[Arro]

Interestingly,
the former solution does not work for me. Changing server display options through the GUI and restarting the server gives the cover grid interface regardless of the option selected.
Adding the switch "--book-list-mode details_list" to the service start file does change the server display behaviour as described.
Thanks again!

Edit:
----------------------
Sorry...
Actually, either solution works, depending on how the content server is started.
If started from calibre, the GUI options are used. If the content server is started as a stand-alone service without the main calibre program running, the CLI switches seem to override any settings in the GUI.