diff --git a/openfut-utas-host/src/config.rs b/openfut-utas-host/src/config.rs
index 4847a49..91a1f58 100644
--- a/openfut-utas-host/src/config.rs
+++ b/openfut-utas-host/src/config.rs
@@ -59,21 +59,29 @@ pub struct HostConfig {
     /// Disabled by default. Non-off values require three explicit staging guards;
     /// see [`parse_sbc_post_commit_fault`].
     pub sbc_post_commit_fault: SbcPostCommitFault,
-    /// Emit the club's active club items in `squad.actives`. **Disabled by
-    /// default.**
+    /// Emit the club's active club items in `squad.actives`. **Enabled by
+    /// default** — this is normal, correct FIFA 17 behaviour, not an experiment.
     ///
-    /// `actives` is the proven carrier that makes a kit resident (the squad
-    /// parser writes each element straight into a club-item slot), and with it
-    /// populated the pre-match kit selector works. But a non-empty array was
-    /// observed to cost the rest of the squad: the resident item map dropped from
-    /// 24 entries to just the 2 kits, the 23-slot player vector came back fully
-    /// null, and the starting-11 screen was empty. `actives` sorts first in the
-    /// object, so everything after it — `players`, `manager`, `captain`,
-    /// `formation` — is lost.
+    /// `actives` is the carrier that makes a club item resident: the squad
+    /// parser writes each element straight into a native club-item slot. With it
+    /// populated the pre-match kit selector works, proven end to end on a retail
+    /// client — 29 resident nodes with both cardtype-7 kits in club slots 0 and 1
+    /// (`itemState` 101/102, category 4) alongside 23/23 players and the manager,
+    /// and the selector rendering the correct distinct home and away kits.
     ///
-    /// Off until that interaction is understood: an empty squad is far worse than
-    /// a missing kit. Env `OPENFUT_FIFA17_SQUAD_ACTIVES=1` to experiment on
-    /// staging.
+    /// Scope is deliberately narrow: [`squad_actives`] emits ONLY the home and
+    /// away kit, both resolved from Core's own active designations and required
+    /// to be genuinely owned. Badge, ball and stadium are never emitted, so
+    /// enabling this cannot surface an unproven active family.
+    ///
+    /// History, so the default is not naively flipped back: an early build was
+    /// once seen to empty the squad when this array was populated (resident map
+    /// down to the 2 kits, player vector fully null). That never reproduced, and
+    /// it can no longer cause durable damage — both squad write-back paths are
+    /// guarded in Core (`refuse to empty a populated squad`, and an absent
+    /// manager field no longer meaning "clear").
+    ///
+    /// Set `OPENFUT_FIFA17_SQUAD_ACTIVES=0` to force it off for diagnostics.
     pub squad_actives: bool,
 }
 
@@ -107,6 +115,17 @@ fn required_i64_nonzero(key: &str) -> Result<i64, ConfigError> {
     Ok(val)
 }
 
+/// Whether to emit `squad.actives`. Correct FIFA 17 behaviour is ON, so an
+/// absent or unrecognised value means ON; only an explicit `0`/`false`/`off`/`no`
+/// turns it off, which exists for diagnostics. See
+/// [`HostConfig::squad_actives`].
+fn parse_squad_actives(raw: Option<&str>) -> bool {
+    !matches!(
+        raw.unwrap_or_default().trim().to_ascii_lowercase().as_str(),
+        "0" | "false" | "off" | "no"
+    )
+}
+
 fn parse_sbc_post_commit_fault(
     raw: Option<&str>,
     environment: Option<&str>,
@@ -193,14 +212,8 @@ impl HostConfig {
             clientdata_path,
             account_path,
             sbc_post_commit_fault,
-            // Default OFF: see the field docs. Only an explicit 1/true/on enables it.
-            squad_actives: matches!(
-                env::var("OPENFUT_FIFA17_SQUAD_ACTIVES")
-                    .unwrap_or_default()
-                    .trim()
-                    .to_ascii_lowercase()
-                    .as_str(),
-                "1" | "true" | "on" | "yes"
+            squad_actives: parse_squad_actives(
+                env::var("OPENFUT_FIFA17_SQUAD_ACTIVES").ok().as_deref(),
             ),
         })
     }
@@ -231,6 +244,34 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
     #[test]
+    /// `squad.actives` is ON without any environment variable.
+    ///
+    /// Emitting the club's active home/away kit is normal FIFA 17 behaviour —
+    /// it is what lets the client make the kits resident and render the
+    /// pre-match selector — so a correct deployment must not have to opt in.
+    /// The off switch survives only as a diagnostic.
+    #[test]
+    fn squad_actives_is_on_by_default_and_only_explicitly_disabled() {
+        // The case that matters: nothing configured at all.
+        assert!(
+            parse_squad_actives(None),
+            "a deployment that sets nothing must still emit squad.actives"
+        );
+        assert!(parse_squad_actives(Some("")));
+        assert!(parse_squad_actives(Some("   ")));
+
+        // Explicit disable, for diagnostics.
+        for off in ["0", "false", "off", "no", "OFF", " False "] {
+            assert!(!parse_squad_actives(Some(off)), "{off} must disable");
+        }
+
+        // Explicit enable stays valid, and anything unrecognised stays ON
+        // rather than silently disabling the feature.
+        for on in ["1", "true", "on", "yes", "TRUE", "banana"] {
+            assert!(parse_squad_actives(Some(on)), "{on} must leave it enabled");
+        }
+    }
+
     fn sbc_post_commit_faults_require_all_staging_guards() {
         assert_eq!(
             parse_sbc_post_commit_fault(None, None, None, "0.0.0.0:8099").unwrap(),
diff --git a/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs b/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs
index 2970f09..5e004da 100644
--- a/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs
+++ b/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs
@@ -3689,7 +3689,7 @@ impl Server {
             cfg.sbc_post_commit_fault
         );
         eprintln!(
-        "utas-host squad_actives={} (OFF keeps squad.actives empty; ON makes kits resident but has been seen to empty the squad)",
+        "utas-host squad_actives={} (ON emits the club's active home/away kit so the client can make them resident; set OPENFUT_FIFA17_SQUAD_ACTIVES=0 to disable)",
         cfg.squad_actives
     );
         Ok(Server::new(