diff --git a/mxq_group.c b/mxq_group.c
index 65f7757..2887411 100644
--- a/mxq_group.c
+++ b/mxq_group.c
@@ -292,39 +292,6 @@ int mxq_load_active_groups_for_user(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **m
     return res;
 }
 
-int mxq_load_active_groups(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups)
-{
-    int res;
-    struct mxq_group *groups = NULL;
-    struct mxq_group g = {0};
-    struct mx_mysql_bind result = {0};
-
-    assert(mysql);
-    assert(mxq_groups);
-
-    *mxq_groups = NULL;
-
-    char *query =
-            "SELECT"
-                GROUP_FIELDS
-            " FROM mxq_group"
-            " WHERE (group_jobs_inq > 0 OR group_jobs_running > 0)"
-            " ORDER BY user_name, group_mtime"
-            " LIMIT 1000";
-
-    res = bind_result_group_fields(&result, &g);
-    assert(res == 0);
-
-    res = mx_mysql_do_statement_retry_on_fail(mysql, query, NULL, &result, &g, (void **)&groups, sizeof(*groups));
-    if (res < 0) {
-        mx_log_err("mx_mysql_do_statement_retry_on_fail(): %m");
-        return res;
-    }
-
-    *mxq_groups = groups;
-    return res;
-}
-
 int mxq_load_running_groups(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups)
 {
     int res;
diff --git a/mxq_group.h b/mxq_group.h
index e678cb3..46a352b 100644
--- a/mxq_group.h
+++ b/mxq_group.h
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ inline uint64_t mxq_group_jobs_inq(struct mxq_group *g);
 
 int mxq_load_group(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups, uint64_t group_id);
 int mxq_load_all_groups(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups);
-int mxq_load_active_groups(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups);
 int mxq_load_all_groups_for_user(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups, uint64_t user_uid);
 int mxq_load_active_groups_for_user(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups, uint64_t user_uid);
 int mxq_load_running_groups(struct mx_mysql *mysql, struct mxq_group **mxq_groups);
diff --git a/mxqd.c b/mxqd.c
index 047b6ed..3a7fa6a 100644
--- a/mxqd.c
+++ b/mxqd.c
@@ -277,9 +277,9 @@ int server_init(struct mxq_server *server, int argc, char *argv[])
     char arg_recoveronly = 0;
     char *str_bootid;
     int opt;
-    unsigned long threads_total = 0;
-    unsigned long memory_total = 2048;
-    unsigned long memory_max   = 0;
+    unsigned long arg_threads_total = 0;
+    unsigned long arg_memory_total = 2048;
+    unsigned long arg_memory_max   = 0;
     int i;
     struct proc_pid_stat pps = {0};
 
@@ -361,35 +361,35 @@ int server_init(struct mxq_server *server, int argc, char *argv[])
                 exit(EX_USAGE);
 
             case 'j':
-                if (mx_strtoul(optctl.optarg, &threads_total) < 0) {
+                if (mx_strtoul(optctl.optarg, &arg_threads_total) < 0) {
                     mx_log_err("Invalid argument supplied for option --slots '%s': %m", optctl.optarg);
                     exit(1);
                 }
                 break;
 
             case 'm':
-                if (mx_strtoul(optctl.optarg, &memory_total) < 0) {
+                if (mx_strtoul(optctl.optarg, &arg_memory_total) < 0) {
                     unsigned long long int bytes;
 
                     if(mx_strtobytes(optctl.optarg, &bytes) < 0) {
                         mx_log_err("Invalid argument supplied for option --memory '%s': %m", optctl.optarg);
                         exit(1);
                     }
-                    memory_total = bytes/1024/1024;
+                    arg_memory_total = bytes/1024/1024;
                 }
-                if (!memory_total)
-                    memory_total = 2048;
+                if (!arg_memory_total)
+                    arg_memory_total = 2048;
                 break;
 
             case 'x':
-                if (mx_strtoul(optctl.optarg, &memory_max) < 0) {
+                if (mx_strtoul(optctl.optarg, &arg_memory_max) < 0) {
                     unsigned long long int bytes;
 
                     if(mx_strtobytes(optctl.optarg, &bytes) < 0) {
                         mx_log_err("Invalid argument supplied for option --max-memory-per-slot '%s': %m", optctl.optarg);
                         exit(1);
                     }
-                    memory_max = bytes/1024/1024;
+                    arg_memory_max = bytes/1024/1024;
                 }
                 break;
 
@@ -508,14 +508,19 @@ int server_init(struct mxq_server *server, int argc, char *argv[])
 
     mx_asprintf_forever(&server->host_id, "%s-%llx-%x", server->boot_id, server->starttime, getpid());
 
-    server->slots = threads_total;
+    server->slots = arg_threads_total;
     res = cpuset_init(server);
     if (res < 0) {
         mx_log_err("MAIN: cpuset_init() failed. exiting.");
         exit(1);
     }
-    server->memory_total = memory_total;
-    server->memory_max_per_slot = memory_max;
+    server->memory_total = arg_memory_total;
+    server->memory_max_per_slot = arg_memory_max;
+
+    /* if run as non-root use full memory by default for every job */
+    if (!arg_memory_max && getuid() != 0)
+        server->memory_max_per_slot = arg_memory_total;
+
     server->memory_avg_per_slot = (long double)server->memory_total / (long double)server->slots;
 
     if (server->memory_max_per_slot < server->memory_avg_per_slot)
@@ -524,7 +529,6 @@ int server_init(struct mxq_server *server, int argc, char *argv[])
     if (server->memory_max_per_slot > server->memory_total)
         server->memory_max_per_slot = server->memory_total;
 
-
     return 1;
 }
 
@@ -1720,13 +1724,16 @@ int catchall(struct mxq_server *server) {
 }
 
 int load_groups(struct mxq_server *server) {
-    struct mxq_group *mxqgroups;
+    struct mxq_group *mxqgroups = NULL;
     struct mxq_group_list *group;
     int group_cnt;
     int total;
     int i;
 
-    group_cnt = mxq_load_active_groups(server->mysql, &mxqgroups);
+    if (getuid() == 0)
+        group_cnt = mxq_load_running_groups(server->mysql, &mxqgroups);
+    else
+        group_cnt = mxq_load_running_groups_for_user(server->mysql, &mxqgroups, getuid());
 
     for (i=0, total=0; i<group_cnt; i++) {
         group = server_update_groupdata(server, &mxqgroups[group_cnt-i-1]);