diff --git a/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx b/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx
index 5a287395a..0fa983ce9 100644
--- a/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx
+++ b/src/app/features/settings/account/Profile.tsx
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ import { createUploadAtom, UploadSuccess } from '../../../state/upload';
 import { CompactUploadCardRenderer } from '../../../components/upload-card';
 import { useCapabilities } from '../../../hooks/useCapabilities';
 import { Presence, useUserPresence } from '../../../hooks/useUserPresence';
-import { noteLocalStatusWrite } from '../../../utils/ownStatusSync';
+import { DND_STATUS_SENTINEL, noteLocalStatusWrite } from '../../../utils/ownStatusSync';
 import { ProfileDecoration } from './ProfileDecoration';
 import { EmojiBoard } from '../../../components/emoji-board';
 import { useStatusPresets } from '../../../hooks/useStatusPresets';
@@ -396,7 +396,8 @@ function ProfileStatus() {
   const [presenceStatus] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'presenceStatus');
   const [hidePresence] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'hidePresence');
 
-  const initialStatus = presence?.status ?? localStorage.getItem(STATUS_MSG_KEY(userId)) ?? '';
+  const serverStatus = presence?.status === DND_STATUS_SENTINEL ? undefined : presence?.status;
+  const initialStatus = serverStatus ?? localStorage.getItem(STATUS_MSG_KEY(userId)) ?? '';
   const [statusMsg, setStatusMsg] = useState<string>(initialStatus);
   // True while the user has unsaved local edits — prevents a server presence
   // echo from overwriting what the user is currently typing/inserting.
@@ -442,6 +443,9 @@ function ProfileStatus() {
         pendingAppliedRef.current = null; // window elapsed — accept external changes
       }
     }
+    // [Gitea #283] "dnd" is the Do Not Disturb sentinel, not something the user
+    // typed: don't show it in the status field or keep it as their status.
+    if (remoteStatus === DND_STATUS_SENTINEL) return;
     if (remoteStatus) {
       setStatusMsg(remoteStatus);
       localStorage.setItem(STATUS_MSG_KEY(userId), remoteStatus);
diff --git a/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.test.ts b/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.test.ts
index 6c256a2b6..e17601622 100644
--- a/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.test.ts
@@ -48,3 +48,34 @@ test("a fresh local save wins over a server read that hasn't caught up", () => {
     'previous',
   );
 });
+
+test('pickHeartbeatStatus: the "dnd" sentinel is never adopted as the user status (#283)', () => {
+  const base = { lastLocalWriteAt: 0, now: 100_000 };
+  // leaving DND: the server still says "dnd" → restore the real local status
+  assert.equal(
+    pickHeartbeatStatus({
+      ...base,
+      local: '🎮 Gaming',
+      server: { presence: 'unavailable', status_msg: 'dnd' },
+    }),
+    '🎮 Gaming',
+  );
+  // a local copy that had absorbed the sentinel becomes empty, not "dnd"
+  assert.equal(
+    pickHeartbeatStatus({
+      ...base,
+      local: 'dnd',
+      server: { presence: 'online', status_msg: 'dnd' },
+    }),
+    '',
+  );
+  // ordinary statuses are unaffected
+  assert.equal(
+    pickHeartbeatStatus({
+      ...base,
+      local: 'old',
+      server: { presence: 'online', status_msg: 'new' },
+    }),
+    'new',
+  );
+});
diff --git a/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.ts b/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.ts
index 7d80c5502..d56324602 100644
--- a/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.ts
+++ b/src/app/utils/ownStatusSync.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
  * overridden by a server read that hasn't caught up yet.
  */
 
+/** The status_msg Lotus sends for Do Not Disturb (see usePresenceUpdater). */
+export const DND_STATUS_SENTINEL = 'dnd';
+
 /** Trust this device's own copy for this long after it saved or cleared it. */
 export const LOCAL_WRITE_GRACE_MS = 15_000;
 
@@ -37,7 +40,12 @@ export const pickHeartbeatStatus = ({
   lastLocalWriteAt: number;
   now: number;
 }): string => {
-  if (!server || server.presence === 'offline') return local;
-  if (now - writtenAt < LOCAL_WRITE_GRACE_MS) return local;
+  // [Gitea #283] Lotus encodes Do Not Disturb as status_msg "dnd", so a device
+  // leaving DND must not adopt that sentinel as the user's status — keep (and
+  // so restore) the real one it holds locally.
+  const mine = local === DND_STATUS_SENTINEL ? '' : local;
+  if (!server || server.presence === 'offline') return mine;
+  if (now - writtenAt < LOCAL_WRITE_GRACE_MS) return mine;
+  if (server.status_msg === DND_STATUS_SENTINEL) return mine;
   return server.status_msg ?? '';
 };