diff --git a/src/mangosd/CliService.cpp b/src/mangosd/CliService.cpp
index 2d4f48800..5b64769b1 100644
--- a/src/mangosd/CliService.cpp
+++ b/src/mangosd/CliService.cpp
@@ -133,9 +133,20 @@ void CliService::Run()
     // Let start-up finish printing before the prompt lands in the middle of it.
     std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
 
-    if (m_beep && !MaNGOS::Console::ConsoleUI::Instance().Active())
+    // The bell has to bypass the log pipeline entirely. With the full-screen UI
+    // up, ConsoleLogWriter::Emit() folds a raw record into the UI's scrollback
+    // as text, so a BEL routed through sLog is displayed rather than sounded --
+    // which is why gating this on !ConsoleUI::Active() silenced it outright.
+    if (m_beep)
     {
-        sLog.ConsoleEmitRaw("\a");
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        // The system "default" sound, i.e. what the console bell used to raise.
+        MessageBeep(MB_OK);
+#else
+        // Straight to the terminal: non-printing, so it cannot disturb a frame.
+        std::fputs("\a", stdout);
+        std::fflush(stdout);
+#endif
     }
 
     Prompt();
diff --git a/src/mangosd/Master.cpp b/src/mangosd/Master.cpp
index 0405183f1..d67512a71 100644
--- a/src/mangosd/Master.cpp
+++ b/src/mangosd/Master.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "Log.h"
 #include "MapManager.h"
 #include "Server/WorldNetwork.h"
+#include "SystemConfig.h"
 #include "Timer.h"
 #include "World.h"
 
@@ -98,6 +99,35 @@ namespace
 
         return db.CheckDatabaseVersion(versionKind);
     }
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    /**
+     * @brief Show the live player and connection counts in the window title.
+     *
+     * The title belongs to the OS window, not to the console frame, so it stays
+     * readable while the server is minimised or buried in the taskbar -- which
+     * the in-frame status bar is not. Rewritten only when the text actually
+     * changes, because SetConsoleTitleA is a cross-process call.
+     *
+     * @param players     Currently active sessions.
+     * @param connections Currently open socket connections.
+     */
+    void UpdateConsoleTitle(uint32 players, uint32 connections)
+    {
+        static std::string s_lastTitle;
+
+        char title[128];
+        snprintf(title, sizeof(title), "%s (%u Players - %u Connections)",
+                 MANGOS_PACKAGENAME, players, connections);
+
+        std::string newTitle(title);
+        if (s_lastTitle != newTitle)
+        {
+            s_lastTitle = newTitle;
+            SetConsoleTitleA(title);
+        }
+    }
+#endif
 }
 
 Master::Master()
@@ -250,6 +280,14 @@ void Master::StopServices()
 
 void Master::PublishConsoleStatus(uint32 diff)
 {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    // Before the early-out below: the window title is owned by the OS rather
+    // than by the console frame, so it is kept current even when the
+    // full-screen UI is switched off and there is no status bar to publish to.
+    UpdateConsoleTitle(sWorld.GetActiveSessionCount(),
+                       sWorldNetwork.GetOpenConnectionCount());
+#endif
+
     MaNGOS::Console::ConsoleUI& ui = MaNGOS::Console::ConsoleUI::Instance();
     if (!ui.Active())
     {
diff --git a/src/mangosd/mangosd.conf.dist.in b/src/mangosd/mangosd.conf.dist.in
index 58b58da4a..54bcf5d1d 100644
--- a/src/mangosd/mangosd.conf.dist.in
+++ b/src/mangosd/mangosd.conf.dist.in
@@ -802,8 +802,8 @@ SD3ErrorLogFile              = "scriptdev3-errors.log"
 #        Default: 0 (false)
 #                 1 (true)
 #
-#    BeepAtStart
-#        Beep at mangosd start finished (mostly work only at Unix/Linux systems)
+#    Console.BeepAtStart
+#        Beep once mangosd has finished starting and the console is ready.
 #        Default: 1 (true)
 #                 0 (false)
 #
@@ -818,8 +818,9 @@ SD3ErrorLogFile              = "scriptdev3-errors.log"
 #        Default: "auto"  (draw the boxed, coloured loading UI when stdout is an
 #                          interactive console; plain text when it is redirected
 #                          to a file or a pipe, or when running as a service)
-#                 "fancy" (force the loading UI on, for a terminal that cannot be
-#                          detected as one)
+#                 "fancy" (currently behaves as "auto": forcing the UI on for a
+#                          terminal that cannot be detected as one is not yet
+#                          implemented)
 #                 "plain" (never; plain text, as older releases printed it)
 #
 #    WaitAtStartupError
@@ -910,7 +911,7 @@ MailDeliveryDelay                         = 3600
 MassMailer.SendPerTick                    = 10
 PetUnsummonAtMount                        = 0
 Event.Announce                            = 0
-BeepAtStart                               = 1
+Console.BeepAtStart                       = 1
 ShowProgressBars                          = 1
 Console.Style                             = "auto"
 WaitAtStartupError                        = 10
diff --git a/src/mangosd/mangosd.cpp b/src/mangosd/mangosd.cpp
index 3c9385411..56da7dc68 100644
--- a/src/mangosd/mangosd.cpp
+++ b/src/mangosd/mangosd.cpp
@@ -351,7 +351,11 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 
     // Only now: until the writer thread exists, console emits take the
     // synchronous path and would write straight over the full-screen frame.
-    if (sConfig.GetBoolDefault("Console.FullScreen", true) &&
+    // "plain" never draws the loading UI. "auto" and "fancy" both ask for it,
+    // and Start() declines on its own when stdout is not a real terminal.
+    const std::string consoleStyle =
+        sConfig.GetStringDefault("Console.Style", "auto");
+    if (consoleStyle != "plain" &&
         MaNGOS::Console::ConsoleUI::Instance().Start("MaNGOS Zero", "Vanilla 1.12.x"))
     {
         MaNGOS::Console::ConsoleUI::Instance().SetHeaderRight(