diff --git a/DorkNet.Server/Controllers/API/Rooms/V2/RoomsController.cs b/DorkNet.Server/Controllers/API/Rooms/V2/RoomsController.cs
index 843ae4f..66e9456 100644
--- a/DorkNet.Server/Controllers/API/Rooms/V2/RoomsController.cs
+++ b/DorkNet.Server/Controllers/API/Rooms/V2/RoomsController.cs
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ public class RoomsController(
         if (room is null) return NotFound(new { error = "room_not_found" });
 
         var newBlob = body.RoomDataFilename?.Trim() ?? string.Empty;
+        var savedAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
 
         // Multi-scene rooms have a RoomScenes row per scene. The 2020
         // client usually sends the scene's OrderIndex, but some flows
@@ -426,27 +427,33 @@ public class RoomsController(
                 db.DormStates.Add(dormState);
             }
             dormState.CurrentDataBlobName = newBlob;
-            dormState.UpdatedAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
+            dormState.UpdatedAt = savedAt;
         }
         else
         {
-            // Owned rooms: only the creator can save. Admin override
-            // intentionally not included — admins should use /restore
-            // when they need to roll a room back.
-            if (room.CreatorPlayerId != pid) return Forbid();
+            var canSave = room.CreatorPlayerId == pid
+                || await db.Players.AnyAsync(p => p.Id == pid && p.IsAdmin)
+                || await db.RoomRoles.AnyAsync(r =>
+                    r.RoomId == room.Id &&
+                    r.PlayerId == pid &&
+                    r.Accepted &&
+                    r.Role == 0);
+            if (!canSave) return Forbid();
         }
 
         if (sceneRow is not null)
         {
             sceneRow.DataBlobName = newBlob;
-            sceneRow.DataModifiedAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
+            sceneRow.DataModifiedAt = savedAt;
         }
         await db.Rooms
             .Where(r => r.Id == roomId)
             .ExecuteUpdateAsync(s => s
                 .SetProperty(r => r.CurrentDataBlobName, newBlob)
-                .SetProperty(r => r.UpdatedAt, DateTime.UtcNow));
+                .SetProperty(r => r.UpdatedAt, savedAt));
         await db.SaveChangesAsync();
+        room.CurrentDataBlobName = newBlob;
+        room.UpdatedAt = savedAt;
 
         // The watch's MasterUploadRoomDataBlobCoroutine waits for BOTH
         // the /upload + /saveData responses AND a SubscriptionUpdateRoom
@@ -470,7 +477,7 @@ public class RoomsController(
             if (sceneRow is not null && scene.Id == sceneRow.Id)
             {
                 scene.DataBlobName = newBlob;
-                scene.DataModifiedAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
+                scene.DataModifiedAt = savedAt;
             }
         }
         var savedSceneId = sceneRow?.OrderIndex ?? body.RoomSceneId;
@@ -577,7 +584,7 @@ public class RoomsController(
             DataBlobName = newBlob,
             MaxPlayers = sceneRow?.MaxPlayers ?? 8,
             CanMatchmakeInto = sceneRow?.CanMatchmakeInto ?? true,
-            DataModifiedAt = DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ"),
+            DataModifiedAt = savedAt.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ"),
         });
     }
 
diff --git a/DorkNet.Server/Protos/dorknet_room_data.proto b/DorkNet.Server/Protos/dorknet_room_data.proto
index eda6118..c1656f3 100644
--- a/DorkNet.Server/Protos/dorknet_room_data.proto
+++ b/DorkNet.Server/Protos/dorknet_room_data.proto
@@ -82,13 +82,14 @@ message RoomRoleCollectionData {
 
 // ── PersistedRoomData top-level (rec_room/persistence/persisted_room_data.proto)
 //
-// The 2026 schema has 30+ fields — we only set field 23 (room_role_data).
-// Everything else stays at proto3 defaults, which the client treats as
-// "no saved state for this room" — exactly what we want for a fresh dorm
-// /clone with the role config injected.
+// The full schema has many more fields — we only set the fields the
+// December 2020 client needs for an editable minimal blob. Its
+// RoomPersistenceManager checks field 1 against a minimum editable
+// persistence version of 20, so generated blobs must carry a current
+// version or room editors see the native "save data is out-of-date" prompt.
 
 message PersistedRoomData {
-  // field 1 (DEPRECATED_version) — reserved, do not set.
+  int32 DEPRECATED_version = 1;
   // field 2 (persistence_views) — repeated, default empty list.
   // fields 3..22 — left at defaults.
   RoomRoleCollectionData room_role_data = 23;
diff --git a/DorkNet.Server/Services/RoomDataBlobService.cs b/DorkNet.Server/Services/RoomDataBlobService.cs
index 2e0d7d3..15ca63e 100644
--- a/DorkNet.Server/Services/RoomDataBlobService.cs
+++ b/DorkNet.Server/Services/RoomDataBlobService.cs
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ namespace DorkNet.Server.Services;
 /// </summary>
 public class RoomDataBlobService
 {
+    private const int December2020PersistenceVersion = 26;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Cached bytes of the "all-permissions-on" blob. Identical for every
     /// room — there's no per-room state we vary yet, so building once at
@@ -40,6 +42,7 @@ public class RoomDataBlobService
     public byte[] OverlayAllPermsRoleData(byte[] existingBlob)
     {
         var msg = PersistedRoomData.Parser.ParseFrom(existingBlob);
+        EnsureEditablePersistenceVersion(msg);
         msg.RoomRoleData = _allPermsRoleData.Clone();
         return msg.ToByteArray();
     }
@@ -47,6 +50,7 @@ public class RoomDataBlobService
     public byte[] OverlayRroEditableRoleData(byte[] existingBlob)
     {
         var msg = PersistedRoomData.Parser.ParseFrom(existingBlob);
+        EnsureEditablePersistenceVersion(msg);
         msg.RoomRoleData = _rroEditableRoleData.Clone();
         return msg.ToByteArray();
     }
@@ -55,6 +59,7 @@ public class RoomDataBlobService
     {
         var msg = new PersistedRoomData
         {
+            DEPRECATEDVersion = December2020PersistenceVersion,
             RoomRoleData = BuildAllPermsRoleData(),
         };
 
@@ -73,6 +78,7 @@ public class RoomDataBlobService
     {
         var msg = new PersistedRoomData
         {
+            DEPRECATEDVersion = December2020PersistenceVersion,
             RoomRoleData = BuildRroEditableRoleData(),
         };
 
@@ -153,6 +159,14 @@ public class RoomDataBlobService
         };
     }
 
+    private static void EnsureEditablePersistenceVersion(PersistedRoomData msg)
+    {
+        if (msg.DEPRECATEDVersion < 20)
+        {
+            msg.DEPRECATEDVersion = December2020PersistenceVersion;
+        }
+    }
+
     private static string StableRoleGuid(int roleId) =>
         GuidUtility.Create(GuidUtility.UrlNamespace, $"dorknet-room-role:{roleId}").ToString();
 }