diff --git a/Project-Description.json b/Project-Description.json
index 46a6bc4..1de18b6 100644
--- a/Project-Description.json
+++ b/Project-Description.json
@@ -12,9 +12,7 @@
     "backgroundClassName": "bg-surface"
   },
   "url": "/projects/metropolis",
-  "tags": [
-    "open-source"
-  ],
+  "tags": ["open-source"],
   "source": {
     "type": "github",
     "url": "https://github.com/headhunter45/Metropolis"
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..049816c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+org.gradle.configuration-cache=true
+org.gradle.daemon=true
+org.gradle.java.installations.auto-download=true
+org.gradle.java.installations.auto-detect=false
+org.gradle.java.installations.fromEnv=JAVA_HOME
diff --git a/tools/backup-server.sh b/tools/backup-server.sh
index 8ba750a..41234d1 100755
--- a/tools/backup-server.sh
+++ b/tools/backup-server.sh
@@ -8,8 +8,47 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 TOOLS_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
-# shellcheck source=setup-env.sh
-source "$TOOLS_DIR/setup-env.sh"
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$TOOLS_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+if [[ ! -r "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: $PROJECT_ROOT/.env is missing or unreadable. Copy .env.example to .env and set its values." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+load_project_env() {
+  local env_line env_key env_value first_char last_char
+  while IFS= read -r env_line || [[ -n "$env_line" ]]; do
+    env_line="${env_line%$'\r'}"
+    [[ "$env_line" =~ ^[[:space:]]*(#|$) ]] && continue
+    [[ "$env_line" == *=* ]] || continue
+
+    env_key="${env_line%%=*}"
+    env_value="${env_line#*=}"
+    env_key="${env_key#"${env_key%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+    env_key="${env_key%"${env_key##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+    [[ "$env_key" =~ ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ ]] || continue
+    env_value="${env_value#"${env_value%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+    env_value="${env_value%"${env_value##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+
+    if (( ${#env_value} >= 2 )); then
+      first_char="${env_value:0:1}"
+      last_char="${env_value:$((${#env_value} - 1)):1}"
+      if [[ "$first_char" == "$last_char" && ( "$first_char" == '"' || "$first_char" == "'" ) ]]; then
+        env_value="${env_value:1:$((${#env_value} - 2))}"
+      fi
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -z "${!env_key:-}" ]]; then
+      export "$env_key=$env_value"
+    fi
+  done < "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env"
+}
+load_project_env
+
+MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH:-MCServer}"
+MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH/#\~/$HOME}"
+[[ "$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH" == /* ]] || MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="$PROJECT_ROOT/$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH"
+MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="${MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH:-backups}"
+MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="${MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH/#\~/$HOME}"
+[[ "$MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH" == /* ]] || MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="$PROJECT_ROOT/$MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH"
 
 FORCE=false
 LABEL=""
diff --git a/tools/restore-server.sh b/tools/restore-server.sh
index 63403bf..0718b70 100755
--- a/tools/restore-server.sh
+++ b/tools/restore-server.sh
@@ -9,8 +9,47 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 TOOLS_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
-# shellcheck source=setup-env.sh
-source "$TOOLS_DIR/setup-env.sh"
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$TOOLS_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+if [[ ! -r "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: $PROJECT_ROOT/.env is missing or unreadable. Copy .env.example to .env and set its values." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+load_project_env() {
+  local env_line env_key env_value first_char last_char
+  while IFS= read -r env_line || [[ -n "$env_line" ]]; do
+    env_line="${env_line%$'\r'}"
+    [[ "$env_line" =~ ^[[:space:]]*(#|$) ]] && continue
+    [[ "$env_line" == *=* ]] || continue
+
+    env_key="${env_line%%=*}"
+    env_value="${env_line#*=}"
+    env_key="${env_key#"${env_key%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+    env_key="${env_key%"${env_key##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+    [[ "$env_key" =~ ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ ]] || continue
+    env_value="${env_value#"${env_value%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+    env_value="${env_value%"${env_value##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+
+    if (( ${#env_value} >= 2 )); then
+      first_char="${env_value:0:1}"
+      last_char="${env_value:$((${#env_value} - 1)):1}"
+      if [[ "$first_char" == "$last_char" && ( "$first_char" == '"' || "$first_char" == "'" ) ]]; then
+        env_value="${env_value:1:$((${#env_value} - 2))}"
+      fi
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -z "${!env_key:-}" ]]; then
+      export "$env_key=$env_value"
+    fi
+  done < "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env"
+}
+load_project_env
+
+MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH:-MCServer}"
+MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH/#\~/$HOME}"
+[[ "$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH" == /* ]] || MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="$PROJECT_ROOT/$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH"
+MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="${MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH:-backups}"
+MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="${MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH/#\~/$HOME}"
+[[ "$MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH" == /* ]] || MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="$PROJECT_ROOT/$MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH"
 
 ASSUME_YES=false
 SAFETY_BACKUP=true
diff --git a/tools/setup-env.sh b/tools/setup-env.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index c0d4405..0000000
--- a/tools/setup-env.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-# Source (bash or zsh) to export the shared server config from ../.env
-# (relative to this script):
-#   PAPER_VERSION, PAPER_BUILD, MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH, MINECRAFT_SERVER_JAR, MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH
-
-_setup_env_self="${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-${(%):-%x}}"
-_setup_env_root="$(cd "$(dirname "$_setup_env_self")/.." && pwd)"
-_setup_env_file="${MINECRAFT_ENV_FILE:-$_setup_env_root/.env}"
-
-if [[ -f "$_setup_env_file" ]]; then
-  while IFS= read -r _line || [[ -n "$_line" ]]; do
-    _line="${_line%$'\r'}"
-    [[ "$_line" =~ ^[[:space:]]*(#|$) ]] && continue
-    _key="${_line%%=*}"
-    _value="${_line#*=}"
-    _key="${_key//[[:space:]]/}"
-    [[ "$_key" =~ ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ ]] || continue
-    _value="${_value#\"}"; _value="${_value%\"}"
-    _value="${_value#\'}"; _value="${_value%\'}"
-    eval "_current=\"\${$_key:-}\""
-    [[ -z "$_current" ]] && export "$_key=$_value"
-  done < "$_setup_env_file"
-fi
-
-PAPER_VERSION="${PAPER_VERSION:-}"
-PAPER_BUILD="${PAPER_BUILD:-}"
-MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH:-MCServer}"
-MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH/#\~/$HOME}"
-[[ "$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH" == /* ]] || MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="$_setup_env_root/$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH"
-MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="${MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH:-backups}"
-MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="${MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH/#\~/$HOME}"
-[[ "$MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH" == /* ]] || MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH="$_setup_env_root/$MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH"
-
-if [[ -z "${MINECRAFT_SERVER_JAR:-}" && -n "$PAPER_VERSION" && -n "$PAPER_BUILD" ]]; then
-  MINECRAFT_SERVER_JAR="paper-${PAPER_VERSION}-${PAPER_BUILD}.jar"
-fi
-
-export PAPER_VERSION PAPER_BUILD MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH MINECRAFT_SERVER_JAR MINECRAFT_BACKUP_PATH
-unset _setup_env_self _setup_env_root _setup_env_file _line _key _value _current
diff --git a/tools/start-server.sh b/tools/start-server.sh
index d4ddce5..4f0dba1 100755
--- a/tools/start-server.sh
+++ b/tools/start-server.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Downloads (if missing) and runs a Paper server via the Fill v3 API.
-# Server settings come from ../.env relative to this script (see setup-env.sh).
+# Server settings come from the project .env file.
 #
 # Env vars:
 #   JAVA_OPTS              Extra JVM args (default: -Xms2G -Xmx2G)
@@ -8,8 +8,47 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 TOOLS_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
-# shellcheck source=setup-env.sh
-source "$TOOLS_DIR/setup-env.sh"
+PROJECT_ROOT="$(cd "$TOOLS_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+if [[ ! -r "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: $PROJECT_ROOT/.env is missing or unreadable. Copy .env.example to .env and set its values." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+load_project_env() {
+  local env_line env_key env_value first_char last_char
+  while IFS= read -r env_line || [[ -n "$env_line" ]]; do
+    env_line="${env_line%$'\r'}"
+    [[ "$env_line" =~ ^[[:space:]]*(#|$) ]] && continue
+    [[ "$env_line" == *=* ]] || continue
+
+    env_key="${env_line%%=*}"
+    env_value="${env_line#*=}"
+    env_key="${env_key#"${env_key%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+    env_key="${env_key%"${env_key##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+    [[ "$env_key" =~ ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ ]] || continue
+    env_value="${env_value#"${env_value%%[![:space:]]*}"}"
+    env_value="${env_value%"${env_value##*[![:space:]]}"}"
+
+    if (( ${#env_value} >= 2 )); then
+      first_char="${env_value:0:1}"
+      last_char="${env_value:$((${#env_value} - 1)):1}"
+      if [[ "$first_char" == "$last_char" && ( "$first_char" == '"' || "$first_char" == "'" ) ]]; then
+        env_value="${env_value:1:$((${#env_value} - 2))}"
+      fi
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -z "${!env_key:-}" ]]; then
+      export "$env_key=$env_value"
+    fi
+  done < "$PROJECT_ROOT/.env"
+}
+load_project_env
+
+PAPER_VERSION="${PAPER_VERSION:-}"
+PAPER_BUILD="${PAPER_BUILD:-}"
+MINECRAFT_SERVER_JAR="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_JAR:-}"
+MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH:-MCServer}"
+MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="${MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH/#\~/$HOME}"
+[[ "$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH" == /* ]] || MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH="$PROJECT_ROOT/$MINECRAFT_SERVER_PATH"
 
 [[ -n "$PAPER_VERSION" ]] || { echo "Error: PAPER_VERSION is not set (see .env)." >&2; exit 1; }