Does MySQL included with MAMP not include a config file?

The MySQL server of MAMP (not PRO) will be started without any my.cnf file. But you can create your own my.cnf file.

1. Stop servers
2. Create a my.cnf file in /Applications/MAMP/conf/
3. Add your content in to my.cnf
4. Save my.cnf
5. Start servers

You do not have to put a complete configuration in the my.cnf file. You can just add parts of a configuration … for example:

[mysqld]
max_allowed_packet = 64M