diff --git a/docs/server-list/README.md b/docs/server-list/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6146cf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/server-list/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+Native client follow-up: the supplied 1.21.11 and 26.1–26.3 profiles have 301 logical pixels of content inside the 305-pixel selection outline, so MOTD alignment uses 267 pixels for protocols 774–777. Other protocol IDs retain the existing 271-pixel width until separately mapped. `modernClientAlignment` in live-verification.json proves right-alignment over actual protocol-777 status requests on both proxies, alongside the older protocol-767 case.
diff --git a/docs/server-list/live-verification.json b/docs/server-list/live-verification.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdc7798
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/server-list/live-verification.json
@@ -0,0 +1,508 @@
+{
+  "initial": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 8,
+        "max": 500,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a768 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "gold",
+        "text": "eu 8/500"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 8,
+        "max": 500,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a768 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "gold",
+        "text": "na 8/500"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    }
+  ],
+  "updated": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed eu 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed na 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    }
+  ],
+  "maintenance": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": -1,
+        "name": "\u00a7cMaintenance"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed eu 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": -1,
+        "name": "\u00a7cMaintenance"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed na 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    }
+  ],
+  "ended": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed eu 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed na 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    }
+  ],
+  "failedRefresh": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed eu 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed na 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    }
+  ],
+  "invalidIcon": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed eu 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7610 players",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          },
+          {
+            "name": "\u00a7aWelcome",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "color": "green",
+        "text": "Changed na 10/20"
+      },
+      "favicon": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAEAAAABACAYAAACqaXHeAAAAiUlEQVR4Xu3QIQEAQBCEwC35/aPceyqAGINk93ZmY7BpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYNYLBpAINNAxhsGsBg0wAGmwYw2DSAwaYBDDYf7DIyLAxCEbAAAAAASUVORK5CYII="
+    }
+  ],
+  "resolvedAlignment": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 8,
+        "max": 100,
+        "sample": []
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "extra": [
+          "                           ",
+          {
+            "extra": [
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "e"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "u"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": ":"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": " "
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "8"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": " "
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "/"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": " "
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "1"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "0"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "0"
+              }
+            ],
+            "text": ""
+          }
+        ],
+        "text": ""
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 8,
+        "max": 100,
+        "sample": []
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "extra": [
+          "                           ",
+          {
+            "extra": [
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "n"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "a"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": ":"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": " "
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "8"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": " "
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "/"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": " "
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "1"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "0"
+              },
+              {
+                "color": "gold",
+                "text": "0"
+              }
+            ],
+            "text": ""
+          }
+        ],
+        "text": ""
+      }
+    }
+  ],
+  "modernClientAlignment": [
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 777,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 8,
+        "max": 100,
+        "sample": []
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "extra": [
+          "                                                                 ",
+          {
+            "extra": [
+              "A"
+            ],
+            "text": ""
+          }
+        ],
+        "text": ""
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 777,
+        "name": "Velocity 1.7.2-26.3"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 8,
+        "max": 100,
+        "sample": []
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "extra": [
+          "                                                                 ",
+          {
+            "extra": [
+              "A"
+            ],
+            "text": ""
+          }
+        ],
+        "text": ""
+      }
+    }
+  ],
+  "addresses": [
+    "127.0.0.1:25611",
+    "127.0.0.1:25612"
+  ],
+  "localCounts": [
+    3,
+    5
+  ],
+  "networkCount": 8,
+  "runtime": "Velocity 4.2.0",
+  "sharedConfig": "/tmp/grounds-motd-proxies/shared.json",
+  "iconSha256": "be19b61f591a7776d20e1792a2682b1a27f2768fda4bc0d4b7b3fa1cbb2ff7e9"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/server-list/README.md b/tools/server-list/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10a394b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/server-list/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Real proxy validation
+
+Build with Java 25: `./gradlew :velocity:testClasses :velocity:shadowJar`.
+Run `JAVA_HOME=/path/to/jdk python3 tools/server-list/live-harness.py /path/to/velocity.jar /tmp/grounds-motd-proxies --stay`.
+Then `python3 tools/server-list/verify-live.py /tmp/grounds-motd-proxies`.
+
+The harness replaces only the test JAR's plugin descriptor. It registers the real production `ServerListPingListener` with separate MotdManagers and stores, a common local configuration file and network presence count. Both real Velocity processes bind only loopback, use no backend game servers, and disable test telemetry. Local baseline counts are 3 and 5; network count is 8. No service tokens or production writes are involved. Ctrl-C terminates the test processes.
+
+Recorded on 2026-10-21 with the locally available Velocity 4.2.0 JAR, SHA-256 `35a5596a5468a035d8a32c8de5ebb0dc6b8d8f0cc3ff5169d514aca762af8aa8`. Responses are retained in `docs/server-list/live-verification.json`. A dedicated test entry point supplies the config and presence inputs; this does not validate live NATS delivery or a production config service deployment.
+
+The final flow also probes the current semantic-template path: placeholders are resolved before native color effects and 271-pixel alignment. Both process responses match the JavaScript reference text including leading spaces.
diff --git a/tools/server-list/live-harness.py b/tools/server-list/live-harness.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d473a42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/server-list/live-harness.py
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Build a test-only plugin JAR and start two isolated Velocity processes.
+Usage: live-harness.py /absolute/path/to/velocity.jar [working-directory]
+Only the descriptor is replaced; the production listener/evaluator classes are unchanged.
+"""
+import pathlib,sys,json,zipfile,subprocess,hashlib,os,shutil,time
+root=pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
+work=pathlib.Path(sys.argv[2] if len(sys.argv)>2 else '/tmp/grounds-motd-proxies');work.mkdir(parents=True,exist_ok=True)
+source=root/'velocity/build/libs/plugin-proxy-velocity.jar'
+plugin=work/'motd-test-harness.jar'
+with zipfile.ZipFile(source) as src,zipfile.ZipFile(plugin,'w',zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as out:
+ for n in src.namelist():
+  if n!='velocity-plugin.json' and not n.endswith('/'):out.writestr(n,src.read(n))
+ classes=root/'velocity/build/classes/kotlin/test'
+ for f in classes.rglob('ServerListLiveHarness*.class'):out.write(f,f.relative_to(classes))
+ out.writestr('velocity-plugin.json',json.dumps({'id':'motd-validation','name':'MOTD validation harness','version':'0.1.0','main':'gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd.ServerListLiveHarness','authors':[]}))
+fixtures=json.loads((root/'velocity/src/test/resources/server-list/contract.json').read_text())
+shared=work/'shared.json';shared.write_text(json.dumps({'networkPlayers':8,'motd':{'text':'<gold>{{region}} {{players}}/{{max}}','serverList':fixtures[2]['template']},'maintenance':None}))
+java=str(pathlib.Path(os.environ['JAVA_HOME'])/'bin/java') if os.environ.get('JAVA_HOME') else shutil.which('java')
+processes=[];live=[]
+for name,port,region,local in [('a',25611,'eu',3),('b',25612,'na',5)]:
+ d=work/name;d.mkdir(exist_ok=True);(d/'plugins').mkdir(exist_ok=True);(d/'plugins/bStats').mkdir(exist_ok=True);(d/'plugins/bStats/config.txt').write_text('enabled=false\n');(d/'plugins/motd-test-harness.jar').write_bytes(plugin.read_bytes())
+ (d/'forwarding.secret').write_text('local-validation-only')
+ (d/'velocity.toml').write_text(f'''config-version = "2.7"
+bind = "127.0.0.1:{port}"
+motd = "Test base"
+show-max-players = 500
+online-mode = false
+force-key-authentication = false
+player-info-forwarding-mode = "NONE"
+forwarding-secret-file = "forwarding.secret"
+announce-forge = false
+kick-existing-players = false
+ping-passthrough = "DISABLED"
+sample-players-in-ping = true
+enable-player-address-logging = false
+[servers]
+lobby = "127.0.0.1:9"
+factions = "127.0.0.1:9"
+minigames = "127.0.0.1:9"
+try = []
+[advanced]
+compression-threshold = 256
+compression-level = -1
+login-ratelimit = 0
+connection-timeout = 5000
+read-timeout = 30000
+haproxy-protocol = false
+tcp-fast-open = false
+bungee-plugin-message-channel = true
+show-ping-requests = false
+failover-on-unexpected-server-disconnect = true
+announce-proxy-commands = false
+log-command-executions = false
+log-player-connections = false
+accepts-transfers = false
+''')
+ log=open(d/'proxy.log','wb')
+ p=subprocess.Popen([java,'-Xms128m','-Xmx256m',f'-Dmotd.harness.document={shared}',f'-Dmotd.harness.region={region}',f'-Dmotd.harness.local={local}','-jar',str(pathlib.Path(sys.argv[1]).resolve())],cwd=d,stdout=log,stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
+ live.append(p)
+ processes.append({'name':name,'pid':p.pid,'address':f'127.0.0.1:{port}','localPlayers':local,'region':region})
+(work/'processes.json').write_text(json.dumps(processes,indent=2));print(json.dumps({'work':str(work),'velocitySha256':hashlib.sha256(pathlib.Path(sys.argv[1]).read_bytes()).hexdigest(),'processes':processes},indent=2))
+
+if '--stay' in sys.argv:
+ sys.stdout.flush()
+ try:
+  while True:time.sleep(1)
+ except KeyboardInterrupt:
+  for p in processes:
+   try:os.kill(p['pid'],15)
+   except ProcessLookupError:pass
diff --git a/tools/server-list/verify-live.py b/tools/server-list/verify-live.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e4d75ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/server-list/verify-live.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Probe two running live-harness.py instances over real Minecraft status TCP packets."""
+import pathlib,json,socket,struct,time,zlib,base64,hashlib,sys
+work=pathlib.Path(sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv)>1 else '/tmp/grounds-motd-proxies');shared=work/'shared.json'
+def varint(n):
+ b=bytearray()
+ while True:
+  part=n&127;n>>=7;b.append(part|(128 if n else 0))
+  if not n:return bytes(b)
+def readvar(s):
+ n=0
+ for i in range(5):
+  b=s.recv(1)
+  if not b:raise EOFError()
+  n|=(b[0]&127)<<(i*7)
+  if b[0]<128:return n
+ raise ValueError('varint')
+def ping(port,protocol=767):
+ with socket.create_connection(('127.0.0.1',port),timeout=3) as s:
+  h=b'localhost';packet=b'\0'+varint(protocol)+varint(len(h))+h+struct.pack('>H',port)+b'\1';s.sendall(varint(len(packet))+packet+b'\1\0');readvar(s);assert readvar(s)==0;size=readvar(s);body=b''
+  while len(body)<size:body+=s.recv(size-len(body))
+  return json.loads(body)
+def both():return [ping(25611),ping(25612)]
+def write(data):
+ temp=shared.with_suffix('.next');temp.write_text(json.dumps(data));temp.replace(shared)
+def until(check):
+ deadline=time.monotonic()+8
+ while True:
+  result=both()
+  if check(result):return result
+  if time.monotonic()>deadline:raise AssertionError(json.dumps(result)[:1000])
+  time.sleep(.1)
+def plain(c):
+ if isinstance(c,str):return c
+ if isinstance(c,list):return ''.join(map(plain,c))
+ return c.get('text','')+''.join(map(plain,c.get('extra',[])))
+def chunk(k,v):return struct.pack('>I',len(v))+k+v+struct.pack('>I',zlib.crc32(k+v)&0xffffffff)
+png=b'\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n'+chunk(b'IHDR',struct.pack('>IIBBBBB',64,64,8,6,0,0,0))+chunk(b'IDAT',zlib.compress((b'\0'+b'\xff\x55\x00\xff'*64)*64))+chunk(b'IEND',b'')
+data=json.loads(shared.read_text());data['motd']['serverList']['icon']={'pngBase64':base64.b64encode(png).decode()};write(data)
+initial=until(lambda ps:all(p['players']['online']==8 and p.get('favicon') for p in ps));assert plain(initial[0]['description'])=='eu 8/500';assert plain(initial[1]['description'])=='na 8/500';assert initial[0]['favicon']==initial[1]['favicon'];assert '8 players' in initial[0]['players']['sample'][0]['name']
+evidence={'initial':initial}
+data['motd']['text']='<green>Changed {{region}} {{players}}/{{max}}';data['motd']['serverList']['players']['online']={'mode':'offset','value':2};data['motd']['serverList']['players']['maximum']={'mode':'headroom','value':10};write(data)
+updated=until(lambda ps:all(p['players']['online']==10 and p['players']['max']==20 for p in ps));assert '10/20' in plain(updated[0]['description']);assert '10 players' in updated[1]['players']['sample'][0]['name'];evidence['updated']=updated
+maintenance={'schemaVersion':1,'enabled':True,'id':'00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001','startsAt':'2020-01-01T00:00:00Z','endsAt':None,'estimatedEndAt':None,'reason':'Test','joinMessage':'Closed','motd':'','kickExisting':False,'whitelist':[],'announcementSeconds':[],'announcementMessage':'Soon','serverList':json.loads(json.dumps(data['motd']['serverList'])),'serverListFallbackText':'','serverListOverrides':['version']}
+maintenance['serverList']['version']={'mode':'always','text':{'revision':0,'nodes':[{'id':'v','type':'group','style':{'color':'#ff5555'},'children':[{'id':'vt','type':'text','value':'Maintenance'}]}]}};data['maintenance']=maintenance;write(data)
+active=until(lambda ps:all(p['version']['protocol']==-1 and 'Maintenance' in p['version']['name'] for p in ps));assert [p['favicon'] for p in active]==[p['favicon'] for p in updated];assert all(p['players']['online']==10 for p in active);evidence['maintenance']=active
+maintenance['endsAt']='2020-01-02T00:00:00Z';write(data);ended=until(lambda ps:[p['version'] for p in ps]==[p['version'] for p in updated]);evidence['ended']=ended
+shared.write_text('{broken');time.sleep(.5);cached=both();assert [p['version'] for p in cached]==[p['version'] for p in ended];assert all(p['players']['online']==10 for p in cached);evidence['failedRefresh']=cached
+bad=json.loads(json.dumps(data));bad['motd']['serverList']['icon']={'pngBase64':'iVBORw0KGgo='};write(bad);time.sleep(.5);retained=both();assert [p['favicon'] for p in retained]==[p['favicon'] for p in ended];evidence['invalidIcon']=retained
+# Exercise the current compiled runtime path, measuring placeholders after resolution.
+fixtures=json.loads((pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]/'velocity/src/test/resources/server-list/contract.json').read_text());aligned=next(f for f in fixtures if f['name']=='aligned-placeholder');data['maintenance']=None;data['motd']={'text':aligned['source'],'serverListFallbackText':aligned['source'],'serverList':aligned['template'],'maxPlayers':100};write(data);alignedPings=until(lambda ps:all('8 / 100' in plain(p['description']) for p in ps));assert plain(alignedPings[0]['description'])==aligned['expectedPlain'];assert '{{' not in plain(alignedPings[1]['description']);evidence['resolvedAlignment']=alignedPings
+# Native 1.21.11/26.x content width is 301, leaving 267 logical pixels for MOTD.
+modern=json.loads(json.dumps(data));modern['motd']['serverList']['motd']={'text':{'revision':0,'nodes':[{'id':'a','type':'text','value':'A'}]},'alignments':['right']};modern['motd']['text']='A';modern['motd']['serverListFallbackText']='A';write(modern)
+until(lambda ps:all(plain(p['description'])==' '*66+'A' for p in ps))
+modernPings=[ping(port,777) for port in [25611,25612]]
+assert all(plain(p['description'])==' '*65+'A' for p in modernPings)
+evidence['modernClientAlignment']=modernPings
+evidence['addresses']=['127.0.0.1:25611','127.0.0.1:25612'];evidence['localCounts']=[3,5];evidence['networkCount']=8;evidence['runtime']='Velocity 4.2.0';evidence['sharedConfig']=str(shared);evidence['iconSha256']=hashlib.sha256(png).hexdigest();(work/'verification.json').write_text(json.dumps(evidence,indent=2));print('PASS: real TCP pings on both proxies; shared 8 → displayed 10/20; regions, icon, hover, maintenance restoration, failed refresh and invalid icon cache retained.')
diff --git a/velocity/build.gradle.kts b/velocity/build.gradle.kts
index 286a61f..77d0ae1 100644
--- a/velocity/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/velocity/build.gradle.kts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ dependencies {
     // with the Netty the proxy runs on.
 
     testImplementation("org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api:6.1.3")
+    testImplementation("com.velocitypowered:velocity-api:3.5.0-SNAPSHOT")
     // Adventure reaches the plugin through Velocity at runtime, which is compileOnly here and so
     // absent from the test classpath. The tests render real Components, so they need it themselves.
     testImplementation("net.kyori:adventure-api:5.2.0")
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/GroundsProxyPlugin.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/GroundsProxyPlugin.kt
index caee0f3..9ce9ec0 100644
--- a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/GroundsProxyPlugin.kt
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/GroundsProxyPlugin.kt
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import com.velocitypowered.api.plugin.Plugin
 import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.Player
 import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.ProxyServer
 import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.messages.MinecraftChannelIdentifier
-import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.server.ServerPing
 import com.velocitypowered.api.scheduler.ScheduledTask
 import gg.grounds.BuildInfo
 import gg.grounds.i18n.Translations
@@ -524,30 +523,18 @@ constructor(private val proxy: ProxyServer, private val logger: Logger) {
      * the player-facing network, where that plugin is not installed, and where a project name would
      * be the wrong thing to show anyway.
      */
-    @Subscribe
-    fun onProxyPing(event: ProxyPingEvent) {
-        val count = networkPlayerCount
-        val motd = motdManager
-        val now = Instant.now()
-        val maintenanceMotd = maintenanceStore?.let { maintenance.motd(now) }
-        val maintenanceProtocol = maintenanceStore?.let { maintenance.protocolName(now) }
-        if (count == null && motd == null && maintenanceProtocol == null) return
-
-        val builder = event.ping.asBuilder()
-        count?.let { builder.onlinePlayers(it) }
-        motd?.let { manager ->
-            manager.maxPlayers()?.let { builder.maximumPlayers(it) }
-            // The numbers this very ping is about to report, so a MOTD that mentions them cannot
-            // disagree with the pair printed next to it.
-            manager.render(builder.onlinePlayers, builder.maximumPlayers)?.let {
-                builder.description(it)
-            }
-        }
-        maintenanceMotd?.let { builder.description(MiniMessage.miniMessage().deserialize(it)) }
-        maintenanceProtocol?.let { builder.version(ServerPing.Version(-1, it)) }
-        event.ping = builder.build()
+    private val serverListPingListener by lazy {
+        gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd.ServerListPingListener(
+            manager = { motdManager },
+            networkPlayers = { networkPlayerCount },
+            maintenance = { if (maintenanceStore != null) maintenance else null },
+            region = { RegionCatalog.currentCode() },
+            continent = { env("CONTINENT") },
+        )
     }
 
+    @Subscribe fun onProxyPing(event: ProxyPingEvent) = serverListPingListener.onProxyPing(event)
+
     @Subscribe(order = PostOrder.LAST)
     fun onLogin(event: LoginEvent) {
         if (!event.result.isAllowed) return
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/command/MotdCommand.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/command/MotdCommand.kt
index 30363d4..c86a168 100644
--- a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/command/MotdCommand.kt
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/command/MotdCommand.kt
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ class MotdCommand(
                             return
                         }
             }
-        store(source, document.copy(maxPlayers = value)) {
+        store(source, document.withMaximum(value)) {
             messages.send(
                 source,
                 if (value == null) ProxySystemMessage.MOTD_MAX_PLAYERS_CLEARED
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceConfigStore.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceConfigStore.kt
index 232ae28..4dcdbf2 100644
--- a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceConfigStore.kt
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceConfigStore.kt
@@ -204,6 +204,11 @@ internal constructor(
                 uuids.toSet(),
                 seconds,
                 announcement,
+                root
+                    .getAsJsonObject("serverList")
+                    ?.let(gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd.ServerListTemplate::parse),
+                root.get("serverListFallbackText")?.asString,
+                root.getAsJsonArray("serverListOverrides")?.map { it.asString }?.toSet(),
             )
         }
 
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceEngine.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceEngine.kt
index ede605c..dfb7065 100644
--- a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceEngine.kt
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/maintenance/MaintenanceEngine.kt
@@ -90,6 +90,24 @@ class MaintenanceEngine(private val clock: Clock = Clock.systemUTC()) {
         return crossed.minOrNull()?.let(::listOf) ?: emptyList()
     }
 
+    @Synchronized
+    fun serverListValues(now: Instant = clock.instant()): Map<String, String> =
+        mapOf(
+            "reason" to document?.reason.orEmpty(),
+            "end" to
+                (document?.endsAt ?: document?.estimatedEndAt)?.toString().orEmpty().ifEmpty {
+                    "to be announced"
+                },
+            "remaining" to
+                formatRemaining(
+                    (document?.startsAt?.epochSecond ?: now.epochSecond) - now.epochSecond
+                ),
+        )
+
+    @Synchronized
+    fun serverListDocument(now: Instant = clock.instant()): MaintenanceDocument? =
+        document?.takeIf { activeAt(now) }
+
     @Synchronized
     fun protocolName(now: Instant = clock.instant()): String? =
         if (activeAt(now)) "§cWartungsarbeiten" else null
@@ -158,4 +176,7 @@ data class MaintenanceDocument(
     val whitelist: Set<UUID>,
     val announcementSeconds: List<Long>,
     val announcementMessage: String,
+    val serverList: gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd.ServerListTemplate? = null,
+    val serverListFallbackText: String? = null,
+    val serverListOverrides: Set<String>? = null,
 )
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/CompiledMotd.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/CompiledMotd.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a34d18c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/CompiledMotd.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+package gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd
+
+import com.google.gson.JsonObject
+import com.google.gson.JsonParser
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.TextComponent
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.format.Style
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.format.TextDecoration
+
+/** Splits resolved components without carrying implicit style across independent client values. */
+internal fun componentLines(component: Component): List<Component> {
+    val lines = mutableListOf<Component>()
+    var line: Component = Component.empty()
+    fun walk(node: Component, inherited: Style) {
+        val style = node.style().merge(inherited, Style.Merge.Strategy.IF_ABSENT_ON_TARGET)
+        if (node is TextComponent) {
+            node.content().codePoints().forEach { point ->
+                if (point == 10) {
+                    lines.add(line)
+                    line = Component.empty()
+                } else
+                    line =
+                        line.append(Component.text(String(Character.toChars(point))).style(style))
+            }
+        } else line = line.append(node.children(emptyList()).style(style))
+        node.children().forEach { walk(it, style) }
+    }
+    walk(component, Style.empty())
+    lines.add(line)
+    return lines
+}
+
+/** Resolve native effects/placeholders before applying the shared profile's pixel spacing. */
+class CompiledMotd(document: JsonObject, private val alignments: List<String>) {
+    private val text = CompiledServerText(document)
+
+    fun render(values: Map<String, String>, lineWidth: Int = 271): Component {
+        val rendered = text.render(values)
+        if (alignments.all { it == "left" }) return rendered
+        var result: Component = Component.empty()
+        for ((index, line) in componentLines(rendered).withIndex()) {
+            var width = 0
+            fun measure(node: Component, inherited: Style) {
+                val style = node.style().merge(inherited, Style.Merge.Strategy.IF_ABSENT_ON_TARGET)
+                if (node is TextComponent)
+                    node.content().codePoints().forEach { point ->
+                        val char = String(Character.toChars(point))
+                        width +=
+                            (advances[char] ?: 6) +
+                                (if (
+                                    char != " " &&
+                                        style.decoration(TextDecoration.BOLD) ==
+                                            TextDecoration.State.TRUE
+                                )
+                                    1
+                                else 0)
+                    }
+                node.children().forEach { measure(it, style) }
+            }
+            measure(line, Style.empty())
+            val remaining = (lineWidth - width).coerceAtLeast(0)
+            val alignment = alignments.getOrNull(index) ?: "left"
+            val spaces =
+                when (alignment) {
+                    "center" -> kotlin.math.floor(remaining / 8.0 + .5).toInt()
+                    "right" -> kotlin.math.floor(remaining / 4.0 + .5).toInt()
+                    else -> 0
+                }
+            if (index > 0) result = result.append(Component.newline())
+            result = result.append(Component.text(" ".repeat(spaces))).append(line)
+        }
+        return result
+    }
+
+    companion object {
+        private val advances: Map<String, Int> =
+            CompiledMotd::class
+                .java
+                .getResourceAsStream("/motd/java-1.21.1-advances.json")!!
+                .reader()
+                .use { reader ->
+                    JsonParser.parseReader(reader).asJsonObject.entrySet().associate { (key, value)
+                        ->
+                        key to value.asInt
+                    }
+                }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdDocument.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdDocument.kt
index 41c8d1d..eba4e8c 100644
--- a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdDocument.kt
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdDocument.kt
@@ -25,8 +25,34 @@ data class MotdDocument(
     val source: String? = null,
     val updatedBy: String? = null,
     val updatedAt: String? = null,
+    val serverList: ServerListTemplate? = null,
+    val editor: JsonObject? = null,
+    val serverListFallbackText: String? = null,
 ) {
 
+    val compiledFallback = CompiledServerText.fromMiniMessage(text)
+
+    fun withMaximum(value: Int?): MotdDocument {
+        val template =
+            serverList
+                ?: return copy(maxPlayers = value, editor = null, serverListFallbackText = null)
+        val json = template.json.deepCopy()
+        val rule = JsonObject()
+        rule.addProperty("mode", if (value == null) "inherit" else "fixed")
+        value?.let { rule.addProperty("value", it) }
+        json.getAsJsonObject("players").add("maximum", rule)
+        val metadata = editor?.deepCopy()
+        metadata
+            ?.getAsJsonObject("document")
+            ?.getAsJsonObject("players")
+            ?.add("maximum", rule.deepCopy())
+        return copy(
+            maxPlayers = value,
+            serverList = ServerListTemplate.parse(json),
+            editor = metadata,
+        )
+    }
+
     fun toJson(): String {
         val json = JsonObject()
         json.addProperty("text", text)
@@ -34,6 +60,9 @@ data class MotdDocument(
         source?.let { json.addProperty("source", it) }
         updatedBy?.let { json.addProperty("updatedBy", it) }
         updatedAt?.let { json.addProperty("updatedAt", it) }
+        serverList?.let { json.add("serverList", it.json.deepCopy()) }
+        editor?.let { json.add("editor", it.deepCopy()) }
+        serverListFallbackText?.let { json.addProperty("serverListFallbackText", it) }
         return json.toString()
     }
 
@@ -62,6 +91,9 @@ data class MotdDocument(
                     ?: throw MotdFormatException("stored MOTD has no 'text'")
             return MotdDocument(
                 text = text,
+                serverList = json.getAsJsonObject("serverList")?.let(ServerListTemplate::parse),
+                editor = json.getAsJsonObject("editor")?.deepCopy(),
+                serverListFallbackText = json.get("serverListFallbackText")?.asString,
                 maxPlayers = json.get("maxPlayers")?.takeIf { it.isJsonPrimitive }?.asInt,
                 source = json.get("source")?.takeIf { it.isJsonPrimitive }?.asString,
                 updatedBy = json.get("updatedBy")?.takeIf { it.isJsonPrimitive }?.asString,
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdManager.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdManager.kt
index 334cc67..fd41ab0 100644
--- a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdManager.kt
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/MotdManager.kt
@@ -69,7 +69,15 @@ class MotdManager(
      *   command instead of leaving them believing it took.
      */
     fun set(document: MotdDocument, actor: String) {
-        val stamped = document.copy(updatedBy = actor, updatedAt = Instant.now().toString())
+        val changedText =
+            document.editor?.get("fallbackText")?.asString?.let { it != document.text } == true
+        val stamped =
+            document.copy(
+                updatedBy = actor,
+                updatedAt = Instant.now().toString(),
+                editor = if (changedText) null else document.editor,
+                serverListFallbackText = if (changedText) null else document.serverListFallbackText,
+            )
         store.write(stamped, actor)
         adopt(stamped)
         loaded = true
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListEvaluator.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListEvaluator.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c20aafa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListEvaluator.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd
+
+import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.server.ServerPing
+import java.util.UUID
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.minimessage.MiniMessage
+
+/** Only cached data is consumed here; no configuration or presence requests on the ping path. */
+object ServerListEvaluator {
+    fun evaluate(
+        base: ServerPing,
+        template: ServerListTemplate?,
+        networkPlayers: Int?,
+        clientProtocol: Int,
+        fallbackText: String?,
+        region: String?,
+        continent: String?,
+        compiledFallback: CompiledServerText? = null,
+        compiledMotd: CompiledMotd? = null,
+        runtimeValues: Map<String, String> = emptyMap(),
+    ): ServerPing {
+        val builder = base.asBuilder()
+        networkPlayers?.let { builder.onlinePlayers(it) }
+        template?.let {
+            val online = it.online.apply(builder.onlinePlayers)
+            val maximum = it.maximum.apply(builder.maximumPlayers, online)
+            builder.onlinePlayers(online).maximumPlayers(maximum)
+        }
+        val players = builder.onlinePlayers
+        val max = builder.maximumPlayers
+        val values =
+            runtimeValues +
+                mapOf(
+                    "players" to players.toString(),
+                    "max" to max.toString(),
+                    "region" to region.orEmpty(),
+                    "continent" to continent.orEmpty(),
+                    "localzone" to continent.orEmpty(),
+                )
+        if (compiledMotd != null)
+            builder.description(
+                compiledMotd.render(values, if (clientProtocol in 774..777) 267 else 271)
+            )
+        else if (compiledFallback != null) builder.description(compiledFallback.render(values))
+        else
+            fallbackText?.let {
+                builder.description(
+                    MiniMessage.miniMessage()
+                        .deserialize(
+                            MotdPlaceholders.render(
+                                it,
+                                MotdPlaceholders.Context(region, continent, players, max),
+                            )
+                        )
+                )
+            }
+        template?.let {
+            val incompatible = base.version.protocol != clientProtocol
+            if (it.versionMode == "always" || it.versionMode == "when-incompatible" && incompatible)
+                builder.version(
+                    ServerPing.Version(
+                        if (clientProtocol == -1) -2 else -1,
+                        it.versionText!!.legacy(values),
+                    )
+                )
+            it.icon?.let(builder::favicon)
+            when (it.hoverMode) {
+                "disabled" -> builder.clearSamplePlayers()
+                "custom" ->
+                    builder
+                        .clearSamplePlayers()
+                        .samplePlayers(
+                            it.hoverText!!.legacyLines(values).map { name ->
+                                ServerPing.SamplePlayer(name, UUID(0, 0))
+                            }
+                        )
+            }
+            if (it.hidden) builder.nullPlayers()
+        }
+        return builder.build()
+    }
+}
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListPingListener.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListPingListener.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f32cda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListPingListener.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+package gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd
+
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.Subscribe
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyPingEvent
+import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.server.ServerPing
+import gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.maintenance.MaintenanceEngine
+import java.time.Instant
+
+/**
+ * Production handler; test instances inject independent cached stores and shared network presence.
+ */
+class ServerListPingListener(
+    private val manager: () -> MotdManager?,
+    private val networkPlayers: () -> Int?,
+    private val maintenance: () -> MaintenanceEngine?,
+    private val region: () -> String?,
+    private val continent: () -> String?,
+    private val now: () -> Instant = Instant::now,
+) {
+    @Subscribe
+    fun onProxyPing(event: ProxyPingEvent) {
+        val sampledNow = now()
+        val normal = manager()?.current()
+        val engine = maintenance()
+        val active = engine?.serverListDocument(sampledNow)
+        val base = event.ping.asBuilder()
+        normal?.maxPlayers?.let(base::maximumPlayers)
+        var template = normal?.serverList
+        val override = active?.serverList
+        var fallback = normal?.text
+        var compiled = normal?.compiledFallback
+        var compiledMotd =
+            normal?.serverList?.motd?.takeIf { normal.serverListFallbackText == normal.text }
+        if (active != null) {
+            if (active.motd.isNotBlank()) {
+                fallback = engine.motd(sampledNow)
+                compiled = null
+                compiledMotd =
+                    override?.motd?.takeIf { active.serverListFallbackText == active.motd }
+            }
+            if (override != null) {
+                val fields =
+                    active.serverListOverrides ?: setOf("version", "icon", "players", "hover")
+                val inherited =
+                    template
+                        ?: override.copy(
+                            versionMode = "automatic",
+                            versionText = null,
+                            icon = null,
+                            hidden = false,
+                            online = ServerCountRule("inherit"),
+                            maximum = ServerCountRule("inherit"),
+                            hoverMode = "inherit",
+                            hoverText = null,
+                        )
+                template =
+                    inherited.copy(
+                        versionMode =
+                            if ("version" in fields) override.versionMode
+                            else inherited.versionMode,
+                        versionText =
+                            if ("version" in fields) override.versionText
+                            else inherited.versionText,
+                        icon = if ("icon" in fields) override.icon else inherited.icon,
+                        hidden = if ("players" in fields) override.hidden else inherited.hidden,
+                        online =
+                            if ("players" in fields && override.online.mode != "inherit")
+                                override.online
+                            else inherited.online,
+                        maximum =
+                            if ("players" in fields && override.maximum.mode != "inherit")
+                                override.maximum
+                            else inherited.maximum,
+                        hoverMode =
+                            if ("hover" in fields) override.hoverMode else inherited.hoverMode,
+                        hoverText =
+                            if ("hover" in fields) override.hoverText else inherited.hoverText,
+                    )
+            }
+        }
+        event.ping =
+            ServerListEvaluator.evaluate(
+                base.build(),
+                template,
+                networkPlayers(),
+                event.connection.protocolVersion.protocol,
+                fallback,
+                region(),
+                continent(),
+                compiled,
+                compiledMotd,
+                if (active != null) engine.serverListValues(sampledNow) else emptyMap(),
+            )
+        // Preserve the legacy maintenance marker only for documents without a status template.
+        if (active != null && override == null) {
+            engine.protocolName(sampledNow)?.let {
+                event.ping = event.ping.asBuilder().version(ServerPing.Version(-1, it)).build()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListTemplate.kt b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListTemplate.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca8cb28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/main/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListTemplate.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,303 @@
+package gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd
+
+import com.google.gson.JsonObject
+import com.velocitypowered.api.util.Favicon
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream
+import java.util.Base64
+import javax.imageio.ImageIO
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.minimessage.MiniMessage
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.serializer.legacy.LegacyComponentSerializer
+
+/** Validated immutable runtime snapshot. Images and static text are decoded at refresh time. */
+data class ServerListTemplate(
+    val json: JsonObject,
+    val versionMode: String,
+    val versionText: CompiledServerText?,
+    val icon: Favicon?,
+    val hidden: Boolean,
+    val online: ServerCountRule,
+    val maximum: ServerCountRule,
+    val hoverMode: String,
+    val hoverText: CompiledServerText?,
+    val motd: CompiledMotd,
+) {
+    companion object {
+        fun parse(json: JsonObject): ServerListTemplate {
+            require(json.toString().length <= 262144) { "Server-list template is too large" }
+            require(json.get("schemaVersion").asInt == 1) { "Unsupported server-list schema" }
+            val version = json.getAsJsonObject("version")
+            val versionMode = version.get("mode").asString
+            require(versionMode in setOf("automatic", "when-incompatible", "always"))
+            val players = json.getAsJsonObject("players")
+            val hover = json.getAsJsonObject("hover")
+            val hoverMode = hover.get("mode").asString
+            require(hoverMode in setOf("inherit", "disabled", "custom"))
+            val icon =
+                json
+                    .get("icon")
+                    ?.takeUnless { it.isJsonNull }
+                    ?.asJsonObject
+                    ?.let {
+                        val encoded = it.get("pngBase64").asString
+                        require(encoded.length <= 131072)
+                        val bytes = Base64.getDecoder().decode(encoded)
+                        require(
+                            bytes.size >= 24 &&
+                                bytes.take(8) ==
+                                    listOf(137, 80, 78, 71, 13, 10, 26, 10).map(Int::toByte)
+                        )
+                        // Bound dimensions before ImageIO allocates image memory.
+                        val header = java.nio.ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes)
+                        require(header.getInt(16) == 64 && header.getInt(20) == 64)
+                        val image =
+                            ImageIO.read(ByteArrayInputStream(bytes)) ?: error("Invalid PNG")
+                        require(image.width == 64 && image.height == 64)
+                        Favicon.create(image)
+                    }
+            return ServerListTemplate(
+                json.deepCopy(),
+                versionMode,
+                if (versionMode == "automatic") null
+                else CompiledServerText(version.getAsJsonObject("text")),
+                icon,
+                players.get("hidden").asBoolean,
+                ServerCountRule.parse(players.getAsJsonObject("online"), false),
+                ServerCountRule.parse(players.getAsJsonObject("maximum"), true),
+                hoverMode,
+                if (hoverMode == "custom") CompiledServerText(hover.getAsJsonObject("text"))
+                else null,
+                CompiledMotd(
+                    json.getAsJsonObject("motd").getAsJsonObject("text"),
+                    json.getAsJsonObject("motd").getAsJsonArray("alignments").map { it.asString },
+                ),
+            )
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+data class ServerCountRule(val mode: String, val value: Double = 0.0) {
+    fun apply(base: Int, online: Int = base): Int {
+        val result =
+            when (mode) {
+                "fixed" -> value
+                "offset" -> base + value
+                "percent" -> kotlin.math.ceil(base * value / 100)
+                "headroom" -> online + value
+                else -> base.toDouble()
+            }
+        return result.coerceIn(0.0, Int.MAX_VALUE.toDouble()).toInt()
+    }
+
+    companion object {
+        fun parse(json: JsonObject, maximum: Boolean): ServerCountRule {
+            val mode = json.get("mode").asString
+            require(
+                mode in setOf("inherit", "fixed", "offset", "percent") ||
+                    maximum && mode == "headroom"
+            )
+            val value = if (mode == "inherit") 0.0 else json.get("value").asDouble
+            require(value.isFinite() && (mode == "offset" || value >= 0))
+            require(mode == "percent" || value % 1 == 0.0)
+            return ServerCountRule(mode, value)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/** Native Adventure handles protected MiniMessage subtrees. Templates never contain callbacks. */
+class CompiledServerText private constructor(private val source: String) {
+    constructor(document: JsonObject) : this(compile(document))
+
+    private val static = if (PLACEHOLDER.containsMatchIn(source)) null else MM.deserialize(source)
+
+    fun render(values: Map<String, String>): Component =
+        static
+            ?: MM.deserialize(
+                PLACEHOLDER.replace(source) { match ->
+                    values[match.groupValues[1].ifEmpty { match.groupValues[2] }]?.let(
+                        MM::escapeTags
+                    ) ?: match.value
+                }
+            )
+
+    fun legacy(values: Map<String, String>): String =
+        LegacyComponentSerializer.legacySection().serialize(render(values))
+
+    fun legacyLines(values: Map<String, String>): List<String> =
+        componentLines(render(values)).map {
+            LegacyComponentSerializer.legacySection().serialize(it)
+        }
+
+    companion object {
+        private val PLACEHOLDER = Regex("\\{\\{([A-Za-z0-9_]+)}}|\\{(reason|end|remaining)}")
+
+        fun fromMiniMessage(source: String) = CompiledServerText(source)
+
+        private val MM = MiniMessage.miniMessage()
+
+        private fun compile(document: JsonObject): String {
+            var budget = 0
+            fun node(n: JsonObject, depth: Int): String {
+                require(++budget <= 100000 && depth <= 128)
+                return when (n.get("type").asString) {
+                    "text" -> escape(n.get("value").asString)
+                    "newline" -> "<newline>"
+                    "placeholder" -> "{{${n.get("name").asString}}}"
+                    "opaque" ->
+                        when (n.get("format").asString) {
+                            "minimessage" -> n.get("raw").asString
+                            "legacy-section" ->
+                                MM.serialize(
+                                    LegacyComponentSerializer.legacySection()
+                                        .deserialize(n.get("raw").asString)
+                                )
+                            "legacy-ampersand" ->
+                                MM.serialize(
+                                    LegacyComponentSerializer.legacyAmpersand()
+                                        .deserialize(n.get("raw").asString)
+                                )
+                            else -> escape(n.get("fallback")?.asString ?: n.get("raw").asString)
+                        }
+                    "group" -> {
+                        val style = n.getAsJsonObject("style")
+                        var text =
+                            n.getAsJsonArray("children").joinToString("") {
+                                node(it.asJsonObject, depth + 1)
+                            }
+                        style.get("color")?.asString?.let { text = "<$it>$text</$it>" }
+                        style.getAsJsonArray("gradient")?.let { stops ->
+                            require(stops.size() >= 2)
+                            val colors =
+                                stops.joinToString(":") { it.asJsonObject.get("color").asString }
+                            val phase = style.get("gradientPhase")?.asDouble ?: 0.0
+                            // Native MiniMessage is authoritative for uniform gradients.
+                            val uneven =
+                                stops.withIndex().any { (i, s) ->
+                                    kotlin.math.abs(
+                                        s.asJsonObject.get("position").asDouble -
+                                            i.toDouble() / (stops.size() - 1)
+                                    ) > 1e-6
+                                }
+                            if (uneven && phase == 0.0) {
+                                val rendered = MM.deserialize(text)
+                                val flat =
+                                    mutableListOf<
+                                        Pair<String, net.kyori.adventure.text.format.Style>
+                                    >()
+                                fun flatten(
+                                    c: Component,
+                                    inherited: net.kyori.adventure.text.format.Style,
+                                ) {
+                                    val effective =
+                                        c.style()
+                                            .merge(
+                                                inherited,
+                                                net.kyori.adventure.text.format.Style.Merge.Strategy
+                                                    .IF_ABSENT_ON_TARGET,
+                                            )
+                                    if (c is net.kyori.adventure.text.TextComponent)
+                                        c.content().codePoints().forEach {
+                                            flat.add(String(Character.toChars(it)) to effective)
+                                        }
+                                    c.children().forEach { flatten(it, effective) }
+                                }
+                                flatten(rendered, net.kyori.adventure.text.format.Style.empty())
+                                val visible = flat.count { it.first != "\n" }
+                                var index = 0
+                                text =
+                                    MM.serialize(
+                                        flat.fold(Component.empty() as Component) {
+                                            acc,
+                                            (char, oldStyle) ->
+                                            if (char == "\n")
+                                                acc.append(Component.text(char).style(oldStyle))
+                                            else {
+                                                val t =
+                                                    if (visible <= 1) 0.0
+                                                    else index++.toDouble() / (visible - 1)
+                                                val right =
+                                                    (1 until stops.size()).firstOrNull {
+                                                        t <=
+                                                            stops[it]
+                                                                .asJsonObject
+                                                                .get("position")
+                                                                .asDouble
+                                                    } ?: stops.size() - 1
+                                                val a = stops[right - 1].asJsonObject
+                                                val b = stops[right].asJsonObject
+                                                val start = a.get("position").asDouble
+                                                val end = b.get("position").asDouble
+                                                val fraction =
+                                                    ((t - start) / (end - start)).coerceIn(0.0, 1.0)
+                                                val from =
+                                                    Integer.parseInt(
+                                                        a.get("color").asString.drop(1),
+                                                        16,
+                                                    )
+                                                val to =
+                                                    Integer.parseInt(
+                                                        b.get("color").asString.drop(1),
+                                                        16,
+                                                    )
+                                                fun channel(shift: Int) =
+                                                    kotlin.math
+                                                        .floor(
+                                                            ((from shr shift) and 255) +
+                                                                ((((to shr shift) and 255) -
+                                                                    ((from shr shift) and 255)) *
+                                                                    fraction) +
+                                                                0.5000000001
+                                                        )
+                                                        .toInt()
+                                                val color =
+                                                    net.kyori.adventure.text.format.TextColor.color(
+                                                        channel(16),
+                                                        channel(8),
+                                                        channel(0),
+                                                    )
+                                                acc.append(
+                                                    Component.text(char)
+                                                        .style(
+                                                            if (
+                                                                oldStyle.color() == null ||
+                                                                    oldStyle
+                                                                        .color()
+                                                                        ?.asHexString() ==
+                                                                        style.get("color")?.asString
+                                                            )
+                                                                oldStyle.color(color)
+                                                            else oldStyle
+                                                        )
+                                                )
+                                            }
+                                        }
+                                    )
+                            } else text = "<gradient:$colors:$phase>$text</gradient>"
+                        }
+                        style.getAsJsonObject("rainbow")?.let { r ->
+                            text =
+                                "<rainbow:${if(r.get("reversed").asBoolean)"!" else ""}${r.get("phase").asDouble}>$text</rainbow>"
+                        }
+                        mapOf(
+                                "bold" to "b",
+                                "italic" to "i",
+                                "underlined" to "u",
+                                "strikethrough" to "st",
+                                "obfuscated" to "obf",
+                            )
+                            .forEach { (key, tag) ->
+                                style.get(key)?.asBoolean?.let {
+                                    text = "<${if(it)"" else "!"}$tag>$text</$tag>"
+                                }
+                            }
+                        text
+                    }
+                    else -> error("Invalid text node")
+                }
+            }
+            return document.getAsJsonArray("nodes").joinToString("") { node(it.asJsonObject, 0) }
+        }
+
+        private fun escape(text: String) = text.replace("\\", "\\\\").replace("<", "\\<")
+    }
+}
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/resources/motd/README.txt b/velocity/src/main/resources/motd/README.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8243c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/main/resources/motd/README.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Java 1.21.1 glyph advances are shared with @groundsgg/motd.
+Source: independently recreated IdreesInc/Minecraft-Font, SIL OFL 1.1;
+Grounds adjusts odd horizontal advances to the client pixel grid.
+Only integer glyph-width measurements are included here, no game/font images.
+See library-motd/assets/java-1.21.1/provenance.json for source and hashes.
diff --git a/velocity/src/main/resources/motd/java-1.21.1-advances.json b/velocity/src/main/resources/motd/java-1.21.1-advances.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a4a4e00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/main/resources/motd/java-1.21.1-advances.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"0":6,"1":6,"2":6,"3":6,"4":6,"5":6,"6":6,"7":6,"8":6,"9":6," ":4,"!":2,"\"":4,"#":6,"$":6,"%":6,"&":6,"'":2,"(":4,")":4,"*":4,"+":6,",":2,"-":6,".":2,"/":6,":":2,";":2,"<":5,"=":6,">":5,"?":6,"@":7,"A":6,"B":6,"C":6,"D":6,"E":6,"F":6,"G":6,"H":6,"I":4,"J":6,"K":6,"L":6,"M":6,"N":6,"O":6,"P":6,"Q":6,"R":6,"S":6,"T":6,"U":6,"V":6,"W":6,"X":6,"Y":6,"Z":6,"[":4,"\\":6,"]":4,"^":6,"_":6,"`":3,"a":6,"b":6,"c":6,"d":6,"e":6,"f":5,"g":6,"h":6,"i":2,"j":6,"k":5,"l":3,"m":6,"n":6,"o":6,"p":6,"q":6,"r":6,"s":6,"t":4,"u":6,"v":6,"w":6,"x":6,"y":6,"z":6,"{":4,"|":2,"}":4,"~":7," ":1,"¡":2,"¢":6,"£":6,"¤":8,"¥":6,"¦":2,"§":6,"¨":4,"©":8,"ª":5,"«":7,"¬":6,"®":8,"¯":6,"°":5,"±":6,"²":5,"³":5,"´":3,"µ":6,"¶":7,"·":2,"¸":4,"¹":4,"º":5,"»":7,"¼":8,"½":8,"¾":8,"¿":6,"À":6,"Á":6,"Â":6,"Ã":6,"Ä":6,"Å":6,"Æ":10,"Ç":6,"È":6,"É":6,"Ê":6,"Ë":6,"Ì":4,"Í":4,"Î":4,"Ï":4,"Ð":7,"Ñ":6,"Ò":6,"Ó":6,"Ô":6,"Õ":6,"Ö":6,"×":6,"Ø":6,"Ù":6,"Ú":6,"Û":6,"Ü":6,"Ý":6,"Þ":6,"ß":6,"à":6,"á":6,"â":6,"ã":6,"ä":6,"å":6,"æ":10,"ç":6,"è":6,"é":6,"ê":6,"ë":6,"ì":3,"í":3,"î":4,"ï":4,"ð":6,"ñ":6,"ò":6,"ó":6,"ô":6,"õ":6,"ö":6,"÷":6,"ø":6,"ù":6,"ú":6,"û":6,"ü":6,"ý":6,"€":7,"☺":6,"☻":8,"♥":6,"　":16,"￿":5}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListEvaluatorTest.kt b/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListEvaluatorTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f7b6d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListEvaluatorTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+package gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd
+
+import com.google.gson.JsonParser
+import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.server.ServerPing
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.serializer.plain.PlainTextComponentSerializer
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
+
+class ServerListEvaluatorTest {
+    private fun canonicalLegacy(source: String) =
+        net.kyori.adventure.text.serializer.legacy.LegacyComponentSerializer.legacySection().let {
+            it.serialize(it.deserialize(source))
+        }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `evaluates displayed count before resolving placeholders`() {
+        val template =
+            ServerListTemplate.parse(
+                JsonParser.parseString(
+                        """{"schemaVersion":1,"motd":{"text":{"nodes":[]},"alignments":[]},"version":{"mode":"automatic"},"icon":null,"players":{"hidden":false,"online":{"mode":"offset","value":2},"maximum":{"mode":"headroom","value":10}},"hover":{"mode":"inherit"}}"""
+                    )
+                    .asJsonObject
+            )
+        val base =
+            ServerPing.builder()
+                .version(ServerPing.Version(767, "1.21.1"))
+                .onlinePlayers(3)
+                .maximumPlayers(100)
+                .description(Component.empty())
+                .build()
+        val result =
+            ServerListEvaluator.evaluate(
+                base,
+                template,
+                8,
+                767,
+                "{{players}} / {{max}}",
+                "eu",
+                "Europe",
+            )
+        assertEquals(10, result.players.get().online)
+        assertEquals(20, result.players.get().max)
+        assertEquals(
+            "10 / 20",
+            PlainTextComponentSerializer.plainText().serialize(result.descriptionComponent!!),
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `aligns MOTD to the actual modern client content width`() {
+        val template =
+            ServerListTemplate.parse(
+                JsonParser.parseString(
+                        """{"schemaVersion":1,"motd":{"text":{"nodes":[{"type":"text","value":"A"}]},"alignments":["right"]},"version":{"mode":"automatic"},"icon":null,"players":{"hidden":false,"online":{"mode":"inherit"},"maximum":{"mode":"inherit"}},"hover":{"mode":"inherit"}}"""
+                    )
+                    .asJsonObject
+            )
+        val base =
+            ServerPing.builder()
+                .version(ServerPing.Version(777, "26.3"))
+                .description(Component.empty())
+                .onlinePlayers(8)
+                .maximumPlayers(100)
+                .build()
+        for ((protocol, spaces) in listOf(767 to 66, 774 to 65, 775 to 65, 776 to 65, 777 to 65)) {
+            val result =
+                ServerListEvaluator.evaluate(
+                    base,
+                    template,
+                    8,
+                    protocol,
+                    "A",
+                    "eu",
+                    "Europe",
+                    compiledMotd = template.motd,
+                )
+            assertEquals(
+                " ".repeat(spaces) + "A",
+                PlainTextComponentSerializer.plainText().serialize(result.descriptionComponent!!),
+                "protocol $protocol",
+            )
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `agrees with independently generated JavaScript status fixtures`() {
+        val fixtures =
+            JsonParser.parseReader(
+                    javaClass.getResourceAsStream("/server-list/contract.json")!!.reader()
+                )
+                .asJsonArray
+        for (entry in fixtures) {
+            val f = entry.asJsonObject
+            val ctx = f.getAsJsonObject("context")
+            val expected = f.getAsJsonObject("expected")
+            val template = ServerListTemplate.parse(f.getAsJsonObject("template"))
+            val base =
+                ServerPing.builder()
+                    .version(ServerPing.Version(767, "1.21.1"))
+                    .onlinePlayers(3)
+                    .maximumPlayers(100)
+                    .samplePlayers(
+                        ServerPing.SamplePlayer(
+                            "Ada",
+                            java.util.UUID.fromString("00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001"),
+                        )
+                    )
+                    .description(Component.empty())
+                    .build()
+            val actual =
+                ServerListEvaluator.evaluate(
+                    base,
+                    template,
+                    8,
+                    ctx.get("clientProtocol").asInt,
+                    f.get("source").asString,
+                    "eu",
+                    "Europe",
+                    compiledMotd = template.motd,
+                )
+            assertEquals(
+                expected.getAsJsonObject("version").get("protocol").asInt,
+                actual.version.protocol,
+                f.get("name").asString,
+            )
+            assertEquals(
+                canonicalLegacy(expected.getAsJsonObject("version").get("name").asString),
+                canonicalLegacy(actual.version.name),
+            )
+            if (expected.has("players")) {
+                val p = expected.getAsJsonObject("players")
+                assertEquals(p.get("online").asInt, actual.players.get().online)
+                assertEquals(p.get("max").asInt, actual.players.get().max)
+                assertEquals(
+                    p.getAsJsonArray("sample").map {
+                        canonicalLegacy(it.asJsonObject.get("name").asString)
+                    },
+                    actual.players.get().sample.map { canonicalLegacy(it.name) },
+                )
+            } else assertTrue(actual.players.isEmpty)
+            assertEquals(
+                f.get("expectedPlain").asString,
+                PlainTextComponentSerializer.plainText().serialize(actual.descriptionComponent!!),
+            )
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `sample lines carry inherited colors independently`() {
+        val text =
+            CompiledServerText(
+                com.google.gson.JsonParser.parseString(
+                        """{"nodes":[{"type":"group","style":{"color":"#ff5555"},"children":[{"type":"text","value":"first"},{"type":"newline"},{"type":"text","value":"second"}]}]}"""
+                    )
+                    .asJsonObject
+            )
+        assertTrue(text.legacyLines(emptyMap())[1].contains("§c"))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `runtime alignment resolves placeholders before measuring text`() {
+        val json =
+            JsonParser.parseReader(
+                    javaClass.getResourceAsStream("/server-list/contract.json")!!.reader()
+                )
+                .asJsonArray[0]
+                .asJsonObject
+                .getAsJsonObject("template")
+                .deepCopy()
+        json
+            .getAsJsonObject("motd")
+            .add("alignments", JsonParser.parseString("""["center","left"]"""))
+        val template = ServerListTemplate.parse(json)
+        val rendered =
+            PlainTextComponentSerializer.plainText()
+                .serialize(
+                    template.motd.render(mapOf("region" to "eu", "players" to "8", "max" to "100"))
+                )
+        assertFalse(rendered.contains("{{"))
+        assertTrue(rendered.startsWith(" "))
+        assertEquals("eu: 8 / 100", rendered.trim())
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `legacy maximum commands update runtime and editor rules`() {
+        val root =
+            JsonParser.parseReader(
+                    javaClass.getResourceAsStream("/server-list/contract.json")!!.reader()
+                )
+                .asJsonArray[0]
+                .asJsonObject
+        val template = root.getAsJsonObject("template").deepCopy()
+        template
+            .getAsJsonObject("players")
+            .add("maximum", JsonParser.parseString("""{"mode":"fixed","value":500}"""))
+        val original = MotdDocument("text", serverList = ServerListTemplate.parse(template))
+        val changed = original.withMaximum(200)
+        assertEquals(200, changed.serverList!!.maximum.apply(100, 8))
+        assertEquals("inherit", changed.withMaximum(null).serverList!!.maximum.mode)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListLiveHarness.kt b/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListLiveHarness.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e648b2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListLiveHarness.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd
+
+import com.google.gson.JsonParser
+import com.google.inject.Inject
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.Subscribe
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyInitializeEvent
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyPingEvent
+import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.ProxyServer
+import gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.maintenance.MaintenanceConfigStore
+import gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.maintenance.MaintenanceEngine
+import java.nio.file.Files
+import java.nio.file.Path
+import java.time.Duration
+import org.slf4j.Logger
+
+/** Test-only entry point. The validation JAR replaces the production plugin descriptor. */
+class ServerListLiveHarness
+@Inject
+constructor(private val proxy: ProxyServer, private val logger: Logger) {
+    private val shared = Path.of(System.getProperty("motd.harness.document"))
+    private val region = System.getProperty("motd.harness.region")
+    private val local = System.getProperty("motd.harness.local").toInt()
+    @Volatile private var network = 0
+    private val maintenance = MaintenanceEngine()
+    private val store =
+        object : MotdStore {
+            override fun read(): MotdDocument? {
+                val root = JsonParser.parseString(Files.readString(shared)).asJsonObject
+                network = root.get("networkPlayers").asInt
+                val m = root.get("maintenance")
+                maintenance.adopt(
+                    if (m == null || m.isJsonNull) null
+                    else MaintenanceConfigStore.parse(m.toString())
+                )
+                return MotdDocument.fromJson(root.get("motd").toString())
+            }
+
+            override fun write(document: MotdDocument, updatedBy: String) =
+                error("read-only harness")
+
+            override fun clear(deletedBy: String): Boolean = error("read-only harness")
+        }
+    private val manager = MotdManager(store, region, region, logger)
+    private val listener =
+        ServerListPingListener({ manager }, { network }, { maintenance }, { region }, { region })
+
+    @Subscribe
+    fun initialize(event: ProxyInitializeEvent) {
+        manager.refresh()
+        proxy.scheduler
+            .buildTask(this, Runnable { manager.refresh() })
+            .repeat(Duration.ofMillis(200))
+            .schedule()
+    }
+
+    @Subscribe
+    fun ping(event: ProxyPingEvent) {
+        event.ping = event.ping.asBuilder().onlinePlayers(local).build()
+        listener.onProxyPing(event)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListNetworkTest.kt b/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListNetworkTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9608348
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/test/kotlin/gg/grounds/proxy/velocity/motd/ServerListNetworkTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+package gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.motd
+
+import com.google.gson.JsonParser
+import com.velocitypowered.api.event.proxy.ProxyPingEvent
+import com.velocitypowered.api.network.ProtocolVersion
+import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.InboundConnection
+import com.velocitypowered.api.proxy.server.ServerPing
+import gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.maintenance.MaintenanceDocument
+import gg.grounds.proxy.velocity.maintenance.MaintenanceEngine
+import java.lang.reflect.Proxy
+import java.time.Instant
+import java.util.UUID
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.Component
+import net.kyori.adventure.text.serializer.plain.PlainTextComponentSerializer
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory
+
+class ServerListNetworkTest {
+    private class Store : MotdStore {
+        var document: MotdDocument? = null
+        var failed = false
+
+        override fun read(): MotdDocument? {
+            if (failed) error("offline")
+            return document
+        }
+
+        override fun write(document: MotdDocument, updatedBy: String) {
+            this.document = document
+        }
+
+        override fun clear(deletedBy: String): Boolean {
+            val had = document != null
+            document = null
+            return had
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun connection() =
+        Proxy.newProxyInstance(javaClass.classLoader, arrayOf(InboundConnection::class.java)) {
+            _,
+            method,
+            _ ->
+            when (method.name) {
+                "getProtocolVersion" -> ProtocolVersion.MINECRAFT_1_21
+                "toString" -> "test connection"
+                else -> null
+            }
+        } as InboundConnection
+
+    private fun ping(listener: ServerListPingListener, local: Int): ServerPing {
+        val event =
+            ProxyPingEvent(
+                connection(),
+                ServerPing.builder()
+                    .version(ServerPing.Version(767, "1.21.1"))
+                    .onlinePlayers(local)
+                    .maximumPlayers(500)
+                    .description(Component.empty())
+                    .build(),
+            )
+        listener.onProxyPing(event)
+        return event.ping
+    }
+
+    private fun legacyMaintenance(start: Instant, end: Instant) =
+        MaintenanceDocument(
+            enabled = true,
+            id = UUID.randomUUID(),
+            startsAt = start,
+            endsAt = end,
+            estimatedEndAt = null,
+            reason = "Work",
+            joinMessage = "Closed",
+            motd = "",
+            kickExisting = false,
+            whitelist = emptySet(),
+            announcementSeconds = emptyList(),
+            announcementMessage = "Soon",
+        )
+
+    @Test
+    fun `one ping uses one instant when maintenance ends during evaluation`() {
+        val start = Instant.parse("2026-10-21T12:00:00Z")
+        val end = start.plusSeconds(60)
+        val engine = MaintenanceEngine()
+        engine.adopt(legacyMaintenance(start, end), start)
+        var reads = 0
+        val listener =
+            ServerListPingListener(
+                { null },
+                { null },
+                { engine },
+                { null },
+                { null },
+                { if (reads++ == 0) end.minusNanos(1) else end },
+            )
+
+        val result = ping(listener, 3)
+
+        assertEquals(-1, result.version.protocol)
+        assertEquals(1, reads)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `maintenance refresh during one ping cannot crash legacy status evaluation`() {
+        val now = Instant.parse("2026-10-21T12:00:00Z")
+        val engine = MaintenanceEngine()
+        engine.adopt(legacyMaintenance(now.minusSeconds(60), now.plusSeconds(60)), now)
+        val listener =
+            ServerListPingListener(
+                { null },
+                {
+                    engine.adopt(null, now)
+                    null
+                },
+                { engine },
+                { null },
+                { null },
+                { now },
+            )
+
+        val result = ping(listener, 3)
+
+        assertEquals(767, result.version.protocol)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `two independent proxy stores serve shared counts retain cache and restore normal after maintenance`() {
+        val a = Store()
+        val b = Store()
+        val fixture =
+            JsonParser.parseReader(
+                    javaClass.getResourceAsStream("/server-list/contract.json")!!.reader()
+                )
+                .asJsonArray[2]
+                .asJsonObject
+        val settings =
+            MotdDocument(
+                text = "{{region}} {{players}}/{{max}}",
+                serverList = ServerListTemplate.parse(fixture.getAsJsonObject("template")),
+            )
+        a.document = settings
+        b.document = MotdDocument.fromJson(settings.toJson())
+        val ma = MotdManager(a, "eu", "Europe", LoggerFactory.getLogger(javaClass))
+        val mb = MotdManager(b, "na", "North America", LoggerFactory.getLogger(javaClass))
+        ma.refresh()
+        mb.refresh()
+        val now = Instant.parse("2026-10-21T12:00:00Z")
+        val ea = MaintenanceEngine()
+        val eb = MaintenanceEngine()
+        val la = ServerListPingListener({ ma }, { 8 }, { ea }, { "eu" }, { "Europe" }, { now })
+        val lb =
+            ServerListPingListener({ mb }, { 8 }, { eb }, { "na" }, { "North America" }, { now })
+        fun text(p: ServerPing) =
+            PlainTextComponentSerializer.plainText().serialize(p.descriptionComponent!!)
+        assertEquals(8, ping(la, 3).players.get().online)
+        assertEquals(8, ping(lb, 5).players.get().online)
+        assertEquals("eu 8/500", text(ping(la, 3)))
+        assertEquals("na 8/500", text(ping(lb, 5)))
+        assertEquals(
+            ping(la, 3).players.get().sample.map { it.name },
+            ping(lb, 5).players.get().sample.map { it.name },
+        )
+        val forced = fixture.getAsJsonObject("template").deepCopy()
+        forced.add(
+            "version",
+            JsonParser.parseString(
+                """{"mode":"always","text":{"nodes":[{"id":"v","type":"text","value":"Maintenance"}]}}"""
+            ),
+        )
+        val maintenance =
+            MaintenanceDocument(
+                true,
+                UUID.randomUUID(),
+                now.minusSeconds(60),
+                now.plusSeconds(60),
+                null,
+                "Work",
+                "Closed",
+                "",
+                false,
+                emptySet(),
+                emptyList(),
+                "",
+                ServerListTemplate.parse(forced),
+                "",
+                setOf("version"),
+            )
+        ea.adopt(maintenance, now)
+        eb.adopt(maintenance, now)
+        assertEquals(-1, ping(la, 3).version.protocol)
+        assertEquals(-1, ping(lb, 5).version.protocol)
+        a.failed = true
+        b.failed = true
+        ma.refresh()
+        mb.refresh()
+        assertEquals(8, ping(la, 3).players.get().online)
+        ea.adopt(maintenance.copy(enabled = false), now)
+        eb.adopt(maintenance.copy(enabled = false), now)
+        assertEquals(767, ping(la, 3).version.protocol)
+        assertEquals(767, ping(lb, 5).version.protocol)
+        ma.set(
+            settings.copy(
+                text = "legacy update",
+                editor = JsonParser.parseString("""{"fallbackText":"old"}""").asJsonObject,
+            ),
+            "test",
+        )
+        assertNull(ma.current()!!.editor)
+        assertNotNull(ma.current()!!.serverList)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/velocity/src/test/resources/server-list/contract.json b/velocity/src/test/resources/server-list/contract.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b64063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/velocity/src/test/resources/server-list/contract.json
@@ -0,0 +1,2462 @@
+[
+  {
+    "name": "offset-headroom",
+    "document": {
+      "schemaVersion": 1,
+      "motd": {
+        "text": {
+          "revision": 0,
+          "nodes": [
+            {
+              "id": "n0",
+              "type": "group",
+              "style": {
+                "color": "#ffaa00"
+              },
+              "children": [
+                {
+                  "id": "n1",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "region"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n2",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": ": "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n3",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "players"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n4",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": " / "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n5",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "max"
+                }
+              ]
+            }
+          ],
+          "source": {
+            "format": "minimessage",
+            "value": "<gold>{{region}}: {{players}} / {{max}}",
+            "revision": 0
+          }
+        },
+        "alignments": [
+          "left",
+          "left"
+        ]
+      },
+      "version": {
+        "mode": "automatic"
+      },
+      "icon": null,
+      "players": {
+        "hidden": false,
+        "online": {
+          "mode": "offset",
+          "value": 2
+        },
+        "maximum": {
+          "mode": "headroom",
+          "value": 10
+        }
+      },
+      "hover": {
+        "mode": "inherit"
+      },
+      "extensions": {}
+    },
+    "template": {
+      "schemaVersion": 1,
+      "motd": {
+        "text": {
+          "revision": 0,
+          "nodes": [
+            {
+              "id": "n0",
+              "type": "group",
+              "style": {
+                "color": "#ffaa00"
+              },
+              "children": [
+                {
+                  "id": "n1",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "region"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n2",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": ": "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n3",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "players"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n4",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": " / "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n5",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "max"
+                }
+              ]
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        "alignments": [
+          "left",
+          "left"
+        ]
+      },
+      "version": {
+        "mode": "automatic"
+      },
+      "icon": null,
+      "players": {
+        "hidden": false,
+        "online": {
+          "mode": "offset",
+          "value": 2
+        },
+        "maximum": {
+          "mode": "headroom",
+          "value": 10
+        }
+      },
+      "hover": {
+        "mode": "inherit"
+      }
+    },
+    "source": "<gold>{{region}}: {{players}} / {{max}}",
+    "context": {
+      "base": {
+        "version": {
+          "protocol": 767,
+          "name": "1.21.1"
+        },
+        "players": {
+          "online": 8,
+          "max": 100,
+          "sample": [
+            {
+              "name": "Ada",
+              "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        "description": ""
+      },
+      "clientProtocol": 767,
+      "values": {
+        "region": "eu",
+        "continent": "Europe",
+        "localzone": "Europe"
+      }
+    },
+    "expected": {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "1.21.1"
+      },
+      "players": {
+        "online": 10,
+        "max": 20,
+        "sample": [
+          {
+            "name": "Ada",
+            "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "text": "",
+        "extra": [
+          {
+            "text": "",
+            "color": "#ffaa00",
+            "extra": [
+              {
+                "text": "eu"
+              },
+              {
+                "text": ": "
+              },
+              {
+                "text": "10"
+              },
+              {
+                "text": " / "
+              },
+              {
+                "text": "20"
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+    },
+    "expectedPlain": "eu: 10 / 20"
+  },
+  {
+    "name": "hidden",
+    "document": {
+      "schemaVersion": 1,
+      "motd": {
+        "text": {
+          "revision": 0,
+          "nodes": [
+            {
+              "id": "n0",
+              "type": "group",
+              "style": {
+                "color": "#ffaa00"
+              },
+              "children": [
+                {
+                  "id": "n1",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "region"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n2",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": ": "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n3",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "players"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n4",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": " / "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n5",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "max"
+                }
+              ]
+            }
+          ],
+          "source": {
+            "format": "minimessage",
+            "value": "<gold>{{region}}: {{players}} / {{max}}",
+            "revision": 0
+          }
+        },
+        "alignments": [
+          "left",
+          "left"
+        ]
+      },
+      "version": {
+        "mode": "automatic"
+      },
+      "icon": null,
+      "players": {
+        "hidden": true,
+        "online": {
+          "mode": "inherit"
+        },
+        "maximum": {
+          "mode": "inherit"
+        }
+      },
+      "hover": {
+        "mode": "inherit"
+      },
+      "extensions": {}
+    },
+    "template": {
+      "schemaVersion": 1,
+      "motd": {
+        "text": {
+          "revision": 0,
+          "nodes": [
+            {
+              "id": "n0",
+              "type": "group",
+              "style": {
+                "color": "#ffaa00"
+              },
+              "children": [
+                {
+                  "id": "n1",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "region"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n2",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": ": "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n3",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "players"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n4",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": " / "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n5",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "max"
+                }
+              ]
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        "alignments": [
+          "left",
+          "left"
+        ]
+      },
+      "version": {
+        "mode": "automatic"
+      },
+      "icon": null,
+      "players": {
+        "hidden": true,
+        "online": {
+          "mode": "inherit"
+        },
+        "maximum": {
+          "mode": "inherit"
+        }
+      },
+      "hover": {
+        "mode": "inherit"
+      }
+    },
+    "source": "<gold>{{region}}: {{players}} / {{max}}",
+    "context": {
+      "base": {
+        "version": {
+          "protocol": 767,
+          "name": "1.21.1"
+        },
+        "players": {
+          "online": 8,
+          "max": 100,
+          "sample": [
+            {
+              "name": "Ada",
+              "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001"
+            }
+          ]
+        },
+        "description": ""
+      },
+      "clientProtocol": 767,
+      "values": {
+        "region": "eu",
+        "continent": "Europe",
+        "localzone": "Europe"
+      }
+    },
+    "expected": {
+      "version": {
+        "protocol": 767,
+        "name": "1.21.1"
+      },
+      "description": {
+        "text": "",
+        "extra": [
+          {
+            "text": "",
+            "color": "#ffaa00",
+            "extra": [
+              {
+                "text": "eu"
+              },
+              {
+                "text": ": "
+              },
+              {
+                "text": "8"
+              },
+              {
+                "text": " / "
+              },
+              {
+                "text": "100"
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+    },
+    "expectedPlain": "eu: 8 / 100"
+  },
+  {
+    "name": "custom-hover",
+    "document": {
+      "schemaVersion": 1,
+      "motd": {
+        "text": {
+          "revision": 0,
+          "nodes": [
+            {
+              "id": "n0",
+              "type": "group",
+              "style": {
+                "color": "#ffaa00"
+              },
+              "children": [
+                {
+                  "id": "n1",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "region"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n2",
+                  "type": "text",
+                  "value": ": "
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n3",
+                  "type": "placeholder",
+                  "name": "players"
+                },
+                {
+                  "id": "n4",
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