diff --git a/backend/utils/clientPatcher.js b/backend/utils/clientPatcher.js
index 442e478..398aaf0 100644
--- a/backend/utils/clientPatcher.js
+++ b/backend/utils/clientPatcher.js
@@ -584,6 +584,17 @@ class ClientPatcher {
     const { buffer: finalData, count: discordCount } = this.patchDiscordUrl(patchedData);
 
     if (count === 0 && discordCount === 0) {
+      // Check if we're in debug mode with skip - don't fallback if intentionally skipping
+      const hasSkipList = (process.env.HYTALE_PATCH_SKIP || '').trim().length > 0;
+      const noLegacyFallback = process.env.HYTALE_NO_LEGACY_FALLBACK === '1';
+
+      if (hasSkipList || noLegacyFallback) {
+        console.log('No occurrences patched (skip list active or legacy fallback disabled)');
+        fs.writeFileSync(clientPath, patchedData);
+        this.markAsPatched(clientPath);
+        return { success: true, patchCount: 0, skipped: true };
+      }
+
       console.log('No occurrences found - trying legacy UTF-16LE format...');
 
       // Fallback to legacy patching for older binary formats