diff --git a/templates/example/README.txt b/templates/example/README.txt
index c2f052d..03d2363 100644
--- a/templates/example/README.txt
+++ b/templates/example/README.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 DropShell Template Example
 
 Shell scripts defined in this folder are run as DropShell commands on the remote server (not locally!).
-All scripts are passed the server-specific service environment (SSSE) file as an argument.
+All scripts are passed the directory containing the server-specific service environment (SSSE) as an argument
+(the environment file, along with any other server and service-specific files, is then in $1/service.env)
 
-The default SSSE file used when a new service is created is in example/service.env. This must exist,
+The default SSSE file included when a new service is created is in example/service.env. This must exist,
 and must at minimum contain the TEMPLATE=<template_name> variable.
 
-The backups script gets a second argument, which is the backup file to create (a single tgz file).
+The optional backups script gets a second argument, which is the backup file to create (a single tgz file).
 
 Mandatory scripts are:
 - install.sh
diff --git a/templates/example/_common.sh b/templates/example/_common.sh
index 8dfab27..b1e7e6e 100755
--- a/templates/example/_common.sh
+++ b/templates/example/_common.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ load_env() {
         source "$script_dir/_basic.env"
         set +a
     else
-        echo "Warning: basic.env file not found at $script_dir/_basic.env. Broken template?"
+        echo "Warning: _basic.env file not found at $script_dir/_basic.env. Broken template?"
         return 1
     fi
 
@@ -35,23 +35,18 @@ load_env() {
     if [ -z "$1" ]; then
         echo "Usage: $0 [path_to_env_file]"
         return 1
-    else
-        # If path is relative, make it absolute using script directory as base
-        if [[ "$1" != /* ]]; then
-            env_file="$script_dir/$1"
-        else
-            env_file="$1"
-        fi
     fi
-    
-    if [ -f "$env_file" ]; then
-        set -a
-        source "$env_file"
-        set +a
-    else
-        echo "Warning: .env file not found at $env_file"
+
+    env_file="$1/service.env"    
+
+    if [ ! -f "$env_file" ]; then
+        echo "Warning: service.env file not found in $1"
         return 1
     fi
+
+    set -a
+    source "$env_file"
+    set +a
 }
 
 grey_start() {
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/_common.sh b/templates/watchtower/_common.sh
index 8dfab27..b1e7e6e 100755
--- a/templates/watchtower/_common.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/_common.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ load_env() {
         source "$script_dir/_basic.env"
         set +a
     else
-        echo "Warning: basic.env file not found at $script_dir/_basic.env. Broken template?"
+        echo "Warning: _basic.env file not found at $script_dir/_basic.env. Broken template?"
         return 1
     fi
 
@@ -35,23 +35,18 @@ load_env() {
     if [ -z "$1" ]; then
         echo "Usage: $0 [path_to_env_file]"
         return 1
-    else
-        # If path is relative, make it absolute using script directory as base
-        if [[ "$1" != /* ]]; then
-            env_file="$script_dir/$1"
-        else
-            env_file="$1"
-        fi
     fi
-    
-    if [ -f "$env_file" ]; then
-        set -a
-        source "$env_file"
-        set +a
-    else
-        echo "Warning: .env file not found at $env_file"
+
+    env_file="$1/service.env"    
+
+    if [ ! -f "$env_file" ]; then
+        echo "Warning: service.env file not found in $1"
         return 1
     fi
+
+    set -a
+    source "$env_file"
+    set +a
 }
 
 grey_start() {
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/example/config.json b/templates/watchtower/example/config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5270d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/watchtower/example/config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+    "auths": {
+
+    }
+}
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/start.sh b/templates/watchtower/start.sh
index f456de1..ac7b67d 100755
--- a/templates/watchtower/start.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/start.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
-load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
+
+SERVICE_CONFIG_DIR="$1"
+load_env "$SERVICE_CONFIG_DIR" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "INTERVAL"
@@ -9,6 +11,7 @@ DOCKER_RUN_CMD="docker run -d \
                 --restart unless-stopped \
                 --name ${CONTAINER_NAME} \
                 -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
+                -v ${SERVICE_CONFIG_DIR}/config.json:/config.json
                 ${IMAGE_REGISTRY}/${IMAGE_REPO}:${IMAGE_TAG} \
                 --interval ${INTERVAL}"