diff --git a/docs/docs-developers/docs/cli/aztec_cli_reference.md b/docs/docs-developers/docs/cli/aztec_cli_reference.md
index 3fa836e238c2..e351820227f6 100644
--- a/docs/docs-developers/docs/cli/aztec_cli_reference.md
+++ b/docs/docs-developers/docs/cli/aztec_cli_reference.md
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ aztec setup-protocol-contracts [options]
 **ARCHIVER**
 
 - `--archiver`
-  Starts Aztec Archiver with options
+  Configures the archiver component within a node (use with --node)
 
 - `--archiver.blobSinkMapSizeKb <value>`
   The maximum possible size of the blob sink DB in KB. Overwrites the general dataStoreMapSizeKb.
diff --git a/docs/docs-operate/operators/reference/cli-reference.md b/docs/docs-operate/operators/reference/cli-reference.md
index 9037dd1c0dd9..f6c31f2e9766 100644
--- a/docs/docs-operate/operators/reference/cli-reference.md
+++ b/docs/docs-operate/operators/reference/cli-reference.md
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ tags:
   ARCHIVER
 
     --archiver
-          Starts Aztec Archiver with options
+          Configures the archiver component within a node (use with --node)
 
     --archiver.blobSinkUrl <value>                                                                                                         ($BLOB_SINK_URL)
           The URL of the blob sink
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@ tags:
   PXE
 
     --pxe
-          Starts Aztec PXE with options
+          Configures the PXE component within a node (use with --node)
 
     --pxe.l2BlockBatchSize <value>                                           (default: 50)                                                 ($PXE_L2_BLOCK_BATCH_SIZE)
           Maximum amount of blocks to pull from the stream in one request when synchronizing
diff --git a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_action.ts b/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_action.ts
index f7c3c7c5ff07..64a481810930 100644
--- a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_action.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_action.ts
@@ -65,8 +65,11 @@ export async function aztecStart(options: any, userLog: LogFn, debugLogger: Logg
       const { startBot } = await import('./cmds/start_bot.js');
       await startBot(options, signalHandlers, services, userLog);
     } else if (options.archiver) {
-      const { startArchiver } = await import('./cmds/start_archiver.js');
-      ({ config } = await startArchiver(options, signalHandlers, services));
+      userLog(`Cannot run a standalone archiver without a node. Use --node instead.`);
+      process.exit(1);
+    } else if (options.pxe) {
+      userLog(`Cannot run a standalone PXE without a node. Use --node instead.`);
+      process.exit(1);
     } else if (options.p2pBootstrap) {
       const { startP2PBootstrap } = await import('./cmds/start_p2p_bootstrap.js');
       ({ config } = await startP2PBootstrap(options, signalHandlers, services, userLog));
diff --git a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_options.ts b/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_options.ts
index 269609bd1911..8a67ed17cbd0 100644
--- a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_options.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/aztec_start_options.ts
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ export const aztecStartOptions: { [key: string]: AztecStartOption[] } = {
   ARCHIVER: [
     {
       flag: '--archiver',
-      description: 'Starts Aztec Archiver with options',
+      description: 'Configures the archiver component within a node (use with --node)',
       defaultValue: undefined,
       env: undefined,
     },
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ export const aztecStartOptions: { [key: string]: AztecStartOption[] } = {
   PXE: [
     {
       flag: '--pxe',
-      description: 'Starts Aztec PXE with options',
+      description: 'Configures the PXE component within a node (use with --node)',
       defaultValue: undefined,
       env: undefined,
     },
diff --git a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/cmds/start_archiver.ts b/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/cmds/start_archiver.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 2063fadbb6ed..000000000000
--- a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/cmds/start_archiver.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-import { type ArchiverConfig, archiverConfigMappings, createArchiver, getArchiverConfigFromEnv } from '@aztec/archiver';
-import { createLogger } from '@aztec/aztec.js/log';
-import { type BlobClientConfig, blobClientConfigMapping, createBlobClient } from '@aztec/blob-client/client';
-import { getL1Config } from '@aztec/cli/config';
-import type { NamespacedApiHandlers } from '@aztec/foundation/json-rpc/server';
-import { ArchiverApiSchema } from '@aztec/stdlib/interfaces/server';
-import { type DataStoreConfig, dataConfigMappings } from '@aztec/stdlib/kv-store';
-import { getConfigEnvVars as getTelemetryClientConfig, initTelemetryClient } from '@aztec/telemetry-client';
-
-import { extractRelevantOptions } from '../util.js';
-
-export type { ArchiverConfig, DataStoreConfig };
-
-/** Starts a standalone archiver. */
-export async function startArchiver(
-  options: any,
-  signalHandlers: (() => Promise<void>)[],
-  services: NamespacedApiHandlers,
-): Promise<{ config: ArchiverConfig & DataStoreConfig }> {
-  const envConfig = getArchiverConfigFromEnv();
-  const cliOptions = extractRelevantOptions<ArchiverConfig & DataStoreConfig & BlobClientConfig>(
-    options,
-    { ...archiverConfigMappings, ...dataConfigMappings, ...blobClientConfigMapping },
-    'archiver',
-  );
-
-  let archiverConfig = { ...envConfig, ...cliOptions };
-  archiverConfig.dataStoreMapSizeKb = archiverConfig.archiverStoreMapSizeKb ?? archiverConfig.dataStoreMapSizeKb;
-
-  if (!archiverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress || archiverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress.isZero()) {
-    throw new Error('L1 registry address is required to start an Archiver');
-  }
-
-  const { addresses, config: l1Config } = await getL1Config(
-    archiverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress,
-    archiverConfig.l1RpcUrls,
-    archiverConfig.l1ChainId,
-  );
-
-  archiverConfig.l1Contracts = addresses;
-  archiverConfig = { ...archiverConfig, ...l1Config };
-
-  const telemetry = await initTelemetryClient(getTelemetryClientConfig());
-  const blobClient = createBlobClient(archiverConfig, { logger: createLogger('archiver:blob-client:client') });
-  const archiver = await createArchiver(archiverConfig, { telemetry, blobClient }, { blockUntilSync: true });
-  services.archiver = [archiver, ArchiverApiSchema];
-  signalHandlers.push(archiver.stop);
-
-  return { config: archiverConfig };
-}