diff --git a/example.yml b/example.yml
index c16c839..e9658bb 100644
--- a/example.yml
+++ b/example.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ database:
   password: sa
 
   # the JDBC URL
-  url: jdbc:h2:./target/example
+  url: jdbc:h2:./target/example;AUTO_SERVER=TRUE
 
 # use the simple server factory if you only want to run on a single port
 #server:
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 3688725..d9dbe93 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
       <artifactId>h2</artifactId>
+      <!-- Explicit H2 2.x version for compatibility with Dropwizard 4.x -->
+      <version>2.2.224</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.dropwizard</groupId>
@@ -239,8 +241,8 @@
             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
             <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
             <configuration>
-                <source>1.6</source>
-                <target>1.6</target>
+                <source>11</source>
+                <target>11</target>
             </configuration>
         </plugin>
     </plugins>