diff --git a/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts b/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts
index b93b235..2524b9c 100644
--- a/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts
+++ b/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts
@@ -1719,7 +1719,7 @@ const app = new Hono<App>()
 				'caller. Cloning is the only way to make a room, so the per-account room cap is',
 				'enforced here — it counts the rooms the account created, minus their auto-provisioned',
 				'dorm (`MAX_ROOMS_PER_ACCOUNT`; 0 lifts the cap). The clone starts with no tags,',
-				'`IsRRO` cleared, and PRIVATE accessibility — a new room is unpublished until its',
+				'zeroed `Stats`, `IsRRO`/`IsDeveloperOwned`/`CloningAllowed` cleared, and PRIVATE accessibility — a new room is unpublished until its',
 				'owner sets its accessibility, so it never lands in the public feeds on creation.',
 				'',
 				'Rejections — a blank or taken name, the cap, a source that disallows cloning — are',
diff --git a/apps/rooms/src/test/integration/api.test.ts b/apps/rooms/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
index 6301eac..5802d23 100644
--- a/apps/rooms/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
+++ b/apps/rooms/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
@@ -1309,11 +1309,20 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 					CreatorAccountId: number
 					Tags?: Array<{ Tag: string }>
 					IsRRO: boolean
+					IsDeveloperOwned: boolean
+					CloningAllowed: boolean
 					Accessibility: number
 					Roles: Array<{ AccountId: number; Role: number; InvitedRole: number }>
+					Stats: Record<string, number>
 				} | null
 			}
 
+		// Give the source every flag and counter the clone must NOT inherit.
+		await env.DB.prepare(
+			`UPDATE room SET data = json_set(data, '$.IsDeveloperOwned', json('true'),
+				'$.CloningAllowed', json('true'), '$.Stats.VisitorCount', 42) WHERE room_id = 24`
+		).run()
+
 		// Clone MakerRoom (base, RoomId 24) → a fresh room owned by the caller (801).
 		const ok = await post(24, 'MyMakerClone')
 		expect(ok.success).toBe(true)
@@ -1327,6 +1336,16 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 		expect(ok.value!.Tags).toEqual([])
 		// IsRRO is cleared so the client doesn't render a virtual "RRO" tag on the clone.
 		expect(ok.value!.IsRRO).toBe(false)
+		// Nor is it developer-owned, and the new owner opts it into cloning themselves.
+		expect(ok.value!.IsDeveloperOwned).toBe(false)
+		expect(ok.value!.CloningAllowed).toBe(false)
+		// No engagement carries over — not even the blob-stored VisitorCount.
+		expect(ok.value!.Stats).toEqual({
+			CheerCount: 0,
+			FavoriteCount: 0,
+			VisitorCount: 0,
+			VisitCount: 0,
+		})
 		// A new room is unpublished: Private (0), never the source's visibility.
 		expect(ok.value!.Accessibility).toBe(0)
 		// Ownership is reset to the cloner: sole owner (Role 255), and none of the
@@ -1338,8 +1357,16 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 		// It persists and is fetchable by its new id.
 		const fetched = (await (await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/${ok.value!.RoomId}`)).json()) as {
 			Name: string
+			Tags: unknown[]
+			IsDeveloperOwned: boolean
+			CloningAllowed: boolean
+			Stats: Record<string, number>
 		}
 		expect(fetched.Name).toBe('MyMakerClone')
+		expect(fetched.Tags).toEqual([])
+		expect(fetched.IsDeveloperOwned).toBe(false)
+		expect(fetched.CloningAllowed).toBe(false)
+		expect(fetched.Stats.VisitorCount).toBe(0)
 
 		// Duplicate name is rejected.
 		const dup = await post(24, 'MyMakerClone')
diff --git a/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts b/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts
index 3707321..53f6923 100644
--- a/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts
+++ b/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts
@@ -661,8 +661,8 @@ export async function deleteRoomLeaderboard(
  * name, and the new owner. The clone starts with an empty tag set — the source's
  * tags (including the `base` template tag) do not carry over, so the owner tags the
  * clone from scratch — `IsRRO` is cleared so the client doesn't render a virtual
- * "RRO" tag on it, and it starts PRIVATE rather than inheriting the source's
- * visibility. Returns the new room, or null when the source isn't in D1 or disallows
+ * "RRO" tag on it, `IsDeveloperOwned`/`CloningAllowed` are cleared, its `Stats` start
+ * at zero, and it starts PRIVATE rather than inheriting the source's visibility. Returns the new room, or null when the source isn't in D1 or disallows
  * cloning.
  */
 export async function cloneRoom(
@@ -702,15 +702,20 @@ export async function cloneRoom(
 		// A user clone is not a Rec Room Original — clear the inherited flag, or the
 		// client renders a virtual "RRO" tag on the clone.
 		IsRRO: false,
+		// Neither is the cloner a developer, and a copy doesn't inherit the source's consent
+		// to be copied: the new owner opts their room into cloning themselves.
+		IsDeveloperOwned: false,
+		CloningAllowed: false,
 		// A brand-new room is unpublished: the owner publishes it by setting the room's
 		// accessibility. Inheriting the source's would put the clone straight into the
 		// public feeds (hot/search/recommendations/similar all key on Accessibility === 1)
 		// the moment it was made — every clone of a PUBLIC source, template or player room.
 		Accessibility: Accessibility.Private,
 		Roles: roles,
-		// A fresh room has no engagement of its own — don't inherit the source's counters
-		// (the derived ones are recomputed per read, but the clone is returned as-is here).
-		Stats: storedStats(source.Stats),
+		// A fresh room has no engagement of its own — don't inherit any of the source's
+		// counters. `storedStats` alone would keep the blob-owned `VisitorCount`, which
+		// `hotScore` ranks on.
+		Stats: { ...ZERO_STATS },
 		CreatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
 	}