diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index ddfb7b9..3942ad8 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 drone_server_enable: "false"
 drone_agent_enable: "false"
 drone_version: "latest"
-drone_server_host: ""
-drone_server_proto: "http"
 drone_tls_autocert: "false"
-drone_rpc_secret: ""
 drone_agents_enabled: "true"
 drone_github_server: "https://github.com"
 drone_github_client_id: ""
diff --git a/tasks/drone-agent.yml b/tasks/drone-agent.yml
index 6edb7e3..dd2a8cd 100644
--- a/tasks/drone-agent.yml
+++ b/tasks/drone-agent.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     msg: "Variable '{{ item }}' is not defined for drone agent setup"
   when: item not in vars
   with_items:
-     - drone_server_host
+     - drone_rpc_server
   tags:
     - configuration
 
diff --git a/tasks/drone-server.yml b/tasks/drone-server.yml
index 2584654..bf99e36 100644
--- a/tasks/drone-server.yml
+++ b/tasks/drone-server.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,17 @@
   tags:
     - configuration
 
+- name: verify that required server parameters
+  fail:
+    msg: "Variable '{{ item }}' is not defined for drone server setup"
+  when: item not in vars
+  with_items:
+     - drone_server_host
+     - drone_server_proto
+     - drone_rpc_secret
+  tags:
+    - configuration
+
 - name: copy config for drone server
   template:
     src: "drone-server.env.j2"