diff --git a/scripts/start-deployPaper b/scripts/start-deployPaper
index 53baad26360..eaed0e11b4a 100755
--- a/scripts/start-deployPaper
+++ b/scripts/start-deployPaper
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ else
 
 fi
 
+# Download default configs to allow for consistent patching
+for c in paper-global.yml paper-world-defaults.yml spigot.yml; do
+  DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS+=",${PAPER_CONFIG_DEFAULTS_REPO}/${VERSION}/$c"
+done
+export DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS
+
 # Normalize on Spigot for downstream operations
 export FAMILY=SPIGOT
 
diff --git a/scripts/start-finalExec b/scripts/start-finalExec
index cdfdfbea44a..f180d5f0e08 100755
--- a/scripts/start-finalExec
+++ b/scripts/start-finalExec
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ patchLog4jConfig() {
   canUseRollingLogs=false
 }
 
+# Temporarily disable debugging output
+oldState=$(shopt -po xtrace || true)
+shopt -u -o xtrace
 # Patch Log4j remote code execution vulnerability
 # See https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/important-message--security-vulnerability-java-edition
 if versionLessThan 1.7; then
@@ -80,6 +83,7 @@ elif isType PURPUR && versionLessThan 1.18.1; then
 elif versionLessThan 1.18.1; then
   useFallbackJvmFlag=true
 fi
+eval "$oldState"
 
 if ${useFallbackJvmFlag}; then
   JVM_OPTS="-Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true ${JVM_OPTS}"
diff --git a/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables b/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables
index 5feb0a7f45e..fe343a43922 100755
--- a/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables
+++ b/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 . "${SCRIPTS:-/}start-utils"
 
 set -e
+handleDebugMode
 
 : "${REPLACE_ENV_IN_PLACE:=${REPLACE_ENV_VARIABLES:-false}}"
 : "${REPLACE_ENV_PATHS:=/data}"
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ set -e
 : "${REPLACE_ENV_VARIABLES_EXCLUDE_PATHS:=}"
 : "${PATCH_DEFINITIONS:=}"
 : "${DEBUG:=false}"
+: "${DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS:=}"
 
 if isTrue "${REPLACE_ENV_IN_PLACE}"; then
   log "Replacing env variables in ${REPLACE_ENV_PATHS} that match the prefix '$REPLACE_ENV_VARIABLE_PREFIX' ..."
@@ -25,6 +27,16 @@ if isTrue "${REPLACE_ENV_IN_PLACE}"; then
     "${REPLACE_ENV_PATHS[@]}"
 fi
 
+if [[ $DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS ]]; then
+  log "Downloading default configs, if needed"
+  if ! mc-image-helper mcopy \
+    --to /data/config \
+    --skip-existing --skip-up-to-date=false \
+    "$DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS" 2> /dev/null; then
+    log "WARN: one or more default config files were not available from $DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS"
+  fi
+fi
+
 if [[ ${PATCH_DEFINITIONS} ]]; then
   log "Applying patch definitions from ${PATCH_DEFINITIONS}"
   mc-image-helper patch \
diff --git a/scripts/start-utils b/scripts/start-utils
index 9649ed971f5..eca96855a1f 100755
--- a/scripts/start-utils
+++ b/scripts/start-utils
@@ -265,10 +265,17 @@ function compare_version() {
 }
 
 function versionLessThan() {
+  local oldState
+  # The  return  status  when listing options is zero if all optnames are enabled, non- zero otherwise.
+  oldState=$(shopt -po xtrace || true)
+  shopt -u -o xtrace
+
   # Use if-else since strict mode might be enabled
   if compare_version "${VERSION}" "lt" "${1?}"; then
+    eval "$oldState"
     return 0
   else
+    eval "$oldState"
     return 1
   fi
 }