diff --git a/conf/dev.conf.example b/conf/dev.conf.example
index 82eaee65..702cc2f6 100644
--- a/conf/dev.conf.example
+++ b/conf/dev.conf.example
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 include "application.conf"
 
+# Change logging levels to see more interesting things while developing.
+logger {
+  root=DEBUG
+  play=TRACE
+  application=TRACE
+}
+
 db.default {
   url="jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/mp_dev"
   url=${?MR_DATABASE_URL}
diff --git a/conf/logback-dev.xml b/conf/logback-dev.xml
index 26191a55..94174a36 100644
--- a/conf/logback-dev.xml
+++ b/conf/logback-dev.xml
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@
     <!-- Set psql to DEBUG to see the sql statements sent to the db -->
     <logger name="org.maproulette.framework.psql" level="INFO" />
 
-    <logger name="play" level="INFO" />
+    <!-- Use DEBUG for play to see useful information and the HTTP requests to overpass. At TRACE level it dumps tcp transactions, so avoid trace level. -->
+    <logger name="play" level="DEBUG" />
+    <!-- Use TRACE for play.api.mvc to see what is happening with the HTTP requests to the backend -->
+    <logger name="play.api.mvc" level="TRACE" />
 
     <!-- More akka logging tweaks can be made in the dev.conf, akka.actor.debug -->
     <logger name="akka" level="INFO" />