diff --git a/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/client-main.ts b/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/client-main.ts
index ced0867a9..b857e0d59 100644
--- a/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/client-main.ts
+++ b/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/client-main.ts
@@ -163,6 +163,10 @@ class PSPrefs extends PSStreamModel<string | null> {
 	highlights: Record<string, string[]> | null = null;
 	logtimes: { [serverid: ID]: { [roomid: RoomID]: number } } | null = null;
 
+	avatar: string | null = null;
+
+	serversettings: Record<string, any> | null = null;
+
 	// PREFS END HERE
 
 	storageEngine: 'localStorage' | 'iframeLocalStorage' | '' = '';
@@ -200,6 +204,25 @@ class PSPrefs extends PSStreamModel<string | null> {
 		this.update(key);
 		this.save();
 	}
+	/**
+	 * change multiple preferences with a single localstorage write.
+	 */
+	setMany(updates: { [key: string]: any }) {
+		for (const key in updates) {
+			if (!(key in PSPrefsDefaults)) continue;
+			const value = updates[key];
+			if (value === undefined) continue;
+			if (value === null) {
+				delete this.storage[key];
+				(this as any)[key] = PSPrefsDefaults[key];
+			} else {
+				this.storage[key] = value;
+				(this as any)[key] = value;
+			}
+			this.update(key);
+		}
+		this.save();
+	}
 
 	load(newPrefs: object, noSave?: boolean) {
 		this.fixPrefs(newPrefs);
@@ -1312,6 +1335,7 @@ export class PSRoom extends PSStreamModel<Args | null> implements RoomOptions {
 			if (/[^a-z0-9-]/.test(target)) target = toID(target);
 			const avatar = window.BattleAvatarNumbers?.[target] || target;
 			PS.user.avatar = avatar;
+			PS.prefs.set('avatar', String(avatar));
 			if (this.type !== 'chat' && this.type !== 'battle') {
 				PS.send(`/avatar ${avatar}`);
 			} else {
diff --git a/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/panel-mainmenu.tsx b/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/panel-mainmenu.tsx
index 142ac3da0..d4946bd10 100644
--- a/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/panel-mainmenu.tsx
+++ b/play.pokemonshowdown.com/src/panel-mainmenu.tsx
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ export class MainMenuRoom extends PSRoom {
 		case 'challstr': {
 			const [, challstr] = args;
 			PS.user.challstr = challstr;
+			if (PS.prefs.avatar != null) {
+				const avatar = String(PS.prefs.avatar).toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9-]/g, '').slice(0, 64);
+				if (avatar) PS.send(`/avatar ${avatar},1`);
+			}
 			PSLoginServer.query(
 				'upkeep', { challstr }
 			).then(res => {
@@ -141,10 +145,29 @@ export class MainMenuRoom extends PSRoom {
 			});
 			return;
 		} case 'updateuser': {
-			const [, fullName, namedCode, avatar] = args;
+			const [, fullName, namedCode, avatar, settingsJSON] = args;
 			const named = namedCode === '1';
 			if (named) PS.user.initializing = false;
 			PS.user.setName(fullName, named, avatar);
+			if (settingsJSON) {
+				try {
+					const settings = JSON.parse(settingsJSON);
+					if (settings && typeof settings === 'object' && !Array.isArray(settings)) {
+						const existing = PS.prefs.serversettings;
+						const merged = {
+							...(existing && typeof existing === 'object' && !Array.isArray(existing) ? existing : {}),
+							...settings,
+						};
+						const batch: { [key: string]: any } = { serversettings: merged };
+						if ('blockPMs' in settings) batch.blockPMs = settings.blockPMs == null ? null : Boolean(settings.blockPMs);
+						if ('blockChallenges' in settings) {
+							batch.blockChallenges = settings.blockChallenges == null ? null : Boolean(settings.blockChallenges);
+						}
+						if (typeof settings.language === 'string') batch.language = settings.language;
+						PS.prefs.setMany(batch);
+					}
+				} catch {}
+			}
 			PS.teams.loadRemoteTeams();
 			return;
 		} case 'updatechallenges': {