"Deceased" flag set to "no" by default in standard reports
You can save an instance of the report that has your preferred settings and then have it appear in the menu or on the dashboard.
https://docs.civicrm.org/user/en/latest/reporting/set-up/#define-report-settings
Briefly, set your settings, refresh the report, look at the Access tab for any additional settings like menu entry, and then choose Create Report from the actions dropdown.