diff --git a/client/src/App.jsx b/client/src/App.jsx
index 69386a0..c37bb73 100644
--- a/client/src/App.jsx
+++ b/client/src/App.jsx
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import ActivityAdmin from './routes/admin/views/ActivityAdmin.jsx'
 import BotActivityAdmin from './routes/admin/views/BotActivityAdmin.jsx'
 import DiscordBotAdmin from './routes/admin/views/DiscordBotAdmin.jsx'
 import ShardAdmin from './routes/admin/views/ShardAdmin.jsx'
+import ShardVisibility from './routes/admin/views/ShardVisibility.jsx'
 import ShardOps from './routes/admin/views/ShardOps.jsx'
 import AdminCharacters from './routes/admin/views/AdminCharacters.jsx'
 import AdminCharacter from './routes/admin/views/AdminCharacter.jsx'
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@ export default function App() {
             <Route path="bot-activity" element={<BotActivityAdmin />} />
             <Route path="discord-bot" element={<DiscordBotAdmin />} />
             <Route path="shard" element={<ShardAdmin />} />
+            <Route path="shard-visibility" element={<ShardVisibility />} />
             <Route
               path="shard-ops"
               element={
diff --git a/client/src/api/client.js b/client/src/api/client.js
index 6f522a6..33343c8 100644
--- a/client/src/api/client.js
+++ b/client/src/api/client.js
@@ -147,6 +147,9 @@ export const api = {
     },
     presence: () => req('/public/shard/presence'),
     houses: () => req('/public/shard/houses'),
+    // Which shard surfaces this caller may reach, plus the audience rung they
+    // resolved to. Drives nav so we never render a link that would 403.
+    features: () => req('/public/shard/features'),
   },
   // Full paths (incl. /api/v1) for the browser EventSource — the req() wrapper is
   // fetch-only, so SSE subscribers build the URL from here. The admin stream
@@ -346,6 +349,13 @@ export const api = {
     saveUoLinkConfig: (data) => req('/admin/uo-link/config', { method: 'PUT', body: data }),
     postTownCrier: (data) => req('/admin/uo-link/towncrier', { method: 'POST', body: data }),
     deleteTownCrier: (id) => req(`/admin/uo-link/towncrier/${encodeURIComponent(id)}`, { method: 'DELETE' }),
+    // Per-feature shard visibility: who may see which shard surface, and which
+    // sensitive fields within it. Admin only — it decides what ANONYMOUS
+    // visitors get. acct/webId are admin-only always and the API rejects any
+    // attempt to configure them.
+    getShardVisibility: () => req('/admin/shard/visibility'),
+    saveShardVisibility: (features) =>
+      req('/admin/shard/visibility', { method: 'PUT', body: { features } }),
 
     // ----- in-game staff operations: write plane + support queue (admin/moderator) -----
     // `actor` is stamped server-side from the session — never sent from here.
diff --git a/client/src/components/SiteHeader.jsx b/client/src/components/SiteHeader.jsx
index 4394419..58a1dc6 100644
--- a/client/src/components/SiteHeader.jsx
+++ b/client/src/components/SiteHeader.jsx
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@ import { Link, NavLink } from 'react-router-dom'
 import MoonDot from './MoonDot.jsx'
 import { useAuth } from '../contexts/AuthContext.jsx'
 import { useSite } from '../contexts/SiteContext.jsx'
+import { useShardFeatures, canSee } from '../lib/useShardFeatures.js'
 
 // One consistent top nav for the whole public site. Every page gets the same
 // main links plus an auth-aware entry on the right (Sign in / My Account / Admin).
+//
+// Entries carrying a `feature` are shard surfaces an admin can disable or gate
+// to a higher audience (Admin -> Shard Visibility). They are hidden when this
+// viewer can't reach them, so we never render a link that would 403. The gate
+// itself is server-side; this is only about not advertising a dead end.
 const NAV = [
   { label: 'Home', to: '/', end: true },
   { label: 'News', to: '/site/news' },
@@ -12,11 +18,11 @@ const NAV = [
   { label: 'Five on Friday', to: '/site/five-on-friday' },
   { label: 'Newsletter', to: '/site/newsletter' },
   { label: 'Wiki', to: '/wiki' },
-  { label: 'Shard', to: '/site/shard' },
-  { label: 'Champions', to: '/site/champs' },
-  { label: 'Guilds', to: '/site/guilds' },
-  { label: 'Governors', to: '/site/governors' },
-  { label: 'Houses', to: '/site/houses' },
+  { label: 'Shard', to: '/site/shard', feature: 'status' },
+  { label: 'Champions', to: '/site/champs', feature: 'champs' },
+  { label: 'Guilds', to: '/site/guilds', feature: 'guilds' },
+  { label: 'Governors', to: '/site/governors', feature: 'governors' },
+  { label: 'Houses', to: '/site/houses', feature: 'houses' },
   { label: 'About', to: '/site/about' },
 ]
 
@@ -29,6 +35,8 @@ const linkStyle = ({ isActive }) => ({
 export default function SiteHeader() {
   const { user, loading } = useAuth()
   const { siteTitle } = useSite()
+  const shardFeatures = useShardFeatures()
+  const nav = NAV.filter((item) => !item.feature || canSee(shardFeatures, item.feature))
 
   // Where the auth entry points: staff → admin, player → portal, else sign in.
   let account
@@ -60,7 +68,7 @@ export default function SiteHeader() {
           {siteTitle}
         </Link>
         <nav style={{ display: 'flex', flexWrap: 'wrap', gap: 8, alignItems: 'center' }}>
-          {NAV.map((l) => (
+          {nav.map((l) => (
             <NavLink key={l.to} to={l.to} end={l.end} className="pill" style={linkStyle}>
               {l.label}
             </NavLink>
diff --git a/client/src/lib/useShardFeatures.js b/client/src/lib/useShardFeatures.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1c8533
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/src/lib/useShardFeatures.js
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
+import { api } from '../api/client.js'
+
+// Which shard surfaces the current viewer may reach, from
+// GET /public/shard/features. Admins configure this per feature (Admin → Shard
+// Visibility), so the nav can't be a static list any more.
+//
+// This is PRESENTATION only. The gate is server-side: a disabled feature 404s
+// and an out-of-rung one 403s whether or not the link is rendered. So while the
+// answer is still in flight we return `null` and callers show their default set
+// — better a link that briefly 403s than a nav that flickers in on every load.
+//
+// Cached module-level: the answer is per-viewer but stable for a session, and
+// every consumer would otherwise refetch it on mount.
+let cached = null
+let inFlight = null
+
+export function resetShardFeatures() {
+  cached = null
+  inFlight = null
+}
+
+export function useShardFeatures() {
+  const [features, setFeatures] = useState(cached)
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (cached) return undefined
+    let alive = true
+    inFlight =
+      inFlight ||
+      api.shard
+        .features()
+        .then((data) => {
+          cached = { level: data.level, set: new Set(data.features || []) }
+          return cached
+        })
+        .catch(() => {
+          // A failed lookup must not blank the nav — fall back to "show
+          // everything" and let the server do the gating.
+          cached = null
+          inFlight = null
+          return null
+        })
+    inFlight.then((result) => {
+      if (alive) setFeatures(result)
+    })
+    return () => {
+      alive = false
+    }
+  }, [])
+
+  return features
+}
+
+// Convenience: true when `name` is visible, or when we don't know yet.
+export function canSee(features, name) {
+  return !features || features.set.has(name)
+}
diff --git a/client/src/routes/admin/AdminLayout.jsx b/client/src/routes/admin/AdminLayout.jsx
index f54811c..5fe08b1 100644
--- a/client/src/routes/admin/AdminLayout.jsx
+++ b/client/src/routes/admin/AdminLayout.jsx
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ const NAV = [
       { to: '/admin/auth-providers', label: 'Authentication', icon: IconKey, roles: ['admin'] },
       { to: '/admin/discord-bot', label: 'Discord Bot', icon: IconBot, roles: ['admin'] },
       { to: '/admin/shard', label: 'Shard (uo-link)', icon: IconShard, roles: ['admin'] },
+      { to: '/admin/shard-visibility', label: 'Shard Visibility', icon: IconShard, roles: ['admin'] },
       { to: '/admin/bot-activity', label: 'Web Bot Activity', icon: IconPulse, roles: ['admin'] },
     ],
   },
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ const TITLES = {
   '/admin/bot-activity': 'Web Bot Activity',
   '/admin/discord-bot': 'Discord Bot',
   '/admin/shard': 'Shard (uo-link)',
+  '/admin/shard-visibility': 'Shard Visibility',
   '/admin/characters': 'My Characters',
   '/admin/auth-providers': 'Authentication',
   '/admin/users': 'Users',
diff --git a/client/src/routes/admin/views/ShardVisibility.jsx b/client/src/routes/admin/views/ShardVisibility.jsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a0e788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/src/routes/admin/views/ShardVisibility.jsx
@@ -0,0 +1,318 @@
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useState } from 'react'
+import { Loading, ErrorState } from '../../../components/PageState.jsx'
+import { api } from '../../../api/client.js'
+
+// ── Admin · Shard visibility ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Who may see which shard surface, and which sensitive fields within it.
+// Admin-only, because this decides what ANONYMOUS visitors get.
+//
+// Two things the UI must communicate honestly, because they are not negotiable
+// server-side (see docs/link/v3.md §3.4):
+//   • acct / webId are admin-only always and are not listed as editable fields.
+//   • an event kind the server doesn't know about never reaches anyone below
+//     admin, whatever is set here.
+//
+// Defaults reproduce the behavior the site had before this panel existed, so a
+// fresh install shows "everything as it was" rather than an empty form.
+
+const RUNG_LABEL = {
+  anonymous: 'Everyone',
+  logged_in: 'Signed in',
+  player: 'Linked players',
+  staff: 'Staff',
+  admin: 'Admins only',
+}
+
+const RUNG_HINT = {
+  anonymous: 'Visible to anyone, signed in or not.',
+  logged_in: 'Any signed-in account, linked or not.',
+  player: 'Accounts with a linked game account. Staff always qualify.',
+  staff: 'Admins and moderators.',
+  admin: 'Admins only.',
+}
+
+const FEATURE_LABEL = {
+  status: 'Shard status',
+  activity: 'Activity feed',
+  champs: 'Champion spawns',
+  guilds: 'Guilds',
+  governors: 'Town governors',
+  houses: 'Houses / IDOC',
+  presence: 'Players online',
+  ruleset: 'Shard rules',
+  atlas: 'Spawn atlas',
+  leaderboards: 'Leaderboards',
+  market: 'Marketplace',
+}
+
+const FEATURE_HINT = {
+  status: 'Connection state, online count, gold-supply series.',
+  activity: 'Deaths, kills, skill gains, quests, logins.',
+  champs: 'The live champion / mini-champ / sea-boss board.',
+  guilds: 'Guild rosters, alliances and leaders.',
+  governors: 'City Loyalty governors, elections and term history.',
+  houses: 'Houses in danger (IDOC). Owner and price are separate fields below.',
+  presence: 'Population aggregate and the staff-online widget.',
+  ruleset: 'Skill/stat caps, house limits, vet rewards and the rest of the ruleset.',
+  atlas: 'The spawn atlas and bestiary. Static shard content, not live state.',
+  leaderboards: 'Point and loyalty standings across every points system.',
+  market: 'The shard-wide player-vendor index.',
+}
+
+const FIELD_LABEL = {
+  owner: 'House owner',
+  price: 'House price',
+  location: 'In-game location (map + coordinates)',
+  connect: 'Server connect address',
+  characterName: 'Character names',
+  ownerName: 'Vendor owner name',
+}
+
+function RungSelect({ value, onChange, ladder, disabled }) {
+  return (
+    <select
+      className="input"
+      value={value}
+      disabled={disabled}
+      onChange={(e) => onChange(e.target.value)}
+      style={{ maxWidth: 200 }}
+    >
+      {ladder.map((rung) => (
+        <option key={rung} value={rung}>
+          {RUNG_LABEL[rung] || rung}
+        </option>
+      ))}
+    </select>
+  )
+}
+
+function FeatureRow({ name, settings, defaults, ladder, onPatch }) {
+  const fields = Object.entries(settings.fields || {})
+  const changed =
+    defaults &&
+    (settings.enabled !== defaults.enabled ||
+      settings.audience !== defaults.audience ||
+      settings.stream !== defaults.stream ||
+      JSON.stringify(settings.fields) !== JSON.stringify(defaults.fields))
+
+  return (
+    <div
+      style={{
+        border: '1px solid var(--line)',
+        borderRadius: 10,
+        padding: 16,
+        display: 'flex',
+        flexDirection: 'column',
+        gap: 12,
+        opacity: settings.enabled ? 1 : 0.62,
+      }}
+    >
+      <div style={{ display: 'flex', alignItems: 'flex-start', justifyContent: 'space-between', gap: 16 }}>
+        <div style={{ minWidth: 0 }}>
+          <h3 className="display" style={{ margin: 0, fontSize: '1rem', color: 'var(--head)' }}>
+            {FEATURE_LABEL[name] || name}
+            {changed && (
+              <span
+                className="sans"
+                style={{ marginLeft: 8, fontSize: '0.62rem', letterSpacing: '0.06em', textTransform: 'uppercase', color: 'var(--accent)' }}
+              >
+                changed
+              </span>
+            )}
+          </h3>
+          <p className="sans" style={{ margin: '4px 0 0', fontSize: '0.82rem', color: 'var(--muted)', lineHeight: 1.5 }}>
+            {FEATURE_HINT[name]}
+          </p>
+        </div>
+        <label
+          className="sans"
+          style={{ flex: 'none', display: 'inline-flex', alignItems: 'center', gap: 8, cursor: 'pointer', fontSize: '0.86rem', color: 'var(--ink)' }}
+        >
+          <input
+            type="checkbox"
+            checked={settings.enabled}
+            onChange={(e) => onPatch(name, { enabled: e.target.checked })}
+          />
+          Enabled
+        </label>
+      </div>
+
+      <div style={{ display: 'flex', flexWrap: 'wrap', gap: 20, alignItems: 'flex-end' }}>
+        <label style={{ display: 'block' }}>
+          <span className="field-label">Who can see it</span>
+          <RungSelect
+            value={settings.audience}
+            ladder={ladder}
+            disabled={!settings.enabled}
+            onChange={(audience) => onPatch(name, { audience })}
+          />
+          <span className="sans dim" style={{ display: 'block', marginTop: 4, fontSize: '0.75rem' }}>
+            {RUNG_HINT[settings.audience]}
+          </span>
+        </label>
+        <label
+          className="sans"
+          style={{ display: 'inline-flex', alignItems: 'center', gap: 8, cursor: 'pointer', fontSize: '0.86rem', color: 'var(--ink)', paddingBottom: 22 }}
+        >
+          <input
+            type="checkbox"
+            checked={settings.stream}
+            disabled={!settings.enabled}
+            onChange={(e) => onPatch(name, { stream: e.target.checked })}
+          />
+          Live updates
+        </label>
+      </div>
+
+      {fields.length > 0 && (
+        <div style={{ borderTop: '1px solid var(--line-soft)', paddingTop: 12 }}>
+          <span className="field-label" style={{ display: 'block', marginBottom: 8 }}>
+            Sensitive fields
+          </span>
+          <div style={{ display: 'flex', flexWrap: 'wrap', gap: 16 }}>
+            {fields.map(([field, rung]) => (
+              <label key={field} style={{ display: 'block' }}>
+                <span className="sans dim" style={{ display: 'block', fontSize: '0.78rem', marginBottom: 4 }}>
+                  {FIELD_LABEL[field] || field}
+                </span>
+                <RungSelect
+                  value={rung}
+                  ladder={ladder}
+                  disabled={!settings.enabled}
+                  onChange={(level) =>
+                    onPatch(name, { fieldRules: { ...settings.fields, [field]: level } })
+                  }
+                />
+              </label>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  )
+}
+
+export default function ShardVisibility() {
+  const [config, setConfig] = useState(null)
+  const [defaults, setDefaults] = useState(null)
+  const [ladder, setLadder] = useState([])
+  const [lockedFields, setLockedFields] = useState([])
+  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true)
+  const [error, setError] = useState('')
+  const [saving, setSaving] = useState(false)
+  const [msg, setMsg] = useState('')
+
+  const load = useCallback(async () => {
+    setLoading(true)
+    setError('')
+    try {
+      const data = await api.admin.getShardVisibility()
+      setConfig(data.features)
+      setDefaults(data.defaults)
+      setLadder(data.ladder || [])
+      setLockedFields(data.lockedFields || [])
+    } catch (err) {
+      setError(err.message || 'Could not load visibility settings.')
+    } finally {
+      setLoading(false)
+    }
+  }, [])
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    load()
+  }, [load])
+
+  function patch(name, changes) {
+    setMsg('')
+    setConfig((prev) => {
+      const next = { ...prev[name], ...changes }
+      // `fieldRules` in the API is `fields` in the effective config.
+      if (changes.fieldRules) {
+        next.fields = changes.fieldRules
+        delete next.fieldRules
+      }
+      return { ...prev, [name]: next }
+    })
+  }
+
+  async function save() {
+    setSaving(true)
+    setMsg('')
+    setError('')
+    try {
+      const body = {}
+      for (const [name, s] of Object.entries(config)) {
+        body[name] = {
+          enabled: s.enabled,
+          audience: s.audience,
+          stream: s.stream,
+          fieldRules: s.fields || {},
+        }
+      }
+      const data = await api.admin.saveShardVisibility(body)
+      setConfig(data.features)
+      setMsg('Saved. Changes take effect within a few seconds, including on open live streams.')
+    } catch (err) {
+      setError(err.message || 'Could not save.')
+    } finally {
+      setSaving(false)
+    }
+  }
+
+  function resetToDefaults() {
+    setMsg('')
+    setConfig(structuredClone(defaults))
+  }
+
+  if (loading) return <Loading />
+  if (error && !config) return <ErrorState message={error} onRetry={load} />
+
+  return (
+    <div style={{ display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', gap: 20 }}>
+      <header>
+        <h2 className="display" style={{ margin: 0, fontSize: '1.3rem', color: 'var(--head)' }}>
+          Shard visibility
+        </h2>
+        <p className="sans" style={{ margin: '6px 0 0', color: 'var(--muted)', fontSize: '0.88rem', lineHeight: 1.6, maxWidth: 760 }}>
+          Choose who can see each shard surface on the public site, and how much detail they get.
+          Turning a feature off hides it entirely — its pages return “not found” rather than
+          revealing that it exists. “Live updates” controls whether the feature streams changes in
+          real time; the pages still work without it, they just refresh on load.
+        </p>
+        {lockedFields.length > 0 && (
+          <p className="sans dim" style={{ margin: '8px 0 0', fontSize: '0.82rem', lineHeight: 1.6, maxWidth: 760 }}>
+            Not configurable: <strong style={{ color: 'var(--ink)' }}>{lockedFields.join(', ')}</strong> —
+            game account names and website user ids are never shown below admin, on any surface. They
+            aren’t visible in game either, so publishing them would disclose something the shard
+            itself doesn’t.
+          </p>
+        )}
+      </header>
+
+      <div style={{ display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', gap: 14 }}>
+        {Object.entries(config).map(([name, settings]) => (
+          <FeatureRow
+            key={name}
+            name={name}
+            settings={settings}
+            defaults={defaults?.[name]}
+            ladder={ladder}
+            onPatch={patch}
+          />
+        ))}
+      </div>
+
+      <div style={{ display: 'flex', gap: 10, alignItems: 'center', flexWrap: 'wrap' }}>
+        <button onClick={save} disabled={saving} className="btn btn-primary btn-sq">
+          {saving ? 'Saving…' : 'Save changes'}
+        </button>
+        <button onClick={resetToDefaults} disabled={saving} className="btn btn-sq">
+          Restore defaults
+        </button>
+        {msg && <span className="sans" style={{ color: '#7fd0a4', fontSize: '0.85rem' }}>{msg}</span>}
+        {error && <span className="sans" style={{ color: '#d98b84', fontSize: '0.85rem' }}>{error}</span>}
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/server/db/schema.sql b/server/db/schema.sql
index b8de326..09653f4 100644
--- a/server/db/schema.sql
+++ b/server/db/schema.sql
@@ -597,6 +597,29 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS shard_presence (
   CONSTRAINT chk_shard_presence_singleton CHECK (id = 1)
 ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;
 
+-- Per-feature visibility for every shard-derived surface (Protocol 3.0). One row
+-- per feature; an absent row means "use the compiled default", and the compiled
+-- defaults reproduce the behavior that shipped before v3 — so an empty table is
+-- a no-op. See utils/shardVisibility.js for the catalog and the ladder, and
+-- docs/link/v3.md §3 for the contract.
+--
+--   audience     the minimum rung on anonymous < logged_in < player < staff < admin
+--   stream       whether this feature's kinds fan out over SSE at all (the market
+--                index ships with this off: no page needs a live firehose of
+--                whole vendor inventories)
+--   field_rules  {"<field>": "<rung>"} for SENSITIVE fields only. `acct` and
+--                `webId` are admin-only always and are rejected here — they are
+--                not in-game visible and are deliberately not configurable.
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS shard_feature_visibility (
+  feature     VARCHAR(48) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
+  enabled     TINYINT(1)  NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+  audience    VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'anonymous',
+  stream      TINYINT(1)  NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
+  field_rules JSON        NULL,
+  updated_by  INT         NULL,
+  updated_at  DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;
+
 -- Admin email invites (Protocol 2.0 provisioning). A staff member invites someone
 -- by email at a pre-chosen access level; the invitee accepts via a tokened link,
 -- which creates their website user at that role (and optionally a linked game
diff --git a/server/routes.guards.json b/server/routes.guards.json
index c1f4b2f..fb863e2 100644
--- a/server/routes.guards.json
+++ b/server/routes.guards.json
@@ -782,6 +782,26 @@
         "validate"
       ]
     },
+    {
+      "method": "GET",
+      "path": "/api/v1/admin/shard/visibility",
+      "handlers": 2,
+      "gates": [
+        "noindex",
+        "requireAuth"
+      ]
+    },
+    {
+      "method": "PUT",
+      "path": "/api/v1/admin/shard/visibility",
+      "handlers": 4,
+      "gates": [
+        "noindex",
+        "requireAuth",
+        "middleware",
+        "validate"
+      ]
+    },
     {
       "method": "PUT",
       "path": "/api/v1/admin/site-mode",
@@ -1809,22 +1829,28 @@
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/champs",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/economy",
-      "handlers": 3,
+      "handlers": 4,
       "gates": [
         "middleware",
         "validate"
       ]
     },
+    {
+      "method": "GET",
+      "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/features",
+      "handlers": 1,
+      "gates": []
+    },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/feed",
-      "handlers": 4,
+      "handlers": 5,
       "gates": [
         "middleware",
         "validate"
@@ -1833,13 +1859,13 @@
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/governors",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/governors/:city/history",
-      "handlers": 4,
+      "handlers": 5,
       "gates": [
         "middleware",
         "validate"
@@ -1848,37 +1874,37 @@
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/guilds",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/houses",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/idoc",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/online",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/presence",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/status",
-      "handlers": 1,
+      "handlers": 2,
       "gates": []
     },
     {
diff --git a/server/routes.manifest.json b/server/routes.manifest.json
index 63a0207..69fb934 100644
--- a/server/routes.manifest.json
+++ b/server/routes.manifest.json
@@ -313,6 +313,14 @@
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/admin/shard/vendors/:account"
     },
+    {
+      "method": "GET",
+      "path": "/api/v1/admin/shard/visibility"
+    },
+    {
+      "method": "PUT",
+      "path": "/api/v1/admin/shard/visibility"
+    },
     {
       "method": "PUT",
       "path": "/api/v1/admin/site-mode"
@@ -737,6 +745,10 @@
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/economy"
     },
+    {
+      "method": "GET",
+      "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/features"
+    },
     {
       "method": "GET",
       "path": "/api/v1/public/shard/feed"
diff --git a/server/src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.db.js b/server/src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.db.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2294482
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.db.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+const { query } = require('../../utils/db')
+
+// One row per shard feature. Absent rows are fine — utils/shardVisibility.js
+// compiles a default for every known feature and merges stored rows over it, so
+// a fresh install with an empty table behaves exactly as the site did pre-v3.
+
+const COLS = 'feature, enabled, audience, stream, field_rules, updated_by, updated_at'
+
+const listAll = () => query(`SELECT ${COLS} FROM shard_feature_visibility`)
+
+const getOne = (feature) =>
+  query(`SELECT ${COLS} FROM shard_feature_visibility WHERE feature = ?`, [feature])
+
+// Upsert one feature's settings. `fieldRules` is stored as a JSON object of
+// {field: rung}; the caller has already stripped locked fields and validated
+// every rung against the ladder.
+const upsert = ({ feature, enabled, audience, stream, fieldRules, updatedBy }) =>
+  query(
+    `INSERT INTO shard_feature_visibility (feature, enabled, audience, stream, field_rules, updated_by)
+     VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)
+     ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
+       enabled     = VALUES(enabled),
+       audience    = VALUES(audience),
+       stream      = VALUES(stream),
+       field_rules = VALUES(field_rules),
+       updated_by  = VALUES(updated_by)`,
+    [
+      feature,
+      enabled ? 1 : 0,
+      audience,
+      stream ? 1 : 0,
+      fieldRules == null ? null : JSON.stringify(fieldRules),
+      updatedBy ?? null,
+    ],
+  )
+
+module.exports = { listAll, getOne, upsert }
diff --git a/server/src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.model.js b/server/src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.model.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..094989a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.model.js
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// ── Shard feature visibility (model) ───────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Thin row-shaping layer over shardVisibility.db. The policy — the ladder, the
+// feature catalog, the locked fields, the kind→feature map — lives in
+// utils/shardVisibility.js; this file only reads and writes rows.
+
+const db = require('./shardVisibility.db')
+
+// The `field_rules` JSON column comes back as a string on the mariadb driver.
+function parseRules(raw) {
+  if (raw == null) return {}
+  if (typeof raw === 'object') return raw
+  try {
+    const parsed = JSON.parse(raw)
+    return parsed && typeof parsed === 'object' && !Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed : {}
+  } catch {
+    return {}
+  }
+}
+
+const toSafe = (row) =>
+  row && {
+    feature: row.feature,
+    enabled: !!row.enabled,
+    audience: row.audience,
+    stream: row.stream == null ? null : !!row.stream,
+    fieldRules: parseRules(row.field_rules),
+    updatedBy: row.updated_by,
+    updatedAt: row.updated_at,
+  }
+
+async function listAll() {
+  const rows = await db.listAll()
+  return rows.map(toSafe)
+}
+
+async function getOne(feature) {
+  const rows = await db.getOne(feature)
+  return toSafe(rows[0])
+}
+
+const upsert = (entry) => db.upsert(entry)
+
+module.exports = { listAll, getOne, upsert }
diff --git a/server/src/router/v1/admin/shard.router.js b/server/src/router/v1/admin/shard.router.js
index 70a2ada..1a2d6c6 100644
--- a/server/src/router/v1/admin/shard.router.js
+++ b/server/src/router/v1/admin/shard.router.js
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ const express = require('express')
 const { body, param } = require('express-validator')
 
 const shardOps = require('./shardOps.controller')
+const shardVisibility = require('./shardVisibility.controller')
 const selfShard = require('../player/shard.controller')
 const { requireRole } = require('../../../utils/auth')
 const validate = require('../../../middleware/validate')
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@ const shardRouter = express.Router()
 
 // Moderator gate. Admins can do everything a moderator can.
 const modAccess = requireRole('admin', 'moderator')
+// Admin-only gate, for settings that decide what the PUBLIC sees.
+const adminOnly = requireRole('admin')
 
 // ── Game account linking (self-service, any staff role) ───────────────
 // Staff link their OWN in-game account here, exactly like players do under
@@ -232,4 +235,33 @@ shardRouter.get(
   shardOps.listHouses,
 )
 
+// ── Feature visibility (admin only) ───────────────────────────────────
+// Who can see which shard surface, and which sensitive fields within it. This
+// decides what ANONYMOUS visitors get, so it sits above the moderator tier.
+shardRouter.get(
+  '/visibility',
+  // #swagger.tags = ['Admin · Shard']
+  // #swagger.summary = 'Get per-feature shard visibility config (admin only)'
+  // #swagger.description = 'The effective config (compiled defaults merged with stored overrides) plus the vocabulary the admin UI renders from: the audience ladder and the always-locked fields. Defaults reproduce pre-v3 behavior.'
+  // #swagger.security = [{ "cookieAuth": [] }, { "bearerAuth": [] }]
+  /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'Visibility config', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardVisibilityConfig" } } } } */
+  /* #swagger.responses[403] = { description: 'Admin role required', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/Error" } } } } */
+  adminOnly,
+  shardVisibility.getVisibility,
+)
+shardRouter.put(
+  '/visibility',
+  // #swagger.tags = ['Admin · Shard']
+  // #swagger.summary = 'Update per-feature shard visibility config (admin only)'
+  // #swagger.description = 'Patch one or more features. Unknown feature names, unknown rungs, and any attempt to configure a locked field (acct / webId — admin-only always) are rejected with 400 rather than silently dropped.'
+  // #swagger.security = [{ "cookieAuth": [] }, { "bearerAuth": [] }]
+  /* #swagger.requestBody = { required: true, content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardVisibilityUpdate" } } } } */
+  /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'Updated config', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardVisibilityConfig" } } } } */
+  /* #swagger.responses[400] = { description: 'Unknown feature, rung, or a locked field', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/Error" } } } } */
+  adminOnly,
+  body('features').isObject(),
+  validate,
+  shardVisibility.putVisibility,
+)
+
 module.exports = shardRouter
diff --git a/server/src/router/v1/admin/shardVisibility.controller.js b/server/src/router/v1/admin/shardVisibility.controller.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62a31fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/router/v1/admin/shardVisibility.controller.js
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+// ── Admin · Shard visibility ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Read/write the per-feature audience config that gates every shard-derived
+// surface. Admin-only: this decides what anonymous visitors can see, so it is
+// not part of the moderator tier.
+//
+// The policy itself (the ladder, the feature catalog, which fields are locked)
+// lives in utils/shardVisibility.js. This controller only validates input
+// against that policy and persists it.
+
+const model = require('../../../model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.model')
+const visibility = require('../../../utils/shardVisibility')
+const log = require('../../../utils/logger')('admin-shard-visibility')
+
+// GET /admin/shard/visibility — the effective config (defaults merged with any
+// stored overrides), plus the vocabulary the admin UI needs to render itself:
+// the ladder, and which fields each feature exposes as configurable.
+async function getVisibility(req, res) {
+  try {
+    const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+    return res.json({
+      ladder: visibility.LADDER,
+      lockedFields: Object.keys(visibility.LOCKED_FIELDS),
+      defaults: visibility.compileDefaults(),
+      features: config,
+    })
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.error('getVisibility', err)
+    return res.status(500).json({ message: 'Internal Server Error' })
+  }
+}
+
+// PUT /admin/shard/visibility — replace the settings for one or more features.
+// Body: { features: { <name>: { enabled, audience, stream, fieldRules } } }
+//
+// Rejects unknown feature names, unknown rungs, and any attempt to configure a
+// locked field — a 400 rather than a silent drop, so an admin who tries to make
+// `acct` public learns that it is not negotiable.
+async function putVisibility(req, res) {
+  try {
+    const incoming = req.body?.features
+    if (!incoming || typeof incoming !== 'object' || Array.isArray(incoming)) {
+      return res.status(400).json({ message: 'features object required' })
+    }
+
+    const entries = []
+    for (const [name, patch] of Object.entries(incoming)) {
+      if (!visibility.isFeature(name)) {
+        return res.status(400).json({ message: `Unknown feature: ${name}` })
+      }
+      if (!patch || typeof patch !== 'object' || Array.isArray(patch)) {
+        return res.status(400).json({ message: `Invalid settings for ${name}` })
+      }
+      if (patch.audience != null && !visibility.isLevel(patch.audience)) {
+        return res.status(400).json({ message: `Unknown audience for ${name}: ${patch.audience}` })
+      }
+
+      const fieldRules = {}
+      for (const [field, level] of Object.entries(patch.fieldRules || {})) {
+        if (Object.hasOwn(visibility.LOCKED_FIELDS, field)) {
+          return res.status(400).json({ message: `Field '${field}' is admin-only and cannot be configured` })
+        }
+        if (!visibility.isLevel(level)) {
+          return res.status(400).json({ message: `Unknown rung for ${name}.${field}: ${level}` })
+        }
+        fieldRules[field] = level
+      }
+
+      const current = (await visibility.getConfig())[name]
+      entries.push({
+        feature: name,
+        enabled: patch.enabled == null ? current.enabled : !!patch.enabled,
+        audience: patch.audience ?? current.audience,
+        stream: patch.stream == null ? current.stream : !!patch.stream,
+        fieldRules,
+        updatedBy: req.user?.id ?? null,
+      })
+    }
+
+    for (const entry of entries) await model.upsert(entry)
+    visibility.invalidate()
+
+    log.info('shard visibility updated', {
+      by: req.user?.id,
+      features: entries.map((e) => e.feature),
+    })
+
+    return res.json({ features: await visibility.getConfig() })
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.error('putVisibility', err)
+    return res.status(500).json({ message: 'Internal Server Error' })
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = { getVisibility, putVisibility }
diff --git a/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.controller.js b/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.controller.js
index 64fbdf1..a0851bf 100644
--- a/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.controller.js
+++ b/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.controller.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ const shardEvents = require('../../../model/shardEvents/shardEvents.model')
 const shardState = require('../../../model/shardState/shardState.model')
 const uoLinkConfig = require('../../../model/uoLinkConfig/uoLinkConfig.model')
 const broadcast = require('../../../utils/shardBroadcast')
-const auth = require('../../../utils/auth')
+const visibility = require('../../../utils/shardVisibility')
 
 const log = require('../../../utils/logger')('public-shard')
 
@@ -72,18 +72,21 @@ async function getEconomy(req, res) {
 
 // GET /public/shard/online — players online now whose account is linked to a
 // STAFF website user (admin/editor/moderator). Everyone sees that a staff member
-// is online (name + serial); their in-game location (map + coordinates) is only
-// included for privileged viewers (admin/moderator) so it is never exposed to
-// players or the public via the network tab. Non-staff players are never listed.
-function canSeeStaffLocation(req) {
-  const viewer = auth.getUserFromRequest(req)
-  return !!viewer && (viewer.role === 'admin' || viewer.role === 'moderator')
+// is online (name + serial); their in-game location (map + coordinates) is gated
+// on the `presence` feature's `location` field rule, which defaults to `staff`
+// — the same admin/moderator set this used to hardcode. Non-staff players are
+// never listed.
+async function canSeeStaffLocation(req) {
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  const required = config.presence?.fields?.location || 'staff'
+  const level = req.viewerLevel || (await visibility.viewerLevel(req))
+  return visibility.meets(level, required)
 }
 
 async function getOnline(req, res) {
   try {
     const rows = await shardState.listOnlineLinked()
-    const showLocation = canSeeStaffLocation(req)
+    const showLocation = await canSeeStaffLocation(req)
     return res.json(
       rows.map((r) => {
         const entry = { serial: r.serial, name: r.name }
@@ -126,9 +129,13 @@ async function getChamps(req, res) {
 
 // GET /public/shard/guilds — the current guild board. Served from our store;
 // live via guild.update / guild.remove / guild.join on the public SSE stream.
+//
+// Projected: the stored payload is the raw guild.update frame, whose `leader`
+// actor carries `acct` and `webId`. Those are admin-only and were previously
+// returned verbatim to anonymous callers.
 async function getGuilds(req, res) {
   try {
-    return res.json(await shardState.listGuilds())
+    return res.json(await visibility.project('guilds', await shardState.listGuilds(), req))
   } catch (err) {
     log.error('shard.getGuilds', err)
     return res.status(500).json({ message: 'Internal Server Error' })
@@ -136,10 +143,11 @@ async function getGuilds(req, res) {
 }
 
 // GET /public/shard/governors — the current town-governor board (empty on shards
-// without City Loyalty). Live via city.update on the public SSE stream.
+// without City Loyalty). Live via city.update on the public SSE stream. Projected
+// for the same reason as getGuilds: `governor` / `governorElect` are actors.
 async function getGovernors(req, res) {
   try {
-    return res.json(await shardState.listGovernors())
+    return res.json(await visibility.project('governors', await shardState.listGovernors(), req))
   } catch (err) {
     log.error('shard.getGovernors', err)
     return res.status(500).json({ message: 'Internal Server Error' })
@@ -150,7 +158,8 @@ async function getGovernors(req, res) {
 // (look-back: "who were all the governors of Britain?"), newest first.
 async function getGovernorHistory(req, res) {
   try {
-    return res.json(await shardState.listGovernorHistory(req.params.city, req.query.limit))
+    const terms = await shardState.listGovernorHistory(req.params.city, req.query.limit)
+    return res.json(await visibility.project('governors', terms, req))
   } catch (err) {
     log.error('shard.getGovernorHistory', err)
     return res.status(500).json({ message: 'Internal Server Error' })
@@ -192,9 +201,25 @@ async function getHouses(req, res) {
   }
 }
 
-// GET /public/shard/stream — public live-event SSE channel (safe kinds only).
+// GET /public/shard/features — the shard features THIS caller can actually see,
+// so the SPA (and the Android client) can hide nav entries instead of rendering
+// links that 403. Deliberately reports only what the viewer may reach: the list
+// itself must not disclose the existence of a feature they're gated out of.
+async function getFeatures(req, res) {
+  try {
+    const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+    const level = await visibility.viewerLevel(req)
+    return res.json({ level, features: visibility.visibleFeatures(level, config) })
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.error('shard.getFeatures', err)
+    return res.status(500).json({ message: 'Internal Server Error' })
+  }
+}
+
+// GET /public/shard/stream — live-event SSE channel. What arrives depends on the
+// caller's audience rung, resolved once at subscribe time; see shardBroadcast.js.
 function stream(req, res) {
-  broadcast.subscribe(req, res, 'public')
+  return broadcast.subscribe(req, res, 'public')
 }
 
 module.exports = {
@@ -209,5 +234,6 @@ module.exports = {
   getGovernorHistory,
   getPresence,
   getHouses,
+  getFeatures,
   stream,
 }
diff --git a/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.router.js b/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.router.js
index 372a51a..338cc8b 100644
--- a/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.router.js
+++ b/server/src/router/v1/public/shard.router.js
@@ -10,19 +10,28 @@
 // visitors *and* by the Android ShardStreamClient, neither of which sends an
 // Authorization header; adding requireAuth here blacks out the public live boards
 // on web and mobile. The sensitive kinds (staff audit, cheat detection, login
-// attempts, IPs) are withheld by the allowlist in utils/shardBroadcast.js, not by
-// a route gate — that allowlist split is the security boundary, not this file.
+// attempts, IPs) are withheld by utils/shardBroadcast.js, not by a route gate —
+// that per-frame filtering is the security boundary, not this file. /stream is
+// deliberately NOT wrapped in requireFeature either: it spans every feature, and
+// each frame is gated individually against the subscriber's rung.
+//
+// Every other route carries `requireFeature(<name>)` (utils/shardVisibility.js),
+// which 404s when an admin has disabled the feature and 403s when the caller sits
+// below its configured audience. Defaults reproduce pre-v3 behavior exactly, so
+// these gates are inert until an admin changes something.
 
 const express = require('express')
 const { param, query } = require('express-validator')
 
 const shard = require('./shard.controller')
 const validate = require('../../../middleware/validate')
+const { requireFeature } = require('../../../utils/shardVisibility')
 
 const shardRouter = express.Router()
 
 shardRouter.get(
   '/status',
+  requireFeature('status'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Shard connection state, online count and latest economy'
   /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'Shard status', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardStatus" } } } } */
@@ -30,6 +39,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/feed',
+  requireFeature('activity'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Recent notable shard events (from the ingested log)'
   // #swagger.parameters['kind'] = { in: 'query', required: false, schema: { type: 'string' }, description: 'Filter to a single event kind, e.g. vendor.sale.' }
@@ -42,6 +52,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/economy',
+  requireFeature('status'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Gold-supply time series (oldest → newest)'
   // #swagger.parameters['limit'] = { in: 'query', required: false, schema: { type: 'integer' }, description: 'Max samples (default 100, max 1000).' }
@@ -52,6 +63,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/online',
+  requireFeature('presence'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Staff online now (linked staff accounts; location is admin/moderator-only)'
   /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'Online players', content: { "application/json": { schema: { type: "array", items: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardOnlinePlayer" } } } } } */
@@ -59,6 +71,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/idoc',
+  requireFeature('houses'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Houses currently in danger (IDOC)'
   /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'IDOC houses', content: { "application/json": { schema: { type: "array", items: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardHouse" } } } } } */
@@ -66,6 +79,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/champs',
+  requireFeature('champs'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Current champion-spawn board (all categories)'
   // #swagger.description = 'The live board of every champion / mini-champ / sea-boss spawn. Update in place via the champ.update / champ.remove frames on /shard/stream.'
@@ -74,6 +88,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/guilds',
+  requireFeature('guilds'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Current guild board (rosters, alliances, leaders)'
   // #swagger.description = 'The live board of every guild. Update in place via the guild.update / guild.remove / guild.join frames on /shard/stream.'
@@ -82,6 +97,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/governors',
+  requireFeature('governors'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Current town-governor board (City Loyalty)'
   // #swagger.description = 'One entry per city with its governor and election phase. Empty if the shard does not run the City Loyalty system. Live via city.update on /shard/stream.'
@@ -90,6 +106,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/governors/:city/history',
+  requireFeature('governors'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Governor term history for a city'
   // #swagger.parameters['city'] = { in: 'path', required: true, schema: { type: 'string' }, description: 'City name, e.g. Britain.' }
@@ -102,6 +119,7 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/presence',
+  requireFeature('presence'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'Online population aggregate (count + per-facet + per-region)'
   // #swagger.description = 'The latest presence.online snapshot powering the "Players Online" widget. Live via presence.online on /shard/stream.'
@@ -110,17 +128,26 @@ shardRouter.get(
 )
 shardRouter.get(
   '/houses',
+  requireFeature('houses'),
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
   // #swagger.summary = 'House registry (owner, co-owners, price, decay)'
   // #swagger.description = 'Every house seen via the house.update registry feed. `price` is the placement value, not a for-sale flag. Live via house.update / house.remove on /shard/stream.'
   /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'Houses, ordered by name', content: { "application/json": { schema: { type: "array", items: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardHouse" } } } } } */
   shard.getHouses,
 )
+shardRouter.get(
+  '/features',
+  // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
+  // #swagger.summary = 'Shard features visible to the caller (drives client nav)'
+  // #swagger.description = 'The caller\'s audience rung plus the shard features they may reach, so a client can hide nav entries instead of rendering links that 403. Reports only what the caller can see — the list itself does not disclose gated features.'
+  /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'Visible features', content: { "application/json": { schema: { $ref: "#/components/schemas/ShardFeatures" } } } } */
+  shard.getFeatures,
+)
 shardRouter.get(
   '/stream',
   // #swagger.tags = ['Public · Shard']
-  // #swagger.summary = 'Live shard event stream (Server-Sent Events, public/safe kinds)'
-  // #swagger.description = 'text/event-stream of curated live events. Sensitive kinds (staff audit, cheat detection, login attempts, IPs) are NOT sent on this channel.'
+  // #swagger.summary = 'Live shard event stream (Server-Sent Events, filtered by audience)'
+  // #swagger.description = 'text/event-stream of live events. The caller\'s audience rung is resolved once at subscribe time and frozen for the connection; each frame is then gated on its feature and field-projected, so sensitive kinds and fields (staff audit, cheat detection, login attempts, IPs, acct/webId) never reach a caller below their configured rung.'
   /* #swagger.responses[200] = { description: 'An SSE stream (Content-Type: text/event-stream).' } */
   shard.stream,
 )
diff --git a/server/src/utils/shardBroadcast.js b/server/src/utils/shardBroadcast.js
index ab1542e..ea5941f 100644
--- a/server/src/utils/shardBroadcast.js
+++ b/server/src/utils/shardBroadcast.js
@@ -2,67 +2,66 @@
 //
 // The browser can't talk to the sidecar's WebSocket directly (the token must
 // never reach it, and the WS may be on another host). Instead the server ingests
-// the WS feed and re-broadcasts curated events to browsers over Server-Sent
-// Events (plain HTTP — works through any reverse proxy).
+// the WS feed and re-broadcasts events to browsers over Server-Sent Events
+// (plain HTTP — works through any reverse proxy).
 //
-// Two channels:
-//   • public — safe kinds only (sales, deaths, IDOC, logins, economy). No IPs,
-//     no account-login attempts, no staff audit / cheat events.
-//   • admin  — everything, including the sensitive kinds above.
+// Since Protocol 3.0 the split is no longer "one public channel with a static
+// allowlist plus one admin channel". Each subscriber carries the audience rung
+// it resolved to at subscribe time, and every frame is
+//
+//   1. mapped kind → feature (an UNMAPPED kind reaches nobody below admin —
+//      fail closed; see utils/shardVisibility.js rule 2),
+//   2. gated on that feature being enabled, streamed, and within the viewer's
+//      rung, and
+//   3. passed through field projection, so `acct` / `webId` and any field an
+//      admin has re-gated are stripped per viewer.
+//
+// **This is the security boundary.** It used to be the PUBLIC_KINDS set in this
+// file; it is now the kind map plus the visibility config. PUBLIC_KINDS still
+// exists and is still exported, but it is now DERIVED from the kind map (see
+// shardVisibility.js) so the two can no longer drift.
 //
 // shardIngest calls broadcast(event) for each ingested event; the public/admin
 // SSE route handlers call subscribe(req, res, channel).
 
+const visibility = require('./shardVisibility')
 const log = require('./logger')('shard-broadcast')
 
-// Kinds safe to expose to unauthenticated browsers. Note: vendor.sale is
-// deliberately NOT here — sales are owner-private (a linked player sees only
-// their own, via /player/shard/sales).
-const PUBLIC_KINDS = new Set([
-  'player.death',
-  'player.murdered',
-  'mob.killed',
-  'house.decay',
-  'quest.complete',
-  'skill.gain',
-  'fame.change',
-  'karma.change',
-  'mob.login',
-  'mob.logout',
-  'economy.supply',
-  'server.hello',
-  'server.shutdown',
-  'server.crashed',
-  // Champion-spawn board deltas — the public Champions page renders these live.
-  'champ.update',
-  'champ.remove',
-  // Protocol 2.0 boards — public, rendered live on their respective pages.
-  'guild.update',
-  'guild.remove',
-  'guild.join',
-  'city.update',
-  'presence.online',
-  'region.enter',
-  // NOTE: house.update / house.remove (the full registry — owner, price, co-owners)
-  // are deliberately NOT public. The public Houses page shows only IDOC houses (via
-  // house.decay, which is public above) with location only; the full registry is
-  // staff-only and rides the admin SSE channel. See public/shard.controller getHouses.
-])
+// Re-exported for back-compat: shardEvents `/feed` filtering and
+// config/notificationStreams.js both ask "is this kind public-safe?".
+const { PUBLIC_KINDS } = visibility
 
-// Open response streams per channel.
+// Open streams. Each entry is { res, level }. The admin bucket is kept separate
+// because it is unconditional and must not depend on a config read.
 const clients = { public: new Set(), admin: new Set() }
 
 const KEEPALIVE_MS = 25000
 
 // Register an SSE stream on a channel. Sets the SSE headers, sends an initial
 // comment, keeps the connection warm with periodic pings, and cleans up on close.
-function subscribe(req, res, channel) {
+//
+// The viewer's rung is resolved ONCE, here, and frozen for the life of the
+// connection — a long-lived stream must not silently gain privilege because the
+// caller's session changed underneath it. (Config changes, by contrast, DO take
+// effect live: the config is read per broadcast, cached ~5s.)
+async function subscribe(req, res, channel) {
   const bucket = clients[channel]
   if (!bucket) {
     res.status(400).end()
     return
   }
 
+  let level = 'admin'
+  if (channel === 'public') {
+    try {
+      level = await visibility.viewerLevel(req)
+    } catch (err) {
+      // Fail closed: an unresolvable viewer is anonymous, not privileged.
+      log.warn('viewerLevel failed on subscribe; treating as anonymous', { message: err.message })
+      level = 'anonymous'
+    }
+  }
+
   res.writeHead(200, {
     'Content-Type': 'text/event-stream',
     'Cache-Control': 'no-cache, no-transform',
@@ -72,9 +71,10 @@ function subscribe(req, res, channel) {
   res.write('retry: 5000\n\n') // tell EventSource to reconnect after 5s if dropped
   res.write(': connected\n\n')
 
-  bucket.add(res)
+  const client = { res, level, ping: null }
+  bucket.add(client)
 
-  const ping = setInterval(() => {
+  client.ping = setInterval(() => {
     try {
       res.write(': ping\n\n')
     } catch {
@@ -82,45 +82,80 @@ function subscribe(req, res, channel) {
     }
   }, KEEPALIVE_MS)
 
-  const cleanup = () => {
-    clearInterval(ping)
-    bucket.delete(res)
-  }
+  const cleanup = () => drop(bucket, client)
   req.on('close', cleanup)
   res.on('error', cleanup)
 }
 
-function writeTo(bucket, payload) {
-  for (const res of bucket) {
-    try {
-      res.write(payload)
-    } catch (err) {
-      log.warn('sse write failed; dropping client', { message: err.message })
-      bucket.delete(res)
-    }
+// The ONLY way a client leaves a bucket. Clearing the keepalive here (rather
+// than only in the close handler) matters: a client dropped because its write
+// threw never fires `req.close`, so its interval would otherwise keep firing on
+// a dead socket for the life of the process.
+function drop(bucket, client) {
+  clearInterval(client.ping)
+  bucket.delete(client)
+}
+
+function writeTo(bucket, client, payload) {
+  try {
+    client.res.write(payload)
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.warn('sse write failed; dropping client', { message: err.message })
+    drop(bucket, client)
   }
 }
 
-// Fan an ingested event out to the admin channel (always) and the public
-// channel (safe kinds only). A no-op when nobody is subscribed.
-function broadcast(event) {
+// Fan an ingested event out. The admin channel gets it verbatim, always. Public
+// subscribers are filtered and projected per their own rung — so two viewers on
+// the same channel can legitimately receive different versions of one frame, or
+// one of them nothing at all.
+async function broadcast(event) {
   if (!event || !event.kind) return
-  const frame = `data: ${JSON.stringify(event)}\n\n`
-  if (clients.admin.size) writeTo(clients.admin, frame)
-  if (clients.public.size && PUBLIC_KINDS.has(event.kind)) writeTo(clients.public, frame)
+
+  if (clients.admin.size) {
+    const frame = `data: ${JSON.stringify(event)}\n\n`
+    for (const client of [...clients.admin]) writeTo(clients.admin, client, frame)
+  }
+
+  if (!clients.public.size) return
+
+  let config
+  try {
+    config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Fail closed: without a config we cannot prove a frame is safe to send.
+    log.error('visibility config unavailable; withholding public frame', err)
+    return
+  }
+
+  // Most frames land on one rung set, so cache the serialised payload per level
+  // instead of re-projecting and re-stringifying for every subscriber.
+  const byLevel = new Map()
+  for (const client of [...clients.public]) {
+    let frame = byLevel.get(client.level)
+    if (frame === undefined) {
+      frame = visibility.kindVisibleTo(event.kind, client.level, config)
+        ? `data: ${JSON.stringify(visibility.projectFeature(visibility.KIND_FEATURE.get(event.kind), event, client.level, config))}\n\n`
+        : null
+      byLevel.set(client.level, frame)
+    }
+    if (frame) writeTo(clients.public, client, frame)
+  }
 }
 
-// Close every open stream (graceful shutdown).
+// Close every open stream (graceful shutdown). Clears each keepalive timer too —
+// without that the intervals keep the event loop alive after the streams are
+// gone, and the process won't exit.
 function closeAll() {
-  for (const channel of Object.values(clients)) {
-    for (const res of channel) {
+  for (const bucket of Object.values(clients)) {
+    for (const client of [...bucket]) {
+      drop(bucket, client)
       try {
-        res.end()
+        client.res.end()
       } catch {
         /* ignore */
       }
     }
-    channel.clear()
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/server/src/utils/shardIngest.js b/server/src/utils/shardIngest.js
index 4f0675e..08ac7ba 100644
--- a/server/src/utils/shardIngest.js
+++ b/server/src/utils/shardIngest.js
@@ -229,11 +229,12 @@ async function ingest(event, deps = {}) {
   }
 
   if (!deps.fromBackfill) {
-    try {
-      d.broadcast(event)
-    } catch (err) {
-      d.log.warn('broadcast failed', { kind: event.kind, message: err.message })
-    }
+    // Broadcast is async since v3 (it reads the visibility config to decide what
+    // each subscriber may see). Fire-and-forget, like the push fan-out below: a
+    // slow config read must never delay or fail ingest.
+    Promise.resolve(d.broadcast(event)).catch((err) =>
+      d.log.warn('broadcast failed', { kind: event.kind, message: err.message }),
+    )
     // Opt-in push fan-out, off the same event source as the SSE broadcast.
     // Fire-and-forget (a slow/dead ntfy relay must never delay or fail ingest);
     // fromShardEvent is self-guarding, but .catch() covers any lookup rejection.
diff --git a/server/src/utils/shardVisibility.js b/server/src/utils/shardVisibility.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..70d8c39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/utils/shardVisibility.js
@@ -0,0 +1,358 @@
+// ── Shard feature visibility ───────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Admin-configurable, per-feature and per-field audience control over every
+// shard-derived surface on the site. Replaces the hardcoded split that used to
+// live in two places (the PUBLIC_KINDS allowlist in shardBroadcast.js, and the
+// ad-hoc `canSeeStaffLocation` style checks in the public controllers).
+//
+// Design rules (docs/link/v3.md §3):
+//
+//   • Visibility lives HERE, on the website — never in the sidecar. The sidecar
+//     is a dumb forwarder: it accepts frames, stores them, forwards them
+//     verbatim, and serves store-backed reads. It defines no audiences.
+//   • Every default reproduces the behavior that shipped before this module, so
+//     installing it changes nothing until an admin edits the config.
+//   • Two rules an admin CANNOT override:
+//       1. `acct` / `webId` are admin-only, always. They are not in-game
+//          visible (unlike a character name) and are not configurable fields.
+//       2. A kind absent from KIND_FEATURE is never broadcast below `admin`.
+//          Fail closed — this is what keeps the kind map a security boundary
+//          rather than a convenience filter.
+//
+// The audience ladder is ordered; each rung implies the ones below it.
+
+const db = require('../model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.model')
+const shardLinks = require('../model/shardLinks/shardLinks.model')
+const auth = require('./auth')
+const log = require('./logger')('shard-visibility')
+
+// ── The ladder ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const LADDER = ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff', 'admin']
+const RANK = new Map(LADDER.map((level, i) => [level, i]))
+
+const isLevel = (level) => RANK.has(level)
+
+// The two fallbacks are deliberately ASYMMETRIC, and the asymmetry is the whole
+// point: an unrecognised value must always lose. A single shared fallback cannot
+// do that — whichever direction it picks, it fails open on one side. So:
+//
+//   • an unknown VIEWER level floors to the bottom rung (grants nothing), and
+//   • an unknown REQUIREMENT ceils to the top rung (satisfied by nobody but admin).
+//
+// With one `rank()` defaulting to admin, a viewer level that fell through (a
+// typo, a future rung this build doesn't know, a value from a caller that
+// skipped viewerLevel) would have been treated as an ADMIN and passed every gate.
+const viewerRank = (level) => RANK.get(level) ?? 0
+const requiredRank = (level) => RANK.get(level) ?? RANK.get('admin')
+
+// True when a viewer at `viewer` satisfies a requirement of `required`.
+const meets = (viewer, required) => viewerRank(viewer) >= requiredRank(required)
+
+// Exported for tests/diagnostics; `meets` is what callers should use.
+const rank = viewerRank
+
+// ── Features ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// All ten shard surfaces: the six that shipped before v3 plus the four v3 adds.
+// `fields` lists only the SENSITIVE fields — those an admin may re-gate. A field
+// not listed here is visible whenever the feature itself is.
+//
+// LOCKED_FIELDS are exempt from configuration entirely (rule 1 above).
+
+const LOCKED_FIELDS = { acct: 'admin', webId: 'admin' }
+
+const FEATURES = {
+  // ── Shipped before v3. Defaults reproduce the previous hardcoded behavior. ──
+  status: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: {} },
+  activity: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: {} },
+  champs: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: {} },
+  guilds: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: {} },
+  governors: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: {} },
+  // The public Houses page showed IDOC location only; owner/price were staff.
+  houses: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: { owner: 'staff', price: 'staff' } },
+  // /public/shard/online listed linked staff to everyone but gated location to
+  // admin+moderator — which is exactly the `staff` rung.
+  presence: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: { location: 'staff' } },
+
+  // ── New in v3. ──
+  ruleset: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: { connect: 'anonymous' } },
+  atlas: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: {} },
+  leaderboards: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: { characterName: 'anonymous' } },
+  // Shop name, owner character name and vendor location are already globally
+  // visible in-game via the stock Vendor Search gump, so publishing them is not
+  // a new disclosure — but they stay configurable so an admin can tighten them.
+  market: { audience: 'anonymous', fields: { ownerName: 'anonymous', location: 'anonymous' } },
+}
+
+const FEATURE_NAMES = Object.keys(FEATURES)
+const isFeature = (name) => Object.hasOwn(FEATURES, name)
+
+// ── Kind → feature ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// Every event kind that may ever leave the admin channel must appear here.
+// Anything else is admin-only by omission (rule 2). This map is seeded from
+// what PUBLIC_KINDS listed before v3, so the public stream carries exactly the
+// same kinds it did — now attributed to a feature that an admin can re-gate.
+
+const KIND_FEATURE = new Map(
+  Object.entries({
+    // status / lifecycle
+    'server.hello': 'status',
+    'server.shutdown': 'status',
+    'server.crashed': 'status',
+    'economy.supply': 'status',
+    // activity feed
+    'player.death': 'activity',
+    'player.murdered': 'activity',
+    'mob.killed': 'activity',
+    'quest.complete': 'activity',
+    'skill.gain': 'activity',
+    'fame.change': 'activity',
+    'karma.change': 'activity',
+    'mob.login': 'activity',
+    'mob.logout': 'activity',
+    // boards
+    'champ.update': 'champs',
+    'champ.remove': 'champs',
+    'guild.update': 'guilds',
+    'guild.remove': 'guilds',
+    'guild.join': 'guilds',
+    'city.update': 'governors',
+    'presence.online': 'presence',
+    'region.enter': 'presence',
+    // house.decay is the IDOC signal the public Houses page renders. The full
+    // registry (house.update / house.remove — owner, price, co-owners) stays
+    // off the map deliberately, so it remains admin-only exactly as before.
+    'house.decay': 'houses',
+    // v3
+    'world.ruleset': 'ruleset',
+    'points.board': 'leaderboards',
+    // vendor.listing IS mapped, but the market feature ships with its stream
+    // disabled (see DEFAULT_STREAM_OFF): a live firehose of full vendor
+    // inventories would be the site's biggest bandwidth consumer and no page
+    // needs it live. An admin can turn it on.
+    'vendor.listing': 'market',
+    'vendor.listing.remove': 'market',
+  }),
+)
+
+// Features whose SSE fan-out is off unless an admin enables it. The REST reads
+// are unaffected; only the live stream is suppressed.
+const DEFAULT_STREAM_OFF = new Set(['market'])
+
+// Back-compat: the set of kinds that reach an anonymous viewer under the default
+// config. shardEvents `/feed` filtering and notificationStreams.js both consume
+// this. Derived from the map above rather than hand-maintained, so the two can
+// no longer drift.
+const PUBLIC_KINDS = new Set(
+  [...KIND_FEATURE.entries()]
+    .filter(([, feature]) => {
+      if (DEFAULT_STREAM_OFF.has(feature)) return false
+      return FEATURES[feature].audience === 'anonymous'
+    })
+    .map(([kind]) => kind),
+)
+
+// ── Config (DB-backed, cached) ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const CONFIG_TTL_MS = 5000
+let cache = null
+let cachedAt = 0
+
+// Merge a stored row over its compiled default. Unknown feature names in the DB
+// are ignored (a stale row from a removed feature must not resurrect it), and an
+// invalid rung falls back to the default rather than failing open.
+function applyRow(name, row) {
+  const base = FEATURES[name]
+  const audience = isLevel(row?.audience) ? row.audience : base.audience
+  const fields = { ...base.fields }
+  for (const [field, level] of Object.entries(row?.fieldRules || {})) {
+    if (Object.hasOwn(LOCKED_FIELDS, field)) continue // rule 1: not configurable
+    if (isLevel(level)) fields[field] = level
+  }
+  return {
+    enabled: row ? !!row.enabled : true,
+    audience,
+    fields,
+    stream: row?.stream == null ? !DEFAULT_STREAM_OFF.has(name) : !!row.stream,
+  }
+}
+
+function compileDefaults() {
+  const out = {}
+  for (const name of FEATURE_NAMES) out[name] = applyRow(name, null)
+  return out
+}
+
+// Read the config, cached briefly. Falls back to compiled defaults if the DB is
+// unreachable — the defaults reproduce pre-v3 behavior, so a DB blip degrades to
+// "what the site did before" rather than to "everything is public".
+async function getConfig() {
+  const now = Date.now()
+  if (cache && now - cachedAt < CONFIG_TTL_MS) return cache
+  try {
+    const rows = await db.listAll()
+    const byName = new Map(rows.map((r) => [r.feature, r]))
+    const out = {}
+    for (const name of FEATURE_NAMES) out[name] = applyRow(name, byName.get(name))
+    cache = out
+    cachedAt = now
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.error('getConfig; falling back to defaults', err)
+    cache = cache || compileDefaults()
+    cachedAt = now
+  }
+  return cache
+}
+
+const invalidate = () => {
+  cache = null
+  cachedAt = 0
+}
+
+// ── Viewer level ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+//
+// anonymous  no session
+// logged_in  authenticated, no linked game account
+// player     authenticated with a linked game account
+// staff      admin | moderator — the same set as the existing `modAccess` gate.
+//            `editor` is a CONTENT role with no shard privilege today, so it
+//            resolves by link status like any other member; mapping it to staff
+//            here would silently widen what editors can see.
+// admin      admin
+//
+// Staff always satisfy the `player` rung (rank order guarantees it) even without
+// a linked account, matching the existing rule that /player/* is role-agnostic
+// self-service.
+
+// Same TTL as the config cache: this decides a privilege rung, so an unlinked
+// (or newly relinked) account must not keep the old answer for long. Anonymous,
+// staff and admin callers short-circuit before this runs, so the lookup only
+// costs a query on the logged-in-member path.
+const LINK_TTL_MS = CONFIG_TTL_MS
+const linkCache = new Map() // userId → { hasLink, at }
+
+async function hasLinkedAccount(userId) {
+  const hit = linkCache.get(userId)
+  const now = Date.now()
+  if (hit && now - hit.at < LINK_TTL_MS) return hit.hasLink
+  let hasLink = false
+  try {
+    const links = await shardLinks.listForUser(userId)
+    hasLink = Array.isArray(links) && links.length > 0
+  } catch (err) {
+    log.warn('hasLinkedAccount failed; treating as unlinked', { message: err.message })
+  }
+  linkCache.set(userId, { hasLink, at: now })
+  return hasLink
+}
+
+// Drop a user's cached link status (called when a link is created or removed so
+// the rung takes effect immediately rather than up to LINK_TTL_MS later).
+const forgetUser = (userId) => linkCache.delete(userId)
+
+async function viewerLevel(req) {
+  const viewer = req.user || auth.getUserFromRequest(req)
+  if (!viewer) return 'anonymous'
+  if (viewer.role === 'admin') return 'admin'
+  if (viewer.role === 'moderator') return 'staff'
+  return (await hasLinkedAccount(viewer.id)) ? 'player' : 'logged_in'
+}
+
+// ── Enforcement ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+// Route gate. 404 when the feature is disabled (do not leak that it exists);
+// 403 when it exists but the viewer sits below its audience. Stashes the
+// resolved level on the request so controllers can project without re-resolving.
+function requireFeature(name) {
+  return async (req, res, next) => {
+    try {
+      const config = await getConfig()
+      const feature = config[name]
+      if (!feature || !feature.enabled) return res.status(404).json({ message: 'Not Found' })
+      const level = await viewerLevel(req)
+      req.viewerLevel = level
+      if (!meets(level, feature.audience)) return res.status(403).json({ message: 'Forbidden' })
+      return next()
+    } catch (err) {
+      log.error(`requireFeature(${name})`, err)
+      return res.status(500).json({ message: 'Internal Server Error' })
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+// Strip the fields a viewer at `level` may not see. Applies the locked rules
+// first (so acct/webId can never survive below admin), then the feature's
+// configured field rules. Recurses into arrays and nested objects because the
+// sensitive fields sit inside actor sub-objects (guild.leader, city.governor).
+function projectValue(value, rules, level) {
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return value.map((v) => projectValue(v, rules, level))
+  if (!value || typeof value !== 'object') return value
+  const out = {}
+  for (const [key, v] of Object.entries(value)) {
+    const required = rules[key]
+    if (required && !meets(level, required)) continue
+    out[key] = projectValue(v, rules, level)
+  }
+  return out
+}
+
+// Project a payload for one feature. `level` defaults to admin-equivalent only
+// when explicitly passed; callers should always pass a resolved level.
+function projectFeature(name, payload, level, config) {
+  const feature = config?.[name]
+  const rules = { ...LOCKED_FIELDS, ...(feature ? feature.fields : {}) }
+  return projectValue(payload, rules, level)
+}
+
+// Convenience for controllers: resolve config once, project, return.
+async function project(name, payload, req) {
+  const config = await getConfig()
+  const level = req.viewerLevel || (await viewerLevel(req))
+  return projectFeature(name, payload, level, config)
+}
+
+// Is this event kind allowed to reach a viewer at `level`? Fail closed on an
+// unmapped kind (rule 2), and honour both the feature gate and its stream flag.
+function kindVisibleTo(kind, level, config) {
+  if (level === 'admin') return true
+  const name = KIND_FEATURE.get(kind)
+  if (!name) return false // rule 2: unmapped ⇒ admin-only
+  const feature = config?.[name]
+  if (!feature || !feature.enabled || !feature.stream) return false
+  return meets(level, feature.audience)
+}
+
+// The features a viewer at `level` can actually see — drives SPA nav so it never
+// renders a link that would 403.
+function visibleFeatures(level, config) {
+  return FEATURE_NAMES.filter((name) => {
+    const feature = config[name]
+    return feature.enabled && meets(level, feature.audience)
+  })
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  LADDER,
+  FEATURES,
+  FEATURE_NAMES,
+  LOCKED_FIELDS,
+  KIND_FEATURE,
+  PUBLIC_KINDS,
+  DEFAULT_STREAM_OFF,
+  isLevel,
+  isFeature,
+  rank,
+  meets,
+  getConfig,
+  invalidate,
+  compileDefaults,
+  viewerLevel,
+  forgetUser,
+  requireFeature,
+  projectFeature,
+  project,
+  kindVisibleTo,
+  visibleFeatures,
+}
diff --git a/server/swagger/swagger-output.json b/server/swagger/swagger-output.json
index 72b23d2..a29ac8f 100644
--- a/server/swagger/swagger-output.json
+++ b/server/swagger/swagger-output.json
@@ -4368,6 +4368,98 @@
         ]
       }
     },
+    "/api/v1/admin/shard/visibility": {
+      "get": {
+        "tags": [
+          "Admin · Shard"
+        ],
+        "summary": "Get per-feature shard visibility config (admin only)",
+        "description": "The effective config (compiled defaults merged with stored overrides) plus the vocabulary the admin UI renders from: the audience ladder and the always-locked fields. Defaults reproduce pre-v3 behavior.",
+        "responses": {
+          "200": {
+            "description": "Visibility config",
+            "content": {
+              "application/json": {
+                "schema": {
+                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ShardVisibilityConfig"
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Admin role required",
+            "content": {
+              "application/json": {
+                "schema": {
+                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Error"
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal Server Error"
+          }
+        },
+        "security": [
+          {
+            "cookieAuth": []
+          },
+          {
+            "bearerAuth": []
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "put": {
+        "tags": [
+          "Admin · Shard"
+        ],
+        "summary": "Update per-feature shard visibility config (admin only)",
+        "description": "Patch one or more features. Unknown feature names, unknown rungs, and any attempt to configure a locked field (acct / webId — admin-only always) are rejected with 400 rather than silently dropped.",
+        "responses": {
+          "200": {
+            "description": "Updated config",
+            "content": {
+              "application/json": {
+                "schema": {
+                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ShardVisibilityConfig"
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          },
+          "400": {
+            "description": "Unknown feature, rung, or a locked field",
+            "content": {
+              "application/json": {
+                "schema": {
+                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/Error"
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal Server Error"
+          }
+        },
+        "security": [
+          {
+            "cookieAuth": []
+          },
+          {
+            "bearerAuth": []
+          }
+        ],
+        "requestBody": {
+          "required": true,
+          "content": {
+            "application/json": {
+              "schema": {
+                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ShardVisibilityUpdate"
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "/api/v1/admin/site-mode": {
       "put": {
         "tags": [
@@ -10849,6 +10941,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -10890,6 +10988,36 @@
           "400": {
             "description": "Bad Request"
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
+          "500": {
+            "description": "Internal Server Error"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "/api/v1/public/shard/features": {
+      "get": {
+        "tags": [
+          "Public · Shard"
+        ],
+        "summary": "Shard features visible to the caller (drives client nav)",
+        "description": "The caller\\'s audience rung plus the shard features they may reach, so a client can hide nav entries instead of rendering links that 403. Reports only what the caller can see — the list itself does not disclose gated features.",
+        "responses": {
+          "200": {
+            "description": "Visible features",
+            "content": {
+              "application/json": {
+                "schema": {
+                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ShardFeatures"
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -10940,6 +11068,12 @@
           "400": {
             "description": "Bad Request"
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -10968,6 +11102,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11019,6 +11159,12 @@
           "400": {
             "description": "Bad Request"
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11047,6 +11193,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11074,6 +11226,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11101,6 +11259,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11128,6 +11292,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11153,6 +11323,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11177,6 +11353,12 @@
               }
             }
           },
+          "403": {
+            "description": "Forbidden"
+          },
+          "404": {
+            "description": "Not Found"
+          },
           "500": {
             "description": "Internal Server Error"
           }
@@ -11188,8 +11370,8 @@
         "tags": [
           "Public · Shard"
         ],
-        "summary": "Live shard event stream (Server-Sent Events, public/safe kinds)",
-        "description": "text/event-stream of curated live events. Sensitive kinds (staff audit, cheat detection, login attempts, IPs) are NOT sent on this channel.",
+        "summary": "Live shard event stream (Server-Sent Events, filtered by audience)",
+        "description": "text/event-stream of live events. The caller\\'s audience rung is resolved once at subscribe time and frozen for the connection; each frame is then gated on its feature and field-projected, so sensitive kinds and fields (staff audit, cheat detection, login attempts, IPs, acct/webId) never reach a caller below their configured rung.",
         "responses": {
           "200": {
             "description": "An SSE stream (Content-Type: text/event-stream)."
@@ -17416,6 +17598,355 @@
           }
         }
       },
+      "ShardFeatures": {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+          "type": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "object"
+          },
+          "description": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "The shard features the caller may reach, plus the audience rung they resolved to. Drives client nav so it never renders a link that would 403."
+          },
+          "properties": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+              "level": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "string"
+                  },
+                  "enum": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "example": [
+                      "anonymous",
+                      "logged_in",
+                      "player",
+                      "staff",
+                      "admin"
+                    ],
+                    "items": {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "anonymous"
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "features": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "array"
+                  },
+                  "items": {
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": {
+                      "type": {
+                        "type": "string",
+                        "example": "string"
+                      }
+                    }
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "example": [
+                      "status",
+                      "activity",
+                      "champs",
+                      "guilds",
+                      "governors",
+                      "houses",
+                      "presence"
+                    ],
+                    "items": {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "ShardFeatureVisibility": {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+          "type": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "object"
+          },
+          "description": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "Visibility settings for one shard feature."
+          },
+          "properties": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+              "enabled": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "boolean"
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "boolean",
+                    "example": true
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "audience": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "string"
+                  },
+                  "enum": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "example": [
+                      "anonymous",
+                      "logged_in",
+                      "player",
+                      "staff",
+                      "admin"
+                    ],
+                    "items": {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  },
+                  "description": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "Minimum rung that may reach this feature. Each rung implies the ones below it."
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "anonymous"
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "stream": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "boolean"
+                  },
+                  "description": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "Whether this feature's event kinds fan out over SSE at all."
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "boolean",
+                    "example": true
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "fieldRules": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "object"
+                  },
+                  "additionalProperties": {
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": {
+                      "type": {
+                        "type": "string",
+                        "example": "string"
+                      }
+                    }
+                  },
+                  "description": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "Per-field rung overrides for the sensitive fields this feature exposes. acct / webId are admin-only always and are rejected here."
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": {
+                      "location": {
+                        "type": "string",
+                        "example": "staff"
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "ShardVisibilityConfig": {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+          "type": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "object"
+          },
+          "properties": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+              "ladder": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "array"
+                  },
+                  "items": {
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": {
+                      "type": {
+                        "type": "string",
+                        "example": "string"
+                      }
+                    }
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "example": [
+                      "anonymous",
+                      "logged_in",
+                      "player",
+                      "staff",
+                      "admin"
+                    ],
+                    "items": {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "lockedFields": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "array"
+                  },
+                  "items": {
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": {
+                      "type": {
+                        "type": "string",
+                        "example": "string"
+                      }
+                    }
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "example": [
+                      "acct",
+                      "webId"
+                    ],
+                    "items": {
+                      "type": "string"
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "defaults": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "object"
+                  },
+                  "additionalProperties": {
+                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ShardFeatureVisibility"
+                  }
+                }
+              },
+              "features": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "object"
+                  },
+                  "additionalProperties": {
+                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ShardFeatureVisibility"
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      "ShardVisibilityUpdate": {
+        "type": "object",
+        "properties": {
+          "type": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "example": "object"
+          },
+          "required": {
+            "type": "array",
+            "example": [
+              "features"
+            ],
+            "items": {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "properties": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+              "features": {
+                "type": "object",
+                "properties": {
+                  "type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "example": "object"
+                  },
+                  "additionalProperties": {
+                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ShardFeatureVisibility"
+                  },
+                  "example": {
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "properties": {
+                      "market": {
+                        "type": "object",
+                        "properties": {
+                          "enabled": {
+                            "type": "boolean",
+                            "example": true
+                          },
+                          "audience": {
+                            "type": "string",
+                            "example": "player"
+                          },
+                          "stream": {
+                            "type": "boolean",
+                            "example": false
+                          },
+                          "fieldRules": {
+                            "type": "object",
+                            "properties": {
+                              "ownerName": {
+                                "type": "string",
+                                "example": "player"
+                              }
+                            }
+                          }
+                        }
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      },
       "ShardLinkRequest": {
         "type": "object",
         "properties": {
diff --git a/server/swagger/swagger.js b/server/swagger/swagger.js
index ff01550..2e50ce3 100644
--- a/server/swagger/swagger.js
+++ b/server/swagger/swagger.js
@@ -881,6 +881,78 @@ const doc = {
           updatedAt: { type: 'string', format: 'date-time' },
         },
       },
+      ShardFeatures: {
+        type: 'object',
+        description:
+          "The shard features the caller may reach, plus the audience rung they resolved to. Drives client nav so it never renders a link that would 403.",
+        properties: {
+          level: {
+            type: 'string',
+            enum: ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff', 'admin'],
+            example: 'anonymous',
+          },
+          features: {
+            type: 'array',
+            items: { type: 'string' },
+            example: ['status', 'activity', 'champs', 'guilds', 'governors', 'houses', 'presence'],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      ShardFeatureVisibility: {
+        type: 'object',
+        description: 'Visibility settings for one shard feature.',
+        properties: {
+          enabled: { type: 'boolean', example: true },
+          audience: {
+            type: 'string',
+            enum: ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff', 'admin'],
+            description: 'Minimum rung that may reach this feature. Each rung implies the ones below it.',
+            example: 'anonymous',
+          },
+          stream: {
+            type: 'boolean',
+            description: "Whether this feature's event kinds fan out over SSE at all.",
+            example: true,
+          },
+          fieldRules: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: { type: 'string' },
+            description:
+              'Per-field rung overrides for the sensitive fields this feature exposes. acct / webId are admin-only always and are rejected here.',
+            example: { location: 'staff' },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      ShardVisibilityConfig: {
+        type: 'object',
+        properties: {
+          ladder: {
+            type: 'array',
+            items: { type: 'string' },
+            example: ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff', 'admin'],
+          },
+          lockedFields: { type: 'array', items: { type: 'string' }, example: ['acct', 'webId'] },
+          defaults: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: { $ref: '#/components/schemas/ShardFeatureVisibility' },
+          },
+          features: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: { $ref: '#/components/schemas/ShardFeatureVisibility' },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      ShardVisibilityUpdate: {
+        type: 'object',
+        required: ['features'],
+        properties: {
+          features: {
+            type: 'object',
+            additionalProperties: { $ref: '#/components/schemas/ShardFeatureVisibility' },
+            example: { market: { enabled: true, audience: 'player', stream: false, fieldRules: { ownerName: 'player' } } },
+          },
+        },
+      },
       ShardLinkRequest: {
         type: 'object',
         required: ['code'],
diff --git a/server/test/shardBroadcast.visibility.test.js b/server/test/shardBroadcast.visibility.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b12cb4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/test/shardBroadcast.visibility.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,225 @@
+process.env.DB_HOST = '127.0.0.1'
+process.env.DB_PORT = '59999'
+
+const { test, after, afterEach, beforeEach } = require('node:test')
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict')
+const { EventEmitter } = require('node:events')
+
+// The SSE fan-out is the security boundary (docs/link/v3.md §3.6). Before v3 it
+// was a static kind allowlist; now each subscriber carries the audience rung it
+// resolved to at subscribe time, and every frame is gated + field-projected per
+// viewer. These tests pin the properties that must hold no matter how the config
+// is set:
+//
+//   - the admin channel always gets the frame verbatim;
+//   - a public subscriber never receives an unmapped kind;
+//   - acct / webId never reach a public subscriber, at any rung below admin;
+//   - two subscribers at different rungs get different frames from one event;
+//   - a viewer's rung is frozen at subscribe time, not re-read per frame;
+//   - if the visibility config can't be read, nothing goes out on public.
+
+const broadcast = require('../src/utils/shardBroadcast')
+const visibility = require('../src/utils/shardVisibility')
+const model = require('../src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.model')
+const shardLinks = require('../src/model/shardLinks/shardLinks.model')
+const db = require('../src/utils/db')
+
+after(() => db.close())
+
+const originals = {
+  listAll: model.listAll,
+  listForUser: shardLinks.listForUser,
+  getConfig: visibility.getConfig,
+  viewerLevel: visibility.viewerLevel,
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  model.listAll = async () => []
+  shardLinks.listForUser = async () => []
+  visibility.invalidate()
+})
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  broadcast.closeAll()
+  model.listAll = originals.listAll
+  shardLinks.listForUser = originals.listForUser
+  visibility.getConfig = originals.getConfig
+  visibility.viewerLevel = originals.viewerLevel
+  visibility.invalidate()
+})
+
+// A fake req/res pair that records everything written to the stream.
+function fakeClient() {
+  const req = new EventEmitter()
+  const writes = []
+  const res = {
+    writeHead() {},
+    write(chunk) {
+      writes.push(chunk)
+    },
+    end() {},
+    on() {},
+  }
+  // Frames only — drop the SSE comments/retry preamble and keepalive pings.
+  const frames = () =>
+    writes
+      .filter((w) => w.startsWith('data: '))
+      .map((w) => JSON.parse(w.slice('data: '.length).trim()))
+  return { req, res, frames }
+}
+
+async function subscribeAt(level, channel = 'public') {
+  const client = fakeClient()
+  visibility.viewerLevel = async () => level
+  await broadcast.subscribe(client.req, client.res, channel)
+  return client
+}
+
+const GUILD_FRAME = {
+  kind: 'guild.update',
+  id: 7,
+  name: 'The Nameless',
+  abbr: 'TN',
+  leader: { serial: '0x1A2B', name: 'Darrow', acct: 'whitlocktech', webId: '42', player: true },
+}
+
+test('the admin channel receives the frame verbatim, acct and webId included', async () => {
+  const admin = await subscribeAt('admin', 'admin')
+  await broadcast.broadcast(GUILD_FRAME)
+  const [frame] = admin.frames()
+  assert.deepEqual(frame, GUILD_FRAME)
+})
+
+test('a public subscriber never sees acct or webId, at any rung below admin', async () => {
+  for (const level of ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff']) {
+    const client = await subscribeAt(level)
+    await broadcast.broadcast(GUILD_FRAME)
+    const [frame] = client.frames()
+    assert.ok(frame, `${level} should receive the guild frame`)
+    assert.equal(frame.leader.name, 'Darrow')
+    assert.equal('acct' in frame.leader, false, `${level} must not see acct`)
+    assert.equal('webId' in frame.leader, false, `${level} must not see webId`)
+    broadcast.closeAll()
+  }
+})
+
+test('an unmapped kind reaches the admin channel and nobody else', async () => {
+  const anon = await subscribeAt('anonymous')
+  const staff = await subscribeAt('staff')
+  const admin = await subscribeAt('admin', 'admin')
+
+  for (const kind of ['audit.command', 'cheat.fastwalk', 'account.login.attempt', 'vendor.sale']) {
+    await broadcast.broadcast({ kind, secret: true })
+  }
+
+  assert.deepEqual(anon.frames(), [])
+  assert.deepEqual(staff.frames(), [])
+  assert.equal(admin.frames().length, 4)
+})
+
+test('one event yields different frames for subscribers at different rungs', async () => {
+  model.listAll = async () => [
+    {
+      feature: 'guilds',
+      enabled: true,
+      audience: 'anonymous',
+      stream: true,
+      fieldRules: { abbr: 'staff' },
+    },
+  ]
+  visibility.invalidate()
+
+  const anon = await subscribeAt('anonymous')
+  const staff = await subscribeAt('staff')
+  await broadcast.broadcast(GUILD_FRAME)
+
+  assert.equal('abbr' in anon.frames()[0], false)
+  assert.equal(staff.frames()[0].abbr, 'TN')
+  // Both still lose the locked fields.
+  assert.equal('acct' in staff.frames()[0].leader, false)
+})
+
+test('raising a feature audience cuts off the lower rungs mid-stream', async () => {
+  const anon = await subscribeAt('anonymous')
+  const player = await subscribeAt('player')
+
+  await broadcast.broadcast(GUILD_FRAME)
+  assert.equal(anon.frames().length, 1)
+  assert.equal(player.frames().length, 1)
+
+  // Config changes DO take effect live — only the viewer's rung is frozen.
+  model.listAll = async () => [
+    { feature: 'guilds', enabled: true, audience: 'player', stream: true, fieldRules: {} },
+  ]
+  visibility.invalidate()
+
+  await broadcast.broadcast(GUILD_FRAME)
+  assert.equal(anon.frames().length, 1, 'anonymous stops receiving')
+  assert.equal(player.frames().length, 2, 'player keeps receiving')
+})
+
+test("a subscriber's rung is frozen at subscribe time", async () => {
+  const client = await subscribeAt('anonymous')
+  // Even if the resolver would now say "admin", the open connection must not
+  // gain privilege — its level was captured when it subscribed.
+  visibility.viewerLevel = async () => 'admin'
+  await broadcast.broadcast({ kind: 'audit.command', command: 'ban' })
+  assert.deepEqual(client.frames(), [])
+})
+
+test('an unresolvable viewer subscribes as anonymous, not as privileged', async () => {
+  const client = fakeClient()
+  visibility.viewerLevel = async () => {
+    throw new Error('session lookup exploded')
+  }
+  await broadcast.subscribe(client.req, client.res, 'public')
+  await broadcast.broadcast({ kind: 'audit.command', command: 'ban' })
+  assert.deepEqual(client.frames(), [])
+
+  // ...but it still receives ordinary public traffic.
+  await broadcast.broadcast({ kind: 'champ.update', serial: '0x1' })
+  assert.equal(client.frames().length, 1)
+})
+
+test('an unreadable visibility config withholds every public frame', async () => {
+  const client = await subscribeAt('anonymous')
+  visibility.getConfig = async () => {
+    throw new Error('db down')
+  }
+  await broadcast.broadcast(GUILD_FRAME)
+  assert.deepEqual(client.frames(), [])
+})
+
+test('a disabled feature stops its kinds without touching others', async () => {
+  model.listAll = async () => [
+    { feature: 'champs', enabled: false, audience: 'anonymous', stream: true, fieldRules: {} },
+  ]
+  visibility.invalidate()
+
+  const client = await subscribeAt('anonymous')
+  await broadcast.broadcast({ kind: 'champ.update', serial: '0x1' })
+  await broadcast.broadcast({ kind: 'guild.update', id: 7 })
+
+  const kinds = client.frames().map((f) => f.kind)
+  assert.deepEqual(kinds, ['guild.update'])
+})
+
+test('a dead client is dropped rather than repeatedly retried', async () => {
+  const client = fakeClient()
+  visibility.viewerLevel = async () => 'anonymous'
+  await broadcast.subscribe(client.req, client.res, 'public')
+  assert.equal(broadcast.stats().publicClients, 1)
+
+  client.res.write = () => {
+    throw new Error('EPIPE')
+  }
+  await broadcast.broadcast({ kind: 'champ.update', serial: '0x1' })
+  assert.equal(broadcast.stats().publicClients, 0)
+})
+
+test('broadcast is a no-op for a malformed event', async () => {
+  const client = await subscribeAt('anonymous')
+  await broadcast.broadcast(null)
+  await broadcast.broadcast({})
+  assert.deepEqual(client.frames(), [])
+})
diff --git a/server/test/shardVisibility.test.js b/server/test/shardVisibility.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e6eb1af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/test/shardVisibility.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,319 @@
+// Point the DB at a closed port BEFORE requiring anything that builds a pool.
+// Every DB call this suite would make is monkeypatched.
+process.env.DB_HOST = '127.0.0.1'
+process.env.DB_PORT = '59999'
+
+const { test, after, afterEach, beforeEach } = require('node:test')
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict')
+
+// Unit-test the visibility framework's INVARIANTS — the rules that make it a
+// security boundary rather than a convenience filter (docs/link/v3.md §3):
+//
+//   1. acct / webId are admin-only ALWAYS and cannot be configured down.
+//   2. A kind absent from KIND_FEATURE reaches nobody below admin (fail closed).
+//   3. The compiled defaults reproduce pre-v3 behavior, so installing this
+//      module changes nothing until an admin edits the config.
+//   4. The ladder is ordered and each rung implies the ones below it.
+
+const visibility = require('../src/utils/shardVisibility')
+const model = require('../src/model/shardVisibility/shardVisibility.model')
+const shardLinks = require('../src/model/shardLinks/shardLinks.model')
+const db = require('../src/utils/db')
+
+after(() => db.close())
+
+const originals = { listAll: model.listAll, listForUser: shardLinks.listForUser }
+
+// Default both DB reads to "no rows" so a test that doesn't care never blocks on
+// the dead pool (each such call would otherwise burn the 10s acquire timeout).
+// Tests that exercise stored config or a DB failure override these.
+beforeEach(() => {
+  model.listAll = async () => []
+  shardLinks.listForUser = async () => []
+  visibility.invalidate()
+})
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  model.listAll = originals.listAll
+  shardLinks.listForUser = originals.listForUser
+  visibility.invalidate()
+})
+
+// Stub the stored config; the framework merges rows over compiled defaults.
+function withRows(rows) {
+  model.listAll = async () => rows
+  visibility.invalidate()
+}
+
+// ── The ladder ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('ladder is ordered and each rung implies the ones below it', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(visibility.LADDER, ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff', 'admin'])
+  for (let i = 0; i < visibility.LADDER.length; i += 1) {
+    for (let j = 0; j <= i; j += 1) {
+      assert.equal(visibility.meets(visibility.LADDER[i], visibility.LADDER[j]), true)
+    }
+    for (let j = i + 1; j < visibility.LADDER.length; j += 1) {
+      assert.equal(visibility.meets(visibility.LADDER[i], visibility.LADDER[j]), false)
+    }
+  }
+})
+
+test('an unknown rung always loses, on BOTH sides of the comparison', () => {
+  assert.equal(visibility.isLevel('not-a-rung'), false)
+
+  // An unknown REQUIREMENT is satisfied by nobody below admin...
+  for (const level of ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff']) {
+    assert.equal(visibility.meets(level, 'not-a-rung'), false, `${level} vs unknown requirement`)
+  }
+  assert.equal(visibility.meets('admin', 'not-a-rung'), true)
+
+  // ...and an unknown VIEWER level grants nothing. This is the direction that
+  // matters: a shared admin fallback would have made a garbage viewer level
+  // pass every gate.
+  for (const required of visibility.LADDER.slice(1)) {
+    assert.equal(visibility.meets('not-a-rung', required), false, `unknown viewer vs ${required}`)
+    assert.equal(visibility.meets(undefined, required), false, `undefined viewer vs ${required}`)
+    assert.equal(visibility.meets(null, required), false, `null viewer vs ${required}`)
+  }
+})
+
+test('an unknown viewer level cannot see a gated kind or a locked field', async () => {
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('champ.update', 'not-a-rung', config), true) // anonymous-tier: fine
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('audit.command', 'not-a-rung', config), false)
+  const out = visibility.projectFeature(
+    'guilds',
+    { leader: { name: 'Darrow', acct: 'whitlocktech', webId: '42' } },
+    'not-a-rung',
+    config,
+  )
+  assert.equal('acct' in out.leader, false)
+  assert.equal('webId' in out.leader, false)
+})
+
+// ── Rule 1: locked fields ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('acct and webId are stripped below admin regardless of feature config', () => {
+  const config = visibility.compileDefaults()
+  const frame = {
+    kind: 'guild.update',
+    name: 'The Nameless',
+    leader: { serial: '0x1A2B', name: 'Darrow', acct: 'whitlocktech', webId: '42', player: true },
+  }
+  for (const level of ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff']) {
+    const out = visibility.projectFeature('guilds', frame, level, config)
+    assert.equal(out.leader.name, 'Darrow', `${level} keeps the character name`)
+    assert.equal(out.leader.serial, '0x1A2B')
+    assert.equal('acct' in out.leader, false, `${level} must not see acct`)
+    assert.equal('webId' in out.leader, false, `${level} must not see webId`)
+  }
+  const asAdmin = visibility.projectFeature('guilds', frame, 'admin', config)
+  assert.equal(asAdmin.leader.acct, 'whitlocktech')
+  assert.equal(asAdmin.leader.webId, '42')
+})
+
+test('a stored rule trying to loosen a locked field is ignored', async () => {
+  withRows([
+    { feature: 'guilds', enabled: true, audience: 'anonymous', stream: true, fieldRules: { acct: 'anonymous', webId: 'anonymous' } },
+  ])
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  const out = visibility.projectFeature(
+    'guilds',
+    { leader: { name: 'Darrow', acct: 'whitlocktech', webId: '42' } },
+    'anonymous',
+    config,
+  )
+  assert.equal('acct' in out.leader, false)
+  assert.equal('webId' in out.leader, false)
+})
+
+test('projection recurses into arrays and nested actors', () => {
+  const config = visibility.compileDefaults()
+  const rows = [
+    { city: 'Britain', governor: { name: 'A', acct: 'a', webId: '1' } },
+    { city: 'Vesper', governor: { name: 'B', acct: 'b' } },
+  ]
+  const out = visibility.projectFeature('governors', rows, 'anonymous', config)
+  assert.equal(out.length, 2)
+  assert.equal(out[0].governor.name, 'A')
+  assert.equal('acct' in out[0].governor, false)
+  assert.equal('webId' in out[0].governor, false)
+  assert.equal('acct' in out[1].governor, false)
+})
+
+// ── Rule 2: fail closed on unmapped kinds ──────────────────────────────────
+
+test('an unmapped kind reaches nobody below admin', async () => {
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  for (const kind of ['audit.command', 'cheat.fastwalk', 'account.login.attempt', 'gold.change', 'made.up.kind']) {
+    for (const level of ['anonymous', 'logged_in', 'player', 'staff']) {
+      assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo(kind, level, config), false, `${kind} @ ${level}`)
+    }
+    assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo(kind, 'admin', config), true, `${kind} @ admin`)
+  }
+})
+
+test('the full house registry stays off the kind map (owner/price are staff-only)', () => {
+  assert.equal(visibility.KIND_FEATURE.has('house.update'), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.KIND_FEATURE.has('house.remove'), false)
+  // house.decay — the IDOC signal the public page renders — IS mapped.
+  assert.equal(visibility.KIND_FEATURE.get('house.decay'), 'houses')
+})
+
+test('vendor.sale is not public (sales are owner-private)', async () => {
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('vendor.sale', 'anonymous', config), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.PUBLIC_KINDS.has('vendor.sale'), false)
+})
+
+// ── Rule 3: defaults reproduce pre-v3 behavior ─────────────────────────────
+
+// The exact allowlist that shipped in shardBroadcast.js before v3. If a change
+// makes the derived PUBLIC_KINDS differ from this, it is a deliberate widening
+// or narrowing of what anonymous visitors see and must be reviewed as such.
+const PRE_V3_PUBLIC_KINDS = [
+  'player.death',
+  'player.murdered',
+  'mob.killed',
+  'house.decay',
+  'quest.complete',
+  'skill.gain',
+  'fame.change',
+  'karma.change',
+  'mob.login',
+  'mob.logout',
+  'economy.supply',
+  'server.hello',
+  'server.shutdown',
+  'server.crashed',
+  'champ.update',
+  'champ.remove',
+  'guild.update',
+  'guild.remove',
+  'guild.join',
+  'city.update',
+  'presence.online',
+  'region.enter',
+]
+
+// The kinds v3 deliberately ADDS to the anonymous set. vendor.listing is
+// pointedly not among them (its feature ships with stream off).
+const V3_ADDED_PUBLIC_KINDS = ['world.ruleset', 'points.board']
+
+test('derived PUBLIC_KINDS is exactly the pre-v3 allowlist plus the v3 additions', () => {
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    [...visibility.PUBLIC_KINDS].sort(),
+    [...PRE_V3_PUBLIC_KINDS, ...V3_ADDED_PUBLIC_KINDS].sort(),
+  )
+})
+
+test('no pre-v3 public kind was dropped', () => {
+  for (const kind of PRE_V3_PUBLIC_KINDS) {
+    assert.equal(visibility.PUBLIC_KINDS.has(kind), true, `${kind} fell out of the public set`)
+  }
+})
+
+test('the market stream is off by default but its REST feature is not', async () => {
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal(config.market.enabled, true)
+  assert.equal(config.market.audience, 'anonymous')
+  assert.equal(config.market.stream, false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('vendor.listing', 'anonymous', config), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.PUBLIC_KINDS.has('vendor.listing'), false)
+})
+
+test('presence location defaults to staff, matching the old admin/moderator gate', async () => {
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal(config.presence.fields.location, 'staff')
+  assert.equal(visibility.meets('player', 'staff'), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.meets('staff', 'staff'), true)
+})
+
+test('every mapped kind names a real feature', () => {
+  for (const [kind, feature] of visibility.KIND_FEATURE) {
+    assert.equal(visibility.isFeature(feature), true, `${kind} → unknown feature ${feature}`)
+  }
+})
+
+// ── Config merge ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('a disabled feature is invisible to everyone below admin', async () => {
+  withRows([{ feature: 'champs', enabled: false, audience: 'anonymous', stream: true, fieldRules: {} }])
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal(config.champs.enabled, false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('champ.update', 'anonymous', config), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('champ.update', 'staff', config), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.visibleFeatures('staff', config).includes('champs'), false)
+})
+
+test('raising a feature audience gates the lower rungs out', async () => {
+  withRows([{ feature: 'guilds', enabled: true, audience: 'player', stream: true, fieldRules: {} }])
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('guild.update', 'anonymous', config), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('guild.update', 'logged_in', config), false)
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('guild.update', 'player', config), true)
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('guild.update', 'staff', config), true)
+})
+
+test('an unknown stored feature name is ignored, not resurrected', async () => {
+  withRows([{ feature: 'sekrit', enabled: true, audience: 'anonymous', stream: true, fieldRules: {} }])
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal('sekrit' in config, false)
+  assert.deepEqual(Object.keys(config).sort(), [...visibility.FEATURE_NAMES].sort())
+})
+
+test('an invalid stored rung falls back to the default rather than failing open', async () => {
+  withRows([{ feature: 'houses', enabled: true, audience: 'nonsense', stream: true, fieldRules: { owner: 'nonsense' } }])
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.equal(config.houses.audience, 'anonymous') // the compiled default
+  assert.equal(config.houses.fields.owner, 'staff') // the compiled default
+})
+
+test('a DB failure degrades to compiled defaults, not to everything-public', async () => {
+  model.listAll = async () => {
+    throw new Error('db down')
+  }
+  visibility.invalidate()
+  const config = await visibility.getConfig()
+  assert.deepEqual(Object.keys(config).sort(), [...visibility.FEATURE_NAMES].sort())
+  assert.equal(config.presence.fields.location, 'staff')
+  assert.equal(visibility.kindVisibleTo('audit.command', 'anonymous', config), false)
+})
+
+// ── Viewer level ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('viewerLevel resolves the ladder from role and link status', async () => {
+  shardLinks.listForUser = async () => []
+  assert.equal(await visibility.viewerLevel({}), 'anonymous')
+
+  visibility.forgetUser(1)
+  assert.equal(await visibility.viewerLevel({ user: { id: 1, role: 'admin' } }), 'admin')
+  visibility.forgetUser(2)
+  assert.equal(await visibility.viewerLevel({ user: { id: 2, role: 'moderator' } }), 'staff')
+
+  // A member with no linked game account sits at logged_in...
+  visibility.forgetUser(3)
+  assert.equal(await visibility.viewerLevel({ user: { id: 3, role: 'player' } }), 'logged_in')
+
+  // ...and reaches `player` once a link exists.
+  shardLinks.listForUser = async () => [{ account: 'whitlocktech' }]
+  visibility.forgetUser(4)
+  assert.equal(await visibility.viewerLevel({ user: { id: 4, role: 'player' } }), 'player')
+})
+
+test('editor is a content role and gets no shard privilege', async () => {
+  // Mapping editor to `staff` here would silently widen what editors can see;
+  // today's modAccess gate is admin|moderator only.
+  shardLinks.listForUser = async () => []
+  visibility.forgetUser(5)
+  assert.equal(await visibility.viewerLevel({ user: { id: 5, role: 'editor' } }), 'logged_in')
+})
+
+test('a link lookup failure downgrades rather than escalating', async () => {
+  shardLinks.listForUser = async () => {
+    throw new Error('db down')
+  }
+  visibility.forgetUser(6)
+  assert.equal(await visibility.viewerLevel({ user: { id: 6, role: 'player' } }), 'logged_in')
+})