diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 1ee303cbb..387037ea1 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
 
     @user = authorize User.new(
       last_ip_addr: CurrentUser.ip_addr,
+      last_logged_in_at: Time.zone.now,
       requires_verification: user_verifier.requires_verification?,
       level: user_verifier.initial_level,
       name: params[:user][:name],
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index d0c9f7109..b042a1f6c 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -69,7 +69,36 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
     is_verified
   )
 
+  DEFAULT_BLACKLIST = ["spoilers", "guro", "scat", "furry -rating:s"].join("\n")
+
+  attribute :id
+  attribute :created_at
+  attribute :updated_at
+  attribute :name
+  attribute :level, default: Levels::MEMBER
+  attribute :bcrypt_password_hash
+  attribute :inviter_id
+  attribute :last_logged_in_at, default: -> { Time.zone.now }
+  attribute :last_forum_read_at, default: "1960-01-01 00:00:00"
+  attribute :last_ip_addr
+  attribute :comment_threshold, default: 0
+  attribute :default_image_size, default: "large"
+  attribute :favorite_tags
+  attribute :blacklisted_tags, default: DEFAULT_BLACKLIST
+  attribute :time_zone, default: "Eastern Time (US & Canada)"
+  attribute :custom_style
+  attribute :post_upload_count, default: 0
+  attribute :post_update_count, default: 0
+  attribute :note_update_count, default: 0
+  attribute :unread_dmail_count, default: 0
+  attribute :favorite_count, default: 0
+  attribute :per_page, default: 20
+  attribute :theme, default: :light
+  attribute :upload_points, default: 1000
+  attribute :bit_prefs, default: 0
+
   has_bit_flags BOOLEAN_ATTRIBUTES, :field => "bit_prefs"
+  enum theme: { light: 0, dark: 100 }, _suffix: true
 
   attr_reader :password
 
@@ -122,7 +151,6 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
   belongs_to :inviter, class_name: "User", optional: true
 
   accepts_nested_attributes_for :email_address, reject_if: :all_blank, allow_destroy: true
-  enum theme: { light: 0, dark: 100 }, _suffix: true
 
   # UserDeletion#rename renames deleted users to `user_<1234>~`. Tildes
   # are appended if the username is taken.
diff --git a/db/migrate/20210115015308_remove_defaults_from_users.rb b/db/migrate/20210115015308_remove_defaults_from_users.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c64af70a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20210115015308_remove_defaults_from_users.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+class RemoveDefaultsFromUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.1]
+  def change
+    change_table(:users) do |t|
+      t.change_default :level, from: 20, to: nil
+      t.change_default :last_logged_in_at, from: "now()", to: nil
+      t.change_default :last_forum_read_at, from: "1960-01-01 00:00:00", to: nil
+      t.change_default :comment_threshold, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :default_image_size, from: "large", to: nil
+      t.change_default :blacklisted_tags, from: "spoilers\nguro\nscat\nfurry -rating:s", to: nil
+      t.change_default :time_zone, from: "Eastern Time (US & Canada)", to: nil
+      t.change_default :post_update_count, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :note_update_count, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :favorite_count, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :post_upload_count, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :per_page, from: 20, to: nil
+      t.change_default :bit_prefs, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :unread_dmail_count, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :theme, from: 0, to: nil
+      t.change_default :upload_points, from: 1000, to: nil
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/structure.sql b/db/structure.sql
index 04a414cc9..f3c8557c2 100644
--- a/db/structure.sql
+++ b/db/structure.sql
@@ -2236,32 +2236,29 @@ ALTER TABLE ONLY public.posts ALTER COLUMN tag_index SET STATISTICS 2000;
 CREATE TABLE public.users (
     id integer NOT NULL,
     name character varying NOT NULL,
-    level integer DEFAULT 20 NOT NULL,
+    level integer NOT NULL,
     inviter_id integer,
     created_at timestamp without time zone NOT NULL,
-    last_logged_in_at timestamp without time zone DEFAULT now(),
-    last_forum_read_at timestamp without time zone DEFAULT '1960-01-01 00:00:00'::timestamp without time zone,
-    comment_threshold integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
+    last_logged_in_at timestamp without time zone,
+    last_forum_read_at timestamp without time zone,
+    comment_threshold integer NOT NULL,
     updated_at timestamp without time zone,
-    default_image_size character varying DEFAULT 'large'::character varying NOT NULL,
+    default_image_size character varying NOT NULL,
     favorite_tags text,
-    blacklisted_tags text DEFAULT 'spoilers
-guro
-scat
-furry -rating:s'::text,
-    time_zone character varying DEFAULT 'Eastern Time (US & Canada)'::character varying NOT NULL,
-    post_update_count integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
-    note_update_count integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
-    favorite_count integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
-    post_upload_count integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
+    blacklisted_tags text,
+    time_zone character varying NOT NULL,
+    post_update_count integer NOT NULL,
+    note_update_count integer NOT NULL,
+    favorite_count integer NOT NULL,
+    post_upload_count integer NOT NULL,
     bcrypt_password_hash text,
-    per_page integer DEFAULT 20 NOT NULL,
+    per_page integer NOT NULL,
     custom_style text,
-    bit_prefs bigint DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
+    bit_prefs bigint NOT NULL,
     last_ip_addr inet,
-    unread_dmail_count integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
-    theme integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
-    upload_points integer DEFAULT 1000 NOT NULL
+    unread_dmail_count integer NOT NULL,
+    theme integer NOT NULL,
+    upload_points integer NOT NULL
 );
 
 
@@ -7885,6 +7882,7 @@ INSERT INTO "schema_migrations" (version) VALUES
 ('20210108030723'),
 ('20210108030724'),
 ('20210110015410'),
-('20210110090656');
+('20210110090656'),
+('20210115015308');
 
 
diff --git a/test/factories/user.rb b/test/factories/user.rb
index 15ae2acb6..dc6cf0942 100644
--- a/test/factories/user.rb
+++ b/test/factories/user.rb
@@ -2,13 +2,8 @@ FactoryBot.define do
   factory(:user, aliases: [:creator, :updater]) do
     name { SecureRandom.uuid }
     password {"password"}
-    default_image_size {"large"}
     level {20}
-    created_at {Time.now}
     last_logged_in_at {Time.now}
-    favorite_count {0}
-    bit_prefs {0}
-    last_forum_read_at {nil}
 
     factory(:banned_user) do
       transient { ban_duration {3} }
diff --git a/test/functional/forum_topics_controller_test.rb b/test/functional/forum_topics_controller_test.rb
index 06e7d0807..a138f76fa 100644
--- a/test/functional/forum_topics_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/functional/forum_topics_controller_test.rb
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class ForumTopicsControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
       should "not record a topic visit for non-html requests" do
         get_auth forum_topic_path(@forum_topic), @user, params: {format: :json}
         @user.reload
-        assert_nil(@user.last_forum_read_at)
+        assert_equal(Time.zone.parse("1960-01-01"), @user.last_forum_read_at)
       end
 
       should "render for atom feed" do