diff --git a/tests/v1/engine/test_engine_core_client.py b/tests/v1/engine/test_engine_core_client.py
index d5a904d18..ce0d70cc9 100644
--- a/tests/v1/engine/test_engine_core_client.py
+++ b/tests/v1/engine/test_engine_core_client.py
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ def test_mp_client_uses_env_timeout(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
         data_parallel_rank_local=None,
         data_parallel_hybrid_lb=False,
         data_parallel_external_lb=False,
+        local_engines_only=False,
     )
     vllm_config = SimpleNamespace(parallel_config=parallel_config)
 
diff --git a/vllm/config/parallel.py b/vllm/config/parallel.py
index 363078aef..26b913b47 100644
--- a/vllm/config/parallel.py
+++ b/vllm/config/parallel.py
@@ -361,6 +361,14 @@ class ParallelConfig:
     def num_ubatches(self) -> int:
         return 2 if self.enable_dbo else self.ubatch_size
 
+    @property
+    def local_engines_only(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Client manages local+remote EngineCores in pure internal LB case.
+        Client manages local EngineCores in hybrid and external LB case.
+        """
+        return self.data_parallel_external_lb or self.data_parallel_hybrid_lb
+
     def get_next_dp_init_port(self) -> int:
         """
         We might need to initialize process groups in multiple
diff --git a/vllm/entrypoints/cli/serve.py b/vllm/entrypoints/cli/serve.py
index 77c7253ae..f06a93913 100644
--- a/vllm/entrypoints/cli/serve.py
+++ b/vllm/entrypoints/cli/serve.py
@@ -190,9 +190,7 @@ def run_multi_api_server(args: argparse.Namespace):
 
     parallel_config = vllm_config.parallel_config
     dp_rank = parallel_config.data_parallel_rank
-    external_dp_lb = parallel_config.data_parallel_external_lb
-    hybrid_dp_lb = parallel_config.data_parallel_hybrid_lb
-    assert external_dp_lb or hybrid_dp_lb or dp_rank == 0
+    assert parallel_config.local_engines_only or dp_rank == 0
 
     api_server_manager: APIServerProcessManager | None = None
 
@@ -218,7 +216,7 @@ def run_multi_api_server(args: argparse.Namespace):
         # (after the launcher context manager exits),
         # since we get the front-end stats update address from the coordinator
         # via the handshake with the local engine.
-        if dp_rank == 0 or not (external_dp_lb or hybrid_dp_lb):
+        if dp_rank == 0 or not parallel_config.local_engines_only:
             # Start API servers using the manager.
             api_server_manager = APIServerProcessManager(**api_server_manager_kwargs)
 
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/coordinator.py b/vllm/v1/engine/coordinator.py
index c2a9fe7c0..672d536a5 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/coordinator.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/coordinator.py
@@ -62,12 +62,10 @@ class DPCoordinator:
         assert dp_size > 1, "Coordinator only used for data parallel"
 
         host = parallel_config.data_parallel_master_ip
-        external_lb = parallel_config.data_parallel_external_lb
-        hybrid_lb = parallel_config.data_parallel_hybrid_lb
 
         # Assume coordinator is colocated with front-end procs when not in
         # either external or hybrid DP LB mode.
-        local_only = not (external_lb or hybrid_lb)
+        local_only = not parallel_config.local_engines_only
         front_publish_address = get_engine_client_zmq_addr(
             local_only=local_only, host=host
         )
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/core_client.py b/vllm/v1/engine/core_client.py
index 905d8df4d..c9a1d53c8 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/core_client.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/core_client.py
@@ -507,12 +507,7 @@ class MPClient(EngineCoreClient):
             offline_mode = parallel_config.data_parallel_rank_local is not None
             # Client manages local+remote EngineCores in pure internal LB case.
             # Client manages local EngineCores in hybrid and external LB case.
-            local_engines_only = (
-                parallel_config.data_parallel_hybrid_lb
-                or parallel_config.data_parallel_external_lb
-            )
-
-            num_ranks = dp_local_size if local_engines_only else dp_size
+            num_ranks = dp_local_size if parallel_config.local_engines_only else dp_size
             self.engine_ranks_managed = (
                 [dp_rank] if offline_mode else list(range(dp_rank, dp_rank + num_ranks))
             )
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/input_processor.py b/vllm/v1/engine/input_processor.py
index a6ab9164c..6404cb67e 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/input_processor.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/input_processor.py
@@ -458,13 +458,14 @@ class InputProcessor:
         self._validate_lora(lora_request)
         self._validate_params(params)
 
-        data_parallel_size = self.vllm_config.parallel_config.data_parallel_size
-        if data_parallel_rank is not None and not (
-            0 <= data_parallel_rank < data_parallel_size
-        ):
+        parallel_config = self.vllm_config.parallel_config
+        dp_size = parallel_config.data_parallel_size
+        dp_local_size = parallel_config.data_parallel_size_local
+        num_ranks = dp_local_size if parallel_config.local_engines_only else dp_size
+        if data_parallel_rank is not None and not (0 <= data_parallel_rank < num_ranks):
             raise ValueError(
                 f"data_parallel_rank {data_parallel_rank} "
-                f"is out of range [0, {data_parallel_size})."
+                f"is out of range [0, {num_ranks})."
             )
 
         if arrival_time is None:
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py b/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py
index 66212ed7c..5db3a5326 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py
@@ -787,10 +787,7 @@ def launch_core_engines(
     local_start_index = parallel_config.data_parallel_rank_local
     dp_rank = parallel_config.data_parallel_rank
     host = parallel_config.data_parallel_master_ip
-    local_engines_only = (
-        parallel_config.data_parallel_hybrid_lb
-        or parallel_config.data_parallel_external_lb
-    )
+    local_engines_only = parallel_config.local_engines_only
 
     # In offline mode there is an LLM instance per DP rank and
     # one core engine per LLM, see