diff --git a/Net/network_manager.gd b/Net/network_manager.gd
index c2e40e8..5f17160 100644
--- a/Net/network_manager.gd
+++ b/Net/network_manager.gd
@@ -165,6 +165,12 @@ func _spawn_item_from_data(data: Variant) -> Node:
 		inst.set(key, data["props"][key])
 	if not owns_world():
 		_gate_station(inst)
+		# ...and again once the node is in the tree. Gating before _ready() is what
+		# keeps a station from ever ticking on a client, but a station's own
+		# _ready() runs afterwards and can undo it (table.gd re-arms its state
+		# machine with set_process(true)). The deferred pass runs after every
+		# _ready() in this frame and re-asserts the gate.
+		_gate_station.call_deferred(inst)
 	return inst
 
 
@@ -187,11 +193,17 @@ func _gate_station(node: Node) -> void:
 			if child.is_in_group("station"):
 				_gate_station(child)
 		return
+	# Only report a gate that actually changed something: this runs a second time
+	# (deferred) for every spawned station, and on a re-gate that found nothing to
+	# do there is nothing worth logging.
+	var changed := node.is_processing()
 	for zone in node.find_children("*", "XRToolsSnapZone", true, false):
+		changed = changed or zone.enabled or zone.is_processing()
 		zone.enabled = false
 		zone.set_process(false)
 	node.set_process(false)
-	log_line("gated station (non-owner peer): %s" % node.name)
+	if changed:
+		log_line("gated station (non-owner peer): %s" % node.name)
 
 
 ## Gate every station already sitting in the scene tree, for peers that don't
diff --git a/Stations/table.gd b/Stations/table.gd
index ac2df11..a281805 100644
--- a/Stations/table.gd
+++ b/Stations/table.gd
@@ -132,7 +132,13 @@ func _ready() -> void:
 	for snap_zone_node in snap_zones:
 		snap_zone_node.has_picked_up.connect(_on_object_picked_up)
 		snap_zone_node.has_dropped.connect(_on_object_dropped)
-	set_process(true)
+	# Never on a client: the state machine is server-authoritative and _state is
+	# synced down. NetworkManager._gate_station() already turned processing off,
+	# but a spawned station is gated BEFORE its _ready() runs, so an unconditional
+	# set_process(true) here would quietly re-arm the FSM on every client — and
+	# _state_end(EATING) re-enables the snap zones, which then fight the server
+	# for items sitting on the table.
+	set_process(NetworkManager.owns_world())
 	_set_state(TableState.EMPTY)
 
 
@@ -258,8 +264,11 @@ func _collect_money_from_food():
 
 
 func _set_snap_zones_enabled(value: bool) -> void:
+	# Enabling is the world owner's call only — a client's zones stay gated no
+	# matter what state its copy of the FSM thinks it is in.
+	var enabled := value and NetworkManager.owns_world()
 	for zone in snap_zones:
-		zone.enabled = value
+		zone.enabled = enabled
 
 
 ## Server-only state transition: sets the new state's timer and assigns