diff --git a/docs/swarm/services.md b/docs/swarm/services.md
index 8bd8184a..2eebc2a6 100644
--- a/docs/swarm/services.md
+++ b/docs/swarm/services.md
@@ -156,10 +156,9 @@ intended writer.
 ### Telemetry collector (OTEL)
 
 The swarm's collector receives from every hive's own collector and is the
-only process that decides where telemetry goes: it writes the store above
-and exports to `otel.endpoint`, doing both when both are configured. It
-also holds the upstream credential, which is why no hive and no agent
-needs one.
+only process that decides where telemetry goes: it always writes the stores
+above, and exports to `otel.endpoint` as well when that's set. It holds
+the upstream credential, which is why no hive and no agent needs one.
 
 It runs in a `swarm-otel` container. Its `swarm.otel.port` defaults to
 `4319` rather than OTLP's usual `4318`, which the hive tier uses — swarm
@@ -178,9 +177,11 @@ gateway either way.
 | `swarm.otel.domain` | Only to rename it — the default already resolves correctly for every hive in the swarm. |
 | `swarm.otel.port`   | Only if something else on the services host already claims `4319`.                      |
 
-With neither `otel.endpoint` nor the store enabled, this module refuses
-the collector at eval — a tier that receives samples and drops them
-looks healthy while losing data.
+**Both store exporters are unconditional**, and `deploy.victoriametrics.enable`
+doesn't gate them: that option says this host _runs_ the store, while the swarm
+has one either way, reached by its swarm name through the gateway. Gating on it
+once left a collector on any other host with no exporter at all — receiving from
+every hive and dropping it, silently, because an absent exporter isn't an error.
 
 Agent-side configuration, and what a hive's own collector does, are in
 [`../scheduler/observability.md`](../scheduler/observability.md).