how can I pass debug flag to a client side plugin?

I have an rtc extension plugin that will add data to its visualization when the local variable debug is true.
rather than have a debug version (with the variable set) and another without, I'd like to set some parameter somewhere  for the plugin to detect on startup (class construction is fine too).

is there something plugin specific ( add some parm to a properties file in the eclipse workspace?
or add an environment variable before eclipse starts?
or add a parm to the java startup?

thanks for any guidance..

I did a few google searches and didn't find anything useful.