diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 0941d9c..270e70d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -390,6 +390,7 @@ COPY container/ ${ARENA_HOME}/container/
 COPY suramadu/web/ ${ARENA_HOME}/web/
 
 COPY megamek/clientsettings.xml.template  ${ARENA_HOME}/config/
+COPY megamek/gameoptions.xml.template     ${ARENA_HOME}/config/
 COPY megamek/log4j2-quiet.xml             ${ARENA_HOME}/config/
 COPY suramadu/suramadu.config.template    ${ARENA_HOME}/config/
 COPY suramadu/jetty.properties.template   ${ARENA_HOME}/config/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c76ecee..bb5107e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ a rendering bug, everything MegaMek-shaped is in one directory.
 
 | | |
 |---|---|
-| `megamek/` | configuring and patching MegaMek: the nine patches, client settings, logging config, `units.cache` priming, `prune-data.sh` — one documented line per thing removed from the shipped data, and why a match cannot reach it — and `skin/` — `lanceBlueSkin.xml`, the lance.blue board backgrounds and window icons, and the install script that checks every image the skin references exists |
+| `megamek/` | configuring and patching MegaMek: the nine patches, client settings, game options, logging config, `units.cache` priming, `prune-data.sh` — one documented line per thing removed from the shipped data, and why a match cannot reach it — and `skin/` — `lanceBlueSkin.xml`, the lance.blue board backgrounds and window icons, and the install script that checks every image the skin references exists |
 | `suramadu/` | configuring Suramadu: its server config, Jetty properties, the fontconfig generator its toolkit requires, `web/` — the themed loading page served in place of the war's — and `patches/`, applied to the frontend bundle inside the war at build time |
 | `src/` | our own Java — `MatchHost`, `MatchWatcher`, `TextRenderer` — and the script that jars it |
 | `container/` | process management inside a running container: `entrypoint.sh`, `init/`, `watch/`, `exit/`, `lib/` |
@@ -106,6 +106,25 @@ the lounge nobody starts, and the game everyone left or stopped playing; a
 finished game is exempt, because the host is deliberately lingering then. A
 manifest that omits the limit, or sets it to 0, gets no timeout.
 
+## Rules defaults
+
+Two files are seeded into MegaMek's `mmconf/` before every launch, and they are
+the whole of what arena says about how a match plays.
+`megamek/clientsettings.xml.template` is one player's client — what is docked,
+what is drawn, what makes a noise. `megamek/gameoptions.xml.template` is the
+rules, for everyone in the match: MegaMek's game options, listed only where they
+differ from upstream's defaults.
+
+Two differ today. Ejected crews leave the field the moment they get out, rather
+than staying as units their owner then moves every round — MegaMek's own
+`ejected_pilots_flee`, which some of the shipped scenarios already set for
+themselves. And a unit that cannot fire — shut down, crew out — gets no firing
+turn, which is the choice MegaMek already makes for the physical phase.
+
+Both are defaults, not rules arena imposes. A scenario that names a
+`GameOptionsFile` of its own is loaded with that file and none of this, so a
+scenario author still decides their own match.
+
 ## Patches
 
 Nine, in `megamek/patches/patchset/`. Each is a MegaMek bug rather than an
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 6a9d4ff..8cff023 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -350,6 +350,27 @@ and the p90 tail fell from ~470ms to ~330ms. The proxy was ruled out early
       the window icons and the `GUIPreferences` that go with them. What is
       left is verification of the window icons, tracked under render
       performance.
+- [x] **Matches ran on MegaMek's stock rules** — there was no game options file
+      at all, so every match got upstream's defaults whether or not they suited
+      a browser match. `megamek/gameoptions.xml.template` is now seeded into
+      `mmconf/` beside the client settings, and `ScenarioV1` picks it up for any
+      scenario that does not name a `GameOptionsFile` of its own.
+
+      Two options differ from stock: `ejected_pilots_flee`, so a dead mek's
+      MechWarrior does not stay on the board as a unit its owner moves every
+      round, and `skip_ineligible_firing`, so a shut-down unit gets no firing
+      turn it can only press Done on.
+
+      Verified by mounting the file into the shipped image and loading with
+      `ScenarioReport`: MegaMek logs both as set, and all 51 scenarios load
+      exactly as they did without it. What has not been seen is the effect in
+      play — a mek ejecting in a hosted match and the MechWarrior not appearing.
+
+      Considered and left alone: `skip_ineligible_movement`, because the
+      movement phase is where a shut-down mek starts up and where TacOps:AR
+      abandonment happens; the nag dialogs, which are protective rather than
+      noise; and turn timers, which are a feature rather than a default worth
+      correcting.
 - [ ] **The minimap cannot dock** — unlike the unit display and mini report it
       has no location preference and is dialog-only. Hidden by default (patch
       0003 made that possible at all). Docking it properly needs more patching.
diff --git a/container/init/40-render-config.sh b/container/init/40-render-config.sh
index 2c2d8fb..c3895fe 100755
--- a/container/init/40-render-config.sh
+++ b/container/init/40-render-config.sh
@@ -110,6 +110,12 @@ sed -e "s|@PORT_WS@|$PORT_WS|g" \
     "$ARENA_HOME/config/jetty.properties.template" > "$ARENA_RUN/suramadu/jetty.properties"
 
 cp "$ARENA_HOME/config/clientsettings.xml.template" "$MM_HOME/mmconf/clientsettings.xml"
+# The rules half of the same pair, read by the host rather than the client:
+# ScenarioV1 loads mmconf/gameoptions.xml for any scenario that does not name a
+# GameOptionsFile of its own. Re-seeded per launch for the same reason
+# clientsettings.xml is - a player who opens the game options dialog and
+# presses OK makes the client write this file back.
+cp "$ARENA_HOME/config/gameoptions.xml.template" "$MM_HOME/mmconf/gameoptions.xml"
 
 # A leftover placeholder means the client would try to log in as "@PLAYER_NAME@"
 # and sit in the lobby forever. Easy to catch here, hard to diagnose live.
diff --git a/megamek/gameoptions.xml.template b/megamek/gameoptions.xml.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..639f067
--- /dev/null
+++ b/megamek/gameoptions.xml.template
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<!--
+  Seeded into MegaMek's mmconf/ by container/init/40-render-config.sh before
+  every launch, the way clientsettings.xml is.
+
+  This is the server side of the pair. clientsettings.xml is what one Swing
+  client looks like; this is what the rules are, for everyone in the match.
+
+  How it is read: ScenarioV1.createGame() calls game.getOptions().initialize()
+  and then, for a scenario that does not name a GameOptionsFile of its own,
+  loadOptions() - which is hardcoded to "mmconf/gameoptions.xml", relative to
+  the working directory. container/entrypoint.sh runs the host from $MM_HOME,
+  so that resolves here. A scenario that does name a GameOptionsFile gets that
+  file instead and none of this, which is the scenario author's call to make.
+
+  Only the options that differ from MegaMek's own defaults are listed. An
+  unknown or misspelled name is logged and ignored, not fatal, so a typo here
+  is a rule that quietly did not apply - keep the list short and checked
+  against megamek.common.options.GameOptions.
+
+  Format is MegaMek's own: the <options>/<gameoption>/<optionname> shape
+  GameOptions.saveOptions writes, and what several shipped scenarios carry as
+  their own GameOptionsFile. It is also what the client rewrites this file as
+  if a player opens the game options dialog and presses OK - which is another
+  reason it is re-seeded per launch rather than baked into the image.
+-->
+<options>
+    <!-- Ejected MechWarriors, vehicle crews and escape pods leave the field
+         the moment they get out, instead of becoming units on the board.
+
+         Off, a mek that ejects leaves an infantry-speed MechWarrior counter
+         behind, and its owner then gets a movement turn for it every round
+         for the rest of the match - while everyone else, and anyone
+         watching, waits. It contributes nothing: it cannot meaningfully
+         shoot, and the match is decided by the meks. That cost lands hardest
+         here, where a turn is a browser round trip and the match is streamed.
+
+         TWGameManager.ejectEntity() and abandonEntity() read this in five
+         places, one per way a crew gets out - mek ejection, ground vehicle
+         abandonment, escape pods and lifeboats among them - and each removes
+         the new entity with REMOVE_IN_RETREAT as soon as it is created. So
+         this covers the whole family, not just meks.
+
+         The crew still ejects, and still shows in the reports as having
+         survived; it just does not stay to be played. Nothing else changes:
+         ejection is still the player's choice, and armed_mekwarriors,
+         pilots_cannot_spot and auto_abandon_unit are all left at MegaMek's
+         defaults because with this on they have nothing to act on. -->
+    <gameoption>
+        <optionname>ejected_pilots_flee</optionname>
+        <optionvalue>true</optionvalue>
+    </gameoption>
+
+    <!-- No firing turn for a unit that cannot fire.
+
+         Off, a mek that shut down from heat - or whose pilot is unconscious -
+         is still handed a firing turn each round, and the only thing its
+         owner can do with it is press Done. Entity.isEligibleForFiring()
+         skips those units when this is on, and the bar it applies is
+         isActive(): shut down, destroyed, crew out, unloaded this turn, or
+         not yet deployed. A unit that is merely immobile or weaponless is
+         still active and still gets its turn.
+
+         Nothing is lost with it. Ejecting and abandoning are movement-phase
+         actions, and Entity.canSpot() already requires the same isActive(),
+         so a unit skipped here could not have spotted for indirect fire
+         either. MegaMek makes this same choice itself for the physical phase
+         - skip_ineligible_physical ships on.
+
+         skip_ineligible_movement is deliberately not set with it. The
+         movement phase is where a shut-down mek starts up again and where
+         TacOps:AR abandonment happens, and both would be harder to reach. -->
+    <gameoption>
+        <optionname>skip_ineligible_firing</optionname>
+        <optionvalue>true</optionvalue>
+    </gameoption>
+</options>
diff --git a/tests/shell/test-render-config.sh b/tests/shell/test-render-config.sh
index c520945..3326168 100755
--- a/tests/shell/test-render-config.sh
+++ b/tests/shell/test-render-config.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ printf 'did:plc:aaa\tTraineeA\n' > "$TMP/run/clients.tsv"
 cp "$ROOT/suramadu/suramadu.config.template"   "$TMP/home/config/"
 cp "$ROOT/suramadu/jetty.properties.template"  "$TMP/home/config/"
 cp "$ROOT/megamek/clientsettings.xml.template" "$TMP/home/config/"
+cp "$ROOT/megamek/gameoptions.xml.template"    "$TMP/home/config/"
 ln -s "$ROOT/container" "$TMP/home/container"
 
 ARENA_HOME="$TMP/home" ARENA_RUN="$TMP/run" MM_HOME="$TMP/mm" \
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ check() { # <description> <test-command...>
 CFG="$TMP/run/suramadu/suramadu.config"
 JETTY="$TMP/run/suramadu/jetty.properties"
 SETTINGS="$TMP/mm/mmconf/clientsettings.xml"
+OPTIONS="$TMP/mm/mmconf/gameoptions.xml"
 
 check "suramadu.config is valid JSON"        jq -e . "$CFG"
 check "player name substituted"              grep -q 'player_name TraineeA' "$CFG"
@@ -92,4 +94,20 @@ check "fov darkening off"                    grep -q 'name="FovDarken" value="fa
 # the first unit rather than one that sorts oddly.
 check "weapons sort by damage, big first"    grep -q 'name="DefaultWeaponSortOrder" value="DAMAGE_HIGH_LOW"' "$SETTINGS"
 
+# --- game options ------------------------------------------------------------
+# ScenarioV1 reads mmconf/gameoptions.xml only for scenarios that name no
+# GameOptionsFile, and only from the host's working directory. An absent file is
+# not an error there - loadOptions() returns quietly - so a render that stopped
+# seeding it would give every match MegaMek's stock rules with no sign of it.
+check "gameoptions seeded into mmconf"       test -f "$OPTIONS"
+check "gameoptions is well-formed XML"       python3 -c "import sys,xml.etree.ElementTree as E; E.parse(sys.argv[1])" "$OPTIONS"
+# The one rule a player would notice going missing: without it a dead mek's
+# MechWarrior stays on the board and its owner moves it every round.
+check "ejected crews leave the field"        bash -c "python3 - '$OPTIONS' <<'PY'
+import sys, xml.etree.ElementTree as E
+opts = {o.findtext('optionname'): o.findtext('optionvalue')
+        for o in E.parse(sys.argv[1]).getroot()}
+sys.exit(0 if opts.get('ejected_pilots_flee') == 'true' else 1)
+PY"
+
 exit "$fail"