObject } from '../../utils/getGlobalObject.js'
 import { resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal } from './resolvePrerenderConfig.js'
 const globalObject = getGlobalObject<{ isDisabled?: true; isPrerendering?: true }>('prerender/context.ts', {})
 
-function isPrerenderEnabled(vikeConfig: VikeConfigObject) {
-  const prerenderConfigGlobal = resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal(vikeConfig)
-  return !!prerenderConfigGlobal
-}
 function isPrerenderAutoRunEnabled(vikeConfig: VikeConfigObject) {
   const prerenderConfigGlobal = resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal(vikeConfig)
   return (
-    isPrerenderEnabled(vikeConfig) &&
+    prerenderConfigGlobal.isEnabled &&
     !(prerenderConfigGlobal || {}).disableAutoRun &&
     !globalObject.isDisabled &&
     vikeConfig.global.config.disableAutoFullBuild !== 'prerender'
diff --git a/vike/node/prerender/resolvePrerenderConfig.ts b/vike/node/prerender/resolvePrerenderConfig.ts
index 11359dd32bd..7e9f43798c1 100644
--- a/vike/node/prerender/resolvePrerenderConfig.ts
+++ b/vike/node/prerender/resolvePrerenderConfig.ts
@@ -1,38 +1,38 @@
 export { resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal }
 export { resolvePrerenderConfigLocal }
 
-import type { ConfigResolved } from '../../shared/page-configs/Config/PageContextConfig.js'
 import { VikeConfigObject } from '../plugin/plugins/importUserCode/v1-design/getVikeConfig.js'
-import { assert, isArray } from './utils.js'
+import { assert, isArray, objectAssign } from './utils.js'
 import { getConfigValueBuildTime } from '../../shared/page-configs/getConfigValueBuildTime.js'
 import type { PageConfigBuildTime } from '../../shared/page-configs/PageConfig.js'
-import { getConfigValueFilePathToShowToUser } from '../../shared/page-configs/helpers.js'
 
-type PrerenderConfigSemiResolved = ConfigResolved['prerender']
-type PrerenderConfigGlobal = false | Exclude<Required<NonNullable<PrerenderConfigSemiResolved>[number]>, boolean>
-
-// TODO/now:
-// - prerender.value
-
-function resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal(vikeConfig: VikeConfigObject): PrerenderConfigGlobal {
+function resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal(vikeConfig: VikeConfigObject) {
   const prerenderConfigs = vikeConfig.global.config.prerender
-  if (
-    !prerenderConfigs &&
-    !vikeConfig.pageConfigs.some((pageConfig) => resolvePrerenderConfigLocal(pageConfig)?.value)
-  ) {
-    return false
-  }
 
   let prerenderConfigList = prerenderConfigs || []
   // Needed because of backwards compatibility of `vike({prerender:true})` in `vite.config.js`; after we remove it we can remove this line.
   prerenderConfigList = prerenderConfigList.filter(isObject2)
   assert(prerenderConfigList.every(isObject2)) // Help TS
-  const prerenderConfigGlobal: PrerenderConfigGlobal = {
+  const prerenderConfigGlobal = {
     partial: pickFirst(prerenderConfigList.map((c) => c.partial)) ?? false,
     noExtraDir: pickFirst(prerenderConfigList.map((c) => c.noExtraDir)) ?? false,
     parallel: pickFirst(prerenderConfigList.map((c) => c.parallel)) ?? true,
     disableAutoRun: pickFirst(prerenderConfigList.map((c) => c.disableAutoRun)) ?? false
   }
+
+  const prerenderConfigGlobalLocalValue = prerenderConfigList.map((c) => c.value).filter((v) => v !== null)
+  const defaultLocalValue =
+    pickFirst(prerenderConfigGlobalLocalValue) ??
+    (prerenderConfigGlobalLocalValue.length > 0 ||
+      // Backwards compatibility for with vike({ prerender: true }) in vite.config.js
+      prerenderConfigs?.some((p) => p === true) ||
+      false)
+  objectAssign(prerenderConfigGlobal, {
+    defaultLocalValue,
+    isEnabled:
+      defaultLocalValue || vikeConfig.pageConfigs.some((pageConfig) => resolvePrerenderConfigLocal(pageConfig)?.value)
+  })
+
   return prerenderConfigGlobal
 }
 function resolvePrerenderConfigLocal(pageConfig: PageConfigBuildTime) {
@@ -43,9 +43,7 @@ function resolvePrerenderConfigLocal(pageConfig: PageConfigBuildTime) {
   const value = values[0]
   assert(typeof value === 'boolean')
   assert(isArray(configValue.definedAtData))
-  const configValueFilePathToShowToUser = getConfigValueFilePathToShowToUser(configValue.definedAtData[0]!)
-  assert(configValueFilePathToShowToUser)
-  const prerenderConfigLocal = { value, configValueFilePathToShowToUser }
+  const prerenderConfigLocal = { value }
   return prerenderConfigLocal
 }
 
diff --git a/vike/node/prerender/runPrerender.ts b/vike/node/prerender/runPrerender.ts
index 81905d89129..7ae5be814e9 100644
--- a/vike/node/prerender/runPrerender.ts
+++ b/vike/node/prerender/runPrerender.ts
@@ -89,17 +89,7 @@ type HtmlFile = {
   pageId: string | null
 }
 
-type DoNotPrerenderList = ({ pageId: string; setByConfigFile: string } & (
-  | {
-      // TODO/v1-release: remove 0.4 case
-      setByConfigName: 'doNotPrerender'
-      setByConfigValue: true
-    }
-  | {
-      setByConfigName: 'prerender'
-      setByConfigValue: false
-    }
-))[]
+type DoNotPrerenderList = { pageId: string }[]
 type ProvidedByHook = null | {
   hookFilePath: string
   hookName: 'onBeforePrerenderStart' | 'prerender'
@@ -219,17 +209,18 @@ async function runPrerender(options: PrerenderOptions = {}, standaloneTrigger?:
   const { root } = viteConfig
   const prerenderConfigGlobal = resolvePrerenderConfigGlobal(vikeConfig)
   validatePrerenderConfig(prerenderConfigGlobal)
-  if (!prerenderConfigGlobal) {
+  const { partial, noExtraDir, parallel, defaultLocalValue, isEnabled } = prerenderConfigGlobal
+  if (!isEnabled) {
     assert(standaloneTrigger)
+    // TODO/now: make it assertUsage() and remove dist/server/entry.mjs whenever possible
     assertWarning(
       prerenderConfigGlobal,
-      `You're executing ${pc.cyan(standaloneTrigger)} but the config ${pc.cyan('prerender')} isn't set to true`,
+      `You're executing ${pc.cyan(standaloneTrigger)} but you didn't enable pre-rendering. Use the config ${pc.cyan('prerender')} (${pc.underline('https://vike.dev/prerender')}) to enable it.`,
       {
         onlyOnce: true
       }
     )
   }
-  const { partial = false, noExtraDir = false, parallel = true } = prerenderConfigGlobal || {}
 
   const concurrencyLimit = pLimit(
     parallel === false || parallel === 0 ? 1 : parallel === true || parallel === undefined ? cpus().length : parallel
@@ -248,7 +239,13 @@ async function runPrerender(options: PrerenderOptions = {}, standaloneTrigger?:
   }
 
   const doNotPrerenderList: DoNotPrerenderList = []
-  await collectDoNoPrerenderList(vikeConfig.pageConfigs, doNotPrerenderList, concurrencyLimit, globalContext)
+  await collectDoNoPrerenderList(
+    vikeConfig.pageConfigs,
+    doNotPrerenderList,
+    defaultLocalValue,
+    concurrencyLimit,
+    globalContext
+  )
 
   await callOnBeforePrerenderStartHooks(prerenderContext, globalContext, concurrencyLimit, doNotPrerenderList)
 
@@ -286,21 +283,23 @@ async function runPrerender(options: PrerenderOptions = {}, standaloneTrigger?:
 async function collectDoNoPrerenderList(
   pageConfigs: PageConfigBuildTime[],
   doNotPrerenderList: DoNotPrerenderList,
+  defaultLocalValue: boolean,
   concurrencyLimit: PLimit,
   globalContext: GlobalContextInternal
 ) {
   // V1 design
   pageConfigs.forEach((pageConfig) => {
     const prerenderConfigLocal = resolvePrerenderConfigLocal(pageConfig)
-    if (!prerenderConfigLocal) return
-    const { value, configValueFilePathToShowToUser } = prerenderConfigLocal
-    if (value === false) {
-      doNotPrerenderList.push({
-        pageId: pageConfig.pageId,
-        setByConfigName: 'prerender',
-        setByConfigValue: false,
-        setByConfigFile: configValueFilePathToShowToUser
-      })
+    const { pageId } = pageConfig
+    if (!prerenderConfigLocal) {
+      if (!defaultLocalValue) {
+        doNotPrerenderList.push({ pageId })
+      }
+    } else {
+      const { value } = prerenderConfigLocal
+      if (value === false) {
+        doNotPrerenderList.push({ pageId })
+      }
     }
   })
 
@@ -341,12 +340,7 @@ async function collectDoNoPrerenderList(
         return
       } else {
         // Don't pre-render `pageId`
-        doNotPrerenderList.push({
-          pageId,
-          setByConfigFile: p.filePath,
-          setByConfigName: 'doNotPrerender',
-          setByConfigValue: doNotPrerender
-        })
+        doNotPrerenderList.push({ pageId })
       }
     }
   })
@@ -855,16 +849,11 @@ function warnContradictoryNoPrerenderList(
       const isContradictory = !!doNotPrerenderListEntry && providedByHook
       if (!isContradictory) return
     }
-    const { setByConfigName, setByConfigValue, setByConfigFile } = doNotPrerenderListEntry
     assertWarning(
       false,
       `The ${providedByHook.hookName}() hook defined by ${providedByHook.hookFilePath} returns the URL ${pc.cyan(
         urlOriginal
-      )}, while ${setByConfigFile} sets the config ${pc.cyan(setByConfigName)} to ${pc.cyan(
-        String(setByConfigValue)
-      )}. This is contradictory: either don't set the config ${pc.cyan(setByConfigName)} to ${pc.cyan(
-        String(setByConfigValue)
-      )} or remove the URL ${pc.cyan(urlOriginal)} from the list of URLs to be pre-rendered.`,
+      )} matching the route of the page ${pc.cyan(pageId)} which isn't configured to be pre-rendered. This is contradictory: either enable pre-rendering for ${pc.cyan(pageId)} or remove the URL ${pc.cyan(urlOriginal)} from the list of URLs to be pre-rendered.`,
       { onlyOnce: true }
     )
   })
diff --git a/vike/node/prerender/utils.ts b/vike/node/prerender/utils.ts
index 66d39833800..02c34b70c91 100644
--- a/vike/node/prerender/utils.ts
+++ b/vike/node/prerender/utils.ts
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ export * from '../../utils/isArray.js'
 export * from '../../utils/isObject.js'
 export * from '../../utils/changeEnumerable.js'
 export * from '../../utils/makePublicCopy.js'
+export * from '../../utils/isNotNullish.js'
diff --git a/vike/shared/page-configs/Config.ts b/vike/shared/page-configs/Config.ts
index faa37476733..4812b72b4c9 100644
--- a/vike/shared/page-configs/Config.ts
+++ b/vike/shared/page-configs/Config.ts
@@ -360,6 +360,14 @@ type ConfigBuiltIn = {
          * @default false
          */
         disableAutoRun?: boolean
+        /**
+         * Set prerender settings without enabling pre-rendering.
+         *
+         * https://vike.dev/prerender#value
+         *
+         * @default true
+         */
+        value?: boolean | null
       }
 
   /**