diff --git a/distribution/src/main/resources/config/jvm.options b/distribution/src/main/resources/config/jvm.options
index 691d681c05e..e82b9c245c2 100644
--- a/distribution/src/main/resources/config/jvm.options
+++ b/distribution/src/main/resources/config/jvm.options
@@ -1,41 +1,38 @@
-### configuration
+## JVM configuration
 
-## basic
+################################################################
+## IMPORTANT: JVM heap size
+################################################################
+##
+## You should always set the min and max JVM heap
+## size to the same value. For example, to set
+## the heap to 4 GB, set:
+##
+## -Xms4g
+## -Xmx4g
+##
+## See https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/heap-size.html
+## for more information
+##
+################################################################
 
-# set to headless, just in case
--Djava.awt.headless=true
+# Xms represents the initial size of total heap space
+# Xmx represents the maximum size of total heap space
 
-# ensure UTF-8 encoding by default (e.g. filenames)
--Dfile.encoding=UTF-8
-
-# use our provided JNA always versus the system one
--Djna.nosys=true
-
-## networking
-
-# force the JVM to use the IPv4 stack
-#-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true
-
-### memory
-
-## heap configuration
-
-# minimum size of total heap space
 -Xms${heap.min}
-
-# maximum size of total heap space
-# it is recommended to set the minimum size and maximum size equal to
-# each other to prevent pauses upon resize, and so that memory locking
-# will lock the entire heap in physical memory
 -Xmx${heap.max}
 
-# size of young generation heap space
-#-Xmn${new.size}
+################################################################
+## Expert settings
+################################################################
+##
+## All settings below this section are considered
+## expert settings. Don't tamper with them unless
+## you understand what you are doing
+##
+################################################################
 
-# maximum size of NIO direct-buffer allocations
-#-XX:MaxDirectMemorySize${max.direct.memory.size}
-
-## CMS configuration
+## GC configuration
 -XX:+UseParNewGC
 -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC
 -XX:CMSInitiatingOccupancyFraction=75
@@ -49,6 +46,17 @@
 # pre-touch memory pages used by the JVM during initialization
 -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch
 
+## basic
+
+# set to headless, just in case
+-Djava.awt.headless=true
+
+# ensure UTF-8 encoding by default (e.g. filenames)
+-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8
+
+# use our provided JNA always versus the system one
+-Djna.nosys=true
+
 ## heap dumps
 
 # generate a heap dump when an allocation from the Java heap fails