diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 6cfedc071e..0ca2a8dd74 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -24,35 +24,49 @@
 #    or one of the foreground modes (like evennia ipstart), since otherwise the container will immediately
 #    die because of having no foreground process.
 #
+# Build modes:
+#    Default build mode is editable and installs local Evennia source as:
+#        pip install -e /usr/src/evennia[extra]
+#    This is convenient for development of both game code and Evennia core.
+#
+#    To instead build from the latest Evennia release on PyPI:
+#        docker build --build-arg EVENNIA_INSTALL_MODE=pypi -t evennia/evennia .
+#
+# Editable mode development tip:
+#    Mount your Evennia checkout to /usr/src/evennia to edit the core live:
+#        docker run -it --rm -p 4000:4000 -p 4001:4001 -p 4002:4002 \
+#          -v $PWD:/usr/src/game -v /path/to/evennia:/usr/src/evennia evennia/evennia
+#
 # The evennia/evennia base image is found on DockerHub and can also be used
 # as a base for creating your own custom containerized Evennia game. For more
 # info, see https://evennia.com/docs/latest/Setup/Installation-Docker
 #
-FROM python:3.11-alpine
+FROM python:3.13-alpine
 
 LABEL maintainer="https://www.evennia.com"
+ARG EVENNIA_INSTALL_MODE=editable
 
 # install compilation environment
 RUN apk update && apk add --no-cache bash gcc jpeg-dev musl-dev procps \
 libffi-dev openssl-dev zlib-dev gettext \
 g++ gfortran python3-dev cmake openblas-dev
 
-# add the files required for pip installation
-COPY ./pyproject.toml /usr/src/evennia/
-COPY ./setup.py /usr/src/evennia/
-COPY ./bin /usr/src/evennia/bin/
-
-# install dependencies
-RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --upgrade pip && \
-    pip install --no-cache-dir cryptography pyasn1 service_identity && \
-    pip install --no-cache-dir -e /usr/src/evennia --trusted-host pypi.python.org && \
-    pip install --no-cache-dir evennia[extra]
-
 # add the project source; this should always be done after all
 # expensive operations have completed to avoid prematurely
 # invalidating the build cache.
 COPY . /usr/src/evennia
 
+# install dependencies/evennia
+# EVENNIA_INSTALL_MODE options:
+# - editable (default): install local source in editable mode for Evennia dev.
+# - pypi: install latest Evennia release from PyPI.
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --upgrade pip && \
+    if [ "$EVENNIA_INSTALL_MODE" = "pypi" ]; then \
+        pip install --no-cache-dir --upgrade evennia[extra]; \
+    else \
+        pip install --no-cache-dir -e /usr/src/evennia[extra]; \
+    fi
+
 # add the game source when rebuilding a new docker image from inside
 # a game dir
 ONBUILD COPY . /usr/src/game
@@ -66,8 +80,8 @@ VOLUME /usr/src/game
 WORKDIR /usr/src/game
 
 # set bash prompt and pythonpath to evennia lib
-ENV PS1 "evennia|docker \w $ "
-ENV PYTHONPATH /usr/src/evennia
+ENV PS1="evennia|docker \w $ "
+ENV PYTHONPATH=/usr/src/evennia
 
 # create and switch to a non-root user for runtime security
 # -D - do not set a password