diff --git a/init.lua b/init.lua
index 4904955..36bca78 100644
--- a/init.lua
+++ b/init.lua
@@ -1,22 +1,33 @@
 -- If true, the Perlin test nodes will support color
 -- (set to false in case of performance problems)
-local colorize_nodes = minetest.settings:get_bool("perlin_explorer_colorize", true)
+local COLORIZE_NODES = true
 
 -- If true, will use the grayscale color palette.
 -- If false, will use the default colors.
 local grayscale_colors = minetest.settings:get_bool("perlin_explorer_grayscale", false)
 
--- The number of available test node colors is divided by this number.
--- A number between 1 to 256
--- * 1 = Full 256 palette.
--- * 2 = 128 colors.
--- * 4 = 64 colors.
--- etc.
--- Higher values lead to less colors but increased performance.
+-- The number of available test node colors.
+-- Higher values lead to worse performance but a coarse color scheme.
 -- This value is only used for performance reason, because Minetest
 -- has a sharp performance drop when there are many different node colors on screen.
 -- Consider removing this one when Minetest's performance problem has been solved.
-local COLOR_PRECISION = 4
+local color_count = tonumber(minetest.settings:get("perlin_explorer_color_count")) or 64
+local color_lookup = {
+	[256] = 1, -- full color palette
+	[128] = 2,
+	[64] = 4,
+	[32] = 8,
+	[16] = 16,
+	[8] = 32,
+	[4] = 64,
+	[2] = 128,
+	[1] = 256,
+}
+-- This value is used for the calculation of the simplified color.
+local color_precision = color_lookup[color_count]
+if not color_precision then
+	color_precision = 4 -- default: 64 colors
+end
 
 -- Time to wait in seconds before checking and generating new nodes in autobuild mode.
 local AUTOBUILD_UPDATE_TIME = 0.1
@@ -271,7 +282,7 @@ end)
 
 -- Test nodes to generate a map based on a perlin noise
 local paramtype2, palette
-if colorize_nodes then
+if COLORIZE_NODES then
 	paramtype2 = "color"
 end
 if grayscale_colors then
@@ -625,7 +636,7 @@ local update_map = function(pos, noise, noiseparams, options, stats_mode)
 				node_param2 = math.floor(math.abs(node_param2))
 				node_param2 = math.max(0, math.min(255, node_param2))
 				if node_param2 < 255 then
-					node_param2 = node_param2 - (node_param2 % COLOR_PRECISION)
+					node_param2 = node_param2 - (node_param2 % color_precision)
 				end
 			end
 
diff --git a/settingtypes.txt b/settingtypes.txt
index e97eeb0..20d4c77 100644
--- a/settingtypes.txt
+++ b/settingtypes.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
-# If enabled, generated nodes will be colorized.
-# Disable this if you have performance problems.
-perlin_explorer_colorize_nodes (Colorize nodes) bool true
+# Number of available colors to use per node color palette,
+# ignoring the special “extreme” colors (which are always used).
+# High values lead to a smoother color gradient but also might
+# cause performance issues when viewing many nodes.
+# Note you need to regenerate the nodes for this change to
+# take effect.
+perlin_explorer_color_count (Palette color count) enum 64 256,128,64,32,16,8,4,2,1
 
 # If enabled, will use the grayscale color palette for the nodes.
 # If disabled, will use the default colors instead.