diff --git a/hbd/server/threshold.py b/hbd/server/threshold.py
index 06125f9..ed6dad2 100644
--- a/hbd/server/threshold.py
+++ b/hbd/server/threshold.py
@@ -419,14 +419,28 @@ class ThresholdChecker:
     
     def _parse_config(self, config: Dict[str, Any]):
         """Parse threshold configuration from YAML structure.
-        
+
         Supports two formats:
         1. Legacy format with direct 'thresholds' section
         2. New format with 'threshold_configs' and 'host_threshold_mapping'
+
+        In all cases, THRESHOLD_DEFAULTS are seeded into threshold_configs["default"]
+        so the Settings page always shows the built-in defaults.
+        _parse_multi_config() overwrites this with the fully-merged effective defaults.
         """
+        # Always expose built-in defaults through threshold_configs["default"] so
+        # the Settings page has something to display even in legacy/no-config mode.
+        seed: Dict[str, ThresholdConfig] = {}
+        for plugin_name, plugin_thresholds in THRESHOLD_DEFAULTS.get("thresholds", {}).items():
+            if isinstance(plugin_thresholds, dict):
+                self._parse_plugin_thresholds(plugin_name, plugin_thresholds, target_dict=seed)
+        if seed:
+            self.threshold_configs["default"] = seed
+            self.threshold_raw_configs["default"] = {}
+
         # Check for new multi-config format
         if "threshold_configs" in config:
-            self._parse_multi_config(config)
+            self._parse_multi_config(config)  # overwrites threshold_configs["default"]
         elif "thresholds" in config:
             # Legacy single threshold configuration
             self._parse_legacy_config(config)