diff --git a/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts b/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts
index 6e45472..fb45c6d 100644
--- a/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts
+++ b/apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts
@@ -1750,8 +1750,9 @@ const app = new Hono<App>()
 				'Copies a room’s content (scene, subrooms, settings) into a new room owned by the',
 				'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,',
-				'zeroed `Stats`, `IsRRO`/`IsDeveloperOwned`/`CloningAllowed` cleared, and PRIVATE accessibility — a new room is unpublished until its',
+				'dorm (`MAX_ROOMS_PER_ACCOUNT`; 0 lifts the cap). The clone keeps only the source’s',
+				'system tags (`Type` 1: `beta`, `limitsv2` — what the scene needs to run) and drops',
+				'every other tag, and starts with zeroed `Stats`, `IsRRO`/`IsDeveloperOwned`/`CloningAllowed` cleared, and PRIVATE accessibility — a new room is unpublished until its',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 8cb26ad..f43b3d1 100644
--- a/apps/rooms/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
+++ b/apps/rooms/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
@@ -1334,6 +1334,14 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 			`UPDATE room SET data = json_set(data, '$.IsDeveloperOwned', json('true'),
 				'$.CloningAllowed', json('true'), '$.Stats.VisitorCount', 42) WHERE room_id = 24`
 		).run()
+		// And every kind of tag: an owner tag flagged as the genre (Type 0), the server's
+		// `rro` (Type 2), and the two system tags the client derives (Type 1).
+		await env.DB.batch([
+			env.DB.prepare(
+				`INSERT OR REPLACE INTO room_tag (room_id, tag, type, is_primary_genre)
+				 VALUES (24, 'hangout', 0, 1), (24, 'rro', 2, 0), (24, 'beta', 1, 0), (24, 'limitsv2', 1, 0)`
+			),
+		])
 
 		// Clone MakerRoom (base, RoomId 24) → a fresh room owned by the caller (801).
 		const ok = await post(24, 'MyMakerClone')
@@ -1343,9 +1351,12 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 		expect(ok.value!.Name).toBe('MyMakerClone')
 		expect(ok.value!.CreatorAccountId).toBe(801)
 		expect(ok.value!.RoomId).toBeGreaterThan(51)
-		// The clone starts fresh with no tags — none of the source's tags (including
-		// the `base` template tag) carry over.
-		expect(ok.value!.Tags).toEqual([])
+		// Only the system tags (Type 1) carry over — the scene needs them to run. The
+		// owner's tags, the `base` template tag, the derived `rro` and the genre flag don't.
+		expect(ok.value!.Tags).toEqual([
+			{ Tag: 'beta', Type: 1 },
+			{ Tag: 'limitsv2', Type: 1 },
+		])
 		// 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.
@@ -1375,7 +1386,11 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 			Stats: Record<string, number>
 		}
 		expect(fetched.Name).toBe('MyMakerClone')
-		expect(fetched.Tags).toEqual([])
+		// The system tags were written to `room_tag`, so they survive a re-read.
+		expect(fetched.Tags).toEqual([
+			{ Tag: 'beta', Type: 1 },
+			{ Tag: 'limitsv2', Type: 1 },
+		])
 		expect(fetched.IsDeveloperOwned).toBe(false)
 		expect(fetched.CloningAllowed).toBe(false)
 		expect(fetched.Stats.VisitorCount).toBe(0)
diff --git a/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts b/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts
index 2b52668..490d59c 100644
--- a/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts
+++ b/packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts
@@ -658,12 +658,14 @@ export async function deleteRoomLeaderboard(
 /**
  * Clone an existing room into a new one owned by `accountId`. Copies the source
  * room's content (scene/subrooms/settings), assigning a fresh RoomId, the given
- * 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, `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.
+ * name, and the new owner. The clone keeps only the source's SYSTEM tags (`Type` 1,
+ * `RoomTagType.auto` — `beta`, `limitsv2`): the client posts those to describe what the
+ * scene needs to run, so a copy of the scene needs them too. Every other tag (the owner's
+ * `Type` 0 tags, the `base` template tag, the server-derived `rro`) is dropped, so the
+ * owner tags the clone from scratch. `IsRRO` is cleared so the client doesn't render a
+ * virtual "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(
 	db: D1Database,
@@ -691,14 +693,23 @@ export async function cloneRoom(
 		},
 	]
 
+	// The system tags (`Type` 1: `beta`, `limitsv2`) carry over — the client derives them
+	// from what the scene is built with and the clone is the same scene, so without them
+	// the copy doesn't work. Nothing else does: no owner tags, no `base`, no `rro`, and no
+	// primary-genre flag (an auto tag is never the genre).
+	const sourceTags = Array.isArray(source.Tags) ? (source.Tags as RoomTag[]) : []
+	const systemTags: RoomTag[] = sourceTags
+		.filter((t) => t.Type === RoomTagType.auto)
+		.map((t) => ({ Tag: t.Tag, Type: RoomTagType.auto }))
+
 	const cloned: Room = {
 		...source,
 		RoomId: newRoomId,
 		Name: name,
 		CreatorAccountId: accountId,
 		IsDorm: false,
-		// Start fresh: drop every tag the source carried (including `base`).
-		Tags: [],
+		// Start fresh, except for the system tags the scene needs to run (see below).
+		Tags: systemTags,
 		// 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,
@@ -722,6 +733,8 @@ export async function cloneRoom(
 	// serializeRoom drops the hydrated SubRooms from the blob; the clone's subrooms are
 	// inserted into the subroom table below with fresh globally-unique ids.
 	await db.prepare('INSERT INTO room (data) VALUES (?1)').bind(serializeRoom(cloned)).run()
+	// Tags live in `room_tag`, not the blob: the system tags need their own write.
+	if (systemTags.length > 0) await setRoomTags(db, newRoomId, systemTags)
 	const sourceSubRooms = Array.isArray(source.SubRooms) ? (source.SubRooms as SubRoom[]) : []
 	const clonedSubRooms: SubRoom[] = []
 	for (const sub of sourceSubRooms) {