diff --git a/hosts/FredOS-Gaming.nix b/hosts/FredOS-Gaming.nix
index 83bc24d..d3d307f 100644
--- a/hosts/FredOS-Gaming.nix
+++ b/hosts/FredOS-Gaming.nix
@@ -19,11 +19,17 @@
       woeusb
     ];
 
-    # Force all builds off the gaming PC onto the media server so nix updates
+    # Force heavy builds off the gaming PC onto the media server so nix updates
     # never compete with games for CPU/RAM. Pairs with the distributed build
     # config in common.nix. builders-use-substitutes lets the server pull from
     # binary caches directly rather than re-uploading through this machine.
-    nix.settings.max-jobs = 0;
+    #
+    # max-jobs = 1 (not 0): trivial preferLocalBuild = true derivations (e.g.
+    # pkgs.writeText for HM config files) are rejected by the remote build hook
+    # and can't be substituted, so they must build locally. They finish in
+    # milliseconds and have no gaming impact. All real compilation still goes to
+    # the remote via the distributed build config.
+    nix.settings.max-jobs = 1;
     nix.settings.builders-use-substitutes = true;
 
     programs.nix-ld.enable = true;