diff --git a/dlgr/griduniverse/experiment.py b/dlgr/griduniverse/experiment.py
index bf7c6e97..f64a2e71 100644
--- a/dlgr/griduniverse/experiment.py
+++ b/dlgr/griduniverse/experiment.py
@@ -321,16 +321,11 @@ def __init__(self, **kwargs):
                 item_type.get("probability_distribution", "")
             )
 
-            # static version of public good
-            public_good = item_type.get("public_good", 0.0)
-            # alternate version which interacts with calories
-            public_good_multiplier = item_type.get("public_good_multiplier", 0.0)
-
-            if public_good == 0.0 and public_good_multiplier != 0.0:
-                # Overwrite public_good with value derived from multiplier and calories:
-                item_type["public_good"] = (
-                    item_type["calories"] * public_good_multiplier / self.num_players
-                )
+            item_type["public_good"] = (
+                item_type["calories"]
+                * item_type.get("public_good_multiplier", 0.0)
+                / self.num_players
+            )
 
         # Player probability distribution
         (
diff --git a/dlgr/griduniverse/game_config.yml b/dlgr/griduniverse/game_config.yml
index 1e95c4b5..6dd2b115 100644
--- a/dlgr/griduniverse/game_config.yml
+++ b/dlgr/griduniverse/game_config.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ item_defaults:
   # How many calories does a single instance provide when a player consumes it?
   # In the simple case, the consuming player will get all the caloric benefit from
   # items they consume, but there are also options for dividing this benefit among
-  # other players (see public_good and public_good_multiplier, below)
+  # other players (see public_good_multiplier, below).
   calories: 0
 
   # Can a player occupy the grid block this item is sitting on?
@@ -85,16 +85,9 @@ item_defaults:
   # See the distributions.py module for their implementations
   probability_distribution: "random"
 
-  # The number of calories to be given to all *other players* when a player consumes
-  # an instance of this item.
-  # If this value is non-zero, public_good_multiplier will be ignored.
-  public_good: 0.0
-
   # Basis from computing calories credited to all *other players* when a player
   # consumes an instance of this item. The credit will be equal to:
   #     calories * public_good_multiplier / number of players
-  #
-  # Note that unless public_good is 0, this value will be ignored.
   public_good_multiplier: 0.0
 
   # Should a replacement of this same item type be immediately added to the gridworld
@@ -115,7 +108,7 @@ item_defaults:
 
   # At what rate should additional instances of this item be added to the gridworld?
   # A rate of 1.0 means that the target number of items (item_count) will not grow over
-  # time, but a large value will result in a steadily growing item_count.
+  # time, but a value greater than 1.0 will result in a steadily growing item_count.
   spawn_rate: 1.0
 
   # Visual representation of this item in the UI.