diff --git a/cmake/stage_server.cmake b/cmake/stage_server.cmake
index b826490..93cc112 100644
--- a/cmake/stage_server.cmake
+++ b/cmake/stage_server.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Stage server/ next to the Host GUI, preserving an existing local config.
+# Stage server/ next to the Host GUI while preserving local runtime state.
 if(NOT EXISTS "${CO_SERVER_SOURCE_DIR}")
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Server source directory not found: ${CO_SERVER_SOURCE_DIR}")
 endif()
@@ -13,17 +13,24 @@ if(EXISTS "${CO_SERVER_STAGE_CONFIG}")
     file(READ "${CO_SERVER_STAGE_CONFIG}" _preserve_config)
 endif()
 
+set(_stage_bans "${CO_SERVER_STAGE_DIR}/bans.json")
+set(_preserve_bans "")
+if(EXISTS "${_stage_bans}")
+    file(READ "${_stage_bans}" _preserve_bans)
+endif()
+
 file(REMOVE_RECURSE "${CO_SERVER_STAGE_DIR}")
 file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${CO_SERVER_STAGE_DIR}")
 
-# Prefer a filtered copy so Python caches do not ship with the build.
+# Prefer a filtered copy so caches and local runtime state do not ship with the build.
 file(GLOB _server_entries RELATIVE "${CO_SERVER_SOURCE_DIR}" "${CO_SERVER_SOURCE_DIR}/*")
 foreach(_entry IN LISTS _server_entries)
     if(_entry STREQUAL "__pycache__"
             OR _entry STREQUAL ".pytest_cache"
             OR _entry STREQUAL ".venv"
             OR _entry STREQUAL "logs"
-            OR _entry STREQUAL "tests")
+            OR _entry STREQUAL "tests"
+            OR _entry STREQUAL "bans.json")
         continue()
     endif()
     file(COPY "${CO_SERVER_SOURCE_DIR}/${_entry}"
@@ -33,6 +40,7 @@ foreach(_entry IN LISTS _server_entries)
         PATTERN ".pytest_cache" EXCLUDE
         PATTERN ".venv" EXCLUDE
         PATTERN "logs" EXCLUDE
+        PATTERN "bans.json" EXCLUDE
     )
 endforeach()
 
@@ -40,6 +48,10 @@ if(NOT "${_preserve_config}" STREQUAL "")
     file(WRITE "${CO_SERVER_STAGE_CONFIG}" "${_preserve_config}")
 endif()
 
+if(NOT "${_preserve_bans}" STREQUAL "")
+    file(WRITE "${_stage_bans}" "${_preserve_bans}")
+endif()
+
 if(NOT EXISTS "${CO_SERVER_STAGE_DIR}/consumer_server_cli.py")
     message(FATAL_ERROR
         "Failed to stage server entrypoint to ${CO_SERVER_STAGE_DIR}/consumer_server_cli.py")