diff --git a/commands/server/init.go b/commands/server/init.go
index 8d8087af..2b397a59 100644
--- a/commands/server/init.go
+++ b/commands/server/init.go
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ const (
 	AppStateKey             = "app_state"
 	DirConfig               = "config"
 	GenesisTimeKey          = "genesis_time"
-	ErrorAlreadyInitialised = "the application has already been initialised, use %s flag to override"
+	ErrorAlreadyInitialised = "the application has already been initialised, use %s flag to override or %s to ignore"
 	FlagForce               = "f"
+	FlagIgnore              = "i"
 	flagIndexAll            = "all"
 	flagIndexTags           = "tags"
 )
@@ -33,14 +34,16 @@ Usage:
   xxx init -all=f  // no index
   xxx init -tags=foo,bar // index only foo and bar
 */
-func parseIndex(args []string) (bool, bool, string, []string, error) {
+func parseIndex(args []string) (bool, bool, string, bool, []string, error) {
 	// parse flagIndexAll, flagIndexTags and return the result
 	indexFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("init", flag.ExitOnError)
 	tags := indexFlags.String(flagIndexTags, "", "comma-separated list of tags to index")
 	all := indexFlags.Bool(flagIndexAll, true, "")
 	force := indexFlags.Bool(FlagForce, false, "")
+	ignore := indexFlags.Bool(FlagIgnore, false, "")
+
 	err := indexFlags.Parse(args)
-	return *all, *force, *tags, indexFlags.Args(), err
+	return *all, *force, *tags, *ignore, indexFlags.Args(), err
 }
 
 // InitCmd will initialize all files for tendermint,
@@ -52,11 +55,11 @@ func InitCmd(gen GenOptions, logger log.Logger, home string, args []string) erro
 	genFile := filepath.Join(home, DirConfig, "genesis.json")
 	confFile := filepath.Join(home, DirConfig, "config.toml")
 
-	all, force, tags, args, err := parseIndex(args)
+	all, force, tags, ignore, args, err := parseIndex(args)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	err = setTxIndex(confFile, all, tags, force)
+	err = setTxIndex(confFile, all, tags, force, ignore)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -73,7 +76,7 @@ func InitCmd(gen GenOptions, logger log.Logger, home string, args []string) erro
 	}
 
 	// And add them to the genesis file
-	err = addGenesisOptions(genFile, options, force)
+	err = addGenesisOptions(genFile, options, force, ignore)
 	if err == nil {
 		fmt.Println("The application has been succesfully initialised.")
 	}
@@ -91,7 +94,7 @@ type GenOptions func(args []string) (json.RawMessage, error)
 // so we can add one line.
 type GenesisDoc map[string]json.RawMessage
 
-func addGenesisOptions(filename string, options json.RawMessage, force bool) error {
+func addGenesisOptions(filename string, options json.RawMessage, force, ignore bool) error {
 	bz, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filename)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -105,7 +108,10 @@ func addGenesisOptions(filename string, options json.RawMessage, force bool) err
 
 	v, ok := doc[AppStateKey]
 	if !force && ok && len(v) > 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf(ErrorAlreadyInitialised, FlagForce)
+		if ignore {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf(ErrorAlreadyInitialised, FlagForce, FlagIgnore)
 	}
 
 	timeJson, _ := time.Now().MarshalJSON()
@@ -133,7 +139,7 @@ var (
 //   indexer = "kv"
 //   index_all_tags = <all>
 //   index_tags = <tags>
-func setTxIndex(config string, all bool, tags string, force bool) error {
+func setTxIndex(config string, all bool, tags string, force, ignore bool) error {
 	f, err := os.Open(config)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.WithStack(err)
diff --git a/examples/mycoind/commands/init_test.go b/examples/mycoind/commands/init_test.go
index 3b8c7692..1329beb5 100644
--- a/examples/mycoind/commands/init_test.go
+++ b/examples/mycoind/commands/init_test.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, string(doc[server.AppStateKey]), `"ticker": "ETH"`)
 
 	err = server.InitCmd(app.GenInitOptions, logger, home, args)
-	assert.EqualValues(t, fmt.Errorf(server.ErrorAlreadyInitialised, server.FlagForce), err)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, fmt.Errorf(server.ErrorAlreadyInitialised, server.FlagForce, server.FlagIgnore), err)
 }
 
 // setupConfig creates a homedir to run inside,