diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a4a73660..1904cfd8 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,15 +1,48 @@
 FROM golang:1.12
 
+#
+# NOTE: The RPC server listens on localhost by default.
+#       If you require access to the RPC server,
+#       rpclisten should be set to an empty value.
+#
+# NOTE: When running simnet, you may not want to preserve
+#       the data and logs.  This can be achieved by specifying
+#       a location outside the default ~/.dcrd.  For example:
+#          rpclisten=
+#          simnet=1
+#          datadir=~/simnet-data
+#          logdir=~/simnet-logs
+#
+# Example testnet instance with RPC server access:
+# $ mkdir -p /local/path/dcrd
+#
+# Place a dcrd.conf into a local directory, i.e. /var/dcrd
+# $ mv dcrd.conf /var/dcrd
+#
+# Verify basic configuration
+# $ cat /var/dcrd/dcrd.conf
+# rpclisten=
+# testnet=1
+#
+# Build the docker image
+# $ docker build -t user/dcrd .
+#
+# Run the docker image, mapping the testnet dcrd RPC port.
+# $ docker run -d --rm -p 127.0.0.1:19109:19109 -v /var/dcrd:/root/.dcrd user/dcrd
+#
+
 WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/decred/dcrd
 COPY . .
 
 RUN env GO111MODULE=on go install . ./cmd/...
 
-EXPOSE 9108
-EXPOSE 9109
-EXPOSE 19108
-EXPOSE 19109
-EXPOSE 18555
-EXPOSE 19556
+# mainnet
+EXPOSE 9108 9109
+
+# testnet
+EXPOSE 19108 19109
+
+# simnet
+EXPOSE 18555 19556
 
 CMD [ "dcrd" ]
diff --git a/Dockerfile.alpine b/Dockerfile.alpine
index 162b476b..ea64712c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.alpine
+++ b/Dockerfile.alpine
@@ -1,5 +1,36 @@
 # Build image
-FROM golang:1.11
+FROM golang:1.12
+
+#
+# NOTE: The RPC server listens on localhost by default.
+#       If you require access to the RPC server,
+#       rpclisten should be set to an empty value.
+#
+# NOTE: When running simnet, you may not want to preserve
+#       the data and logs.  This can be achieved by specifying
+#       a location outside the default ~/.dcrd.  For example:
+#          rpclisten=
+#          simnet=1
+#          datadir=~/simnet-data
+#          logdir=~/simnet-logs
+#
+# Example testnet instance with RPC server access:
+# $ mkdir -p /local/path/dcrd
+#
+# Place a dcrd.conf into a local directory, i.e. /var/dcrd
+# $ mv dcrd.conf /var/dcrd
+#
+# Verify basic configuration
+# $ cat /var/dcrd/dcrd.conf
+# rpclisten=
+# testnet=1
+#
+# Build the docker image
+# $ docker build -t user/dcrd -f Dockerfile.alpine .
+#
+# Run the docker image, mapping the testnet dcrd RPC port.
+# $ docker run -d --rm -p 127.0.0.1:19109:19109 -v /var/dcrd:/root/.dcrd user/dcrd
+#
 
 WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/decred/dcrd
 COPY . .
@@ -7,11 +38,18 @@ COPY . .
 RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux GO111MODULE=on go install . ./cmd/...
 
 # Production image
-FROM alpine:3.6
+FROM alpine:3.10.1
 
 RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates
 COPY --from=0 /go/bin/* /bin/
 
-EXPOSE 9108
+# mainnet
+EXPOSE 9108 9109
+
+# testnet
+EXPOSE 19108 19109
+
+# simnet
+EXPOSE 18555 19556
 
 CMD [ "dcrd" ]