diff --git a/matrixbot/commands.py b/matrixbot/commands.py
index 3ada0ee..3db7bed 100644
--- a/matrixbot/commands.py
+++ b/matrixbot/commands.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import aiohttp
 
 from nio import AsyncClient
 
-from utils import send_text, send_html, send_reaction, edit_html, sanitize_input
+from utils import send_text, send_html, send_reaction, edit_html, sanitize_input, rcon_command, RconError
 from wordle import handle_wordle, wordle_stats as _wordle_stats
 from welcome import clean_stale_dm_messages
 from config import (
@@ -1317,29 +1317,40 @@ async def cmd_minecraft(client: AsyncClient, room_id: str, sender: str, args: st
     await send_text(client, room_id, f"Whitelisting {username}...")
 
     try:
-        from mcrcon import MCRcon
-
         def _rcon():
-            with MCRcon(MINECRAFT_RCON_HOST, MINECRAFT_RCON_PASSWORD, port=MINECRAFT_RCON_PORT, timeout=3) as mcr:
-                return mcr.command(f"whitelist add {username}")
+            return rcon_command(
+                MINECRAFT_RCON_HOST,
+                MINECRAFT_RCON_PASSWORD,
+                f"whitelist add {username}",
+                port=MINECRAFT_RCON_PORT,
+                timeout=RCON_TIMEOUT,
+            )
 
         loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
         response = await asyncio.wait_for(loop.run_in_executor(None, _rcon), timeout=RCON_TIMEOUT)
         logger.info(f"RCON response: {response}")
 
-        plain = f"Minecraft\nYou have been whitelisted on the SMP!\nServer: minecraft.lotusguild.org\nUsername: {username}"
+        already = "already whitelisted" in response.lower()
+        status_line = (
+            f"↺ <strong>{username}</strong> was already whitelisted."
+            if already
+            else f"✅ <strong>{username}</strong> is whitelisted and ready to join."
+        )
+        plain = (
+            f"✿ Minecraft — Lotus SMP ✿\n"
+            f"{'Already whitelisted' if already else 'Whitelisted'}: {username}\n"
+            f"Server: minecraft.lotusguild.org"
+        )
         html = (
-            f"<strong>Minecraft</strong><br>"
-            f"You have been whitelisted on the SMP!<br>"
-            f"Server: <strong>minecraft.lotusguild.org</strong><br>"
-            f"Username: <strong>{username}</strong>"
+            f'<font color="#980000"><strong>✿ Minecraft — Lotus SMP ✿</strong></font><br>'
+            f"<blockquote>"
+            f"{status_line}<br>"
+            f'<strong>Server:</strong> <code>minecraft.lotusguild.org</code><br>'
+            f"<sup><em>fresh world · hard mode · no takebacks</em></sup>"
+            f"</blockquote>"
         )
         await send_html(client, room_id, plain, html)
-    except ImportError:
-        await send_text(client, room_id, "mcrcon is not installed. Ask an admin to install it.")
-    except asyncio.TimeoutError:
-        await send_text(client, room_id, "Minecraft server timed out. It may be offline.")
-    except Exception as e:
+    except (asyncio.TimeoutError, RconError, OSError) as e:
         logger.error(f"RCON error: {e}", exc_info=True)
         await send_text(client, room_id, "Failed to whitelist. The server may be offline (let jared know).")
 
diff --git a/matrixbot/requirements.txt b/matrixbot/requirements.txt
index 1d79d03..a4f80f9 100644
--- a/matrixbot/requirements.txt
+++ b/matrixbot/requirements.txt
@@ -2,4 +2,3 @@ matrix-nio[e2e]
 python-dotenv>=1.2.2
 aiohttp
 markdown
-mcrcon
diff --git a/matrixbot/utils.py b/matrixbot/utils.py
index cb047cb..a7040a2 100644
--- a/matrixbot/utils.py
+++ b/matrixbot/utils.py
@@ -155,3 +155,50 @@ def sanitize_input(text: str, max_length: int = MAX_INPUT_LENGTH) -> str:
     text = text.strip()[:max_length]
     text = "".join(char for char in text if char.isprintable())
     return text
+
+
+class RconError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+def rcon_command(host: str, password: str, command: str, port: int = 25575, timeout: float = 5.0) -> str:
+    """Minimal Source RCON client (Minecraft protocol) using socket timeouts.
+
+    Deliberately avoids the `mcrcon` package: it implements its read timeout
+    via signal.SIGALRM, which only works on the main thread — this is always
+    called from a worker thread (via loop.run_in_executor), so that library
+    raises "signal only works in main thread of the main interpreter" every
+    time. socket.settimeout() has no such restriction.
+    """
+    import socket
+    import struct
+
+    def send_packet(sock, pkt_id, pkt_type, payload):
+        body = struct.pack("<ii", pkt_id, pkt_type) + payload.encode("utf-8") + b"\x00\x00"
+        sock.sendall(struct.pack("<i", len(body)) + body)
+
+    def read_packet(sock):
+        def recv_exact(n):
+            buf = b""
+            while len(buf) < n:
+                chunk = sock.recv(n - len(buf))
+                if not chunk:
+                    raise RconError("Connection closed by server")
+                buf += chunk
+            return buf
+
+        length = struct.unpack("<i", recv_exact(4))[0]
+        data = recv_exact(length)
+        pkt_id, _pkt_type = struct.unpack("<ii", data[:8])
+        return pkt_id, data[8:-2].decode("utf-8", "replace")
+
+    with socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout=timeout) as sock:
+        sock.settimeout(timeout)
+        send_packet(sock, 1, 3, password)
+        auth_id, _ = read_packet(sock)
+        if auth_id == -1:
+            raise RconError("RCON authentication failed (wrong password)")
+
+        send_packet(sock, 2, 2, command)
+        _, response = read_packet(sock)
+        return response