diff --git a/server/connector.go b/server/connector.go
index 63f462c..767a7fe 100644
--- a/server/connector.go
+++ b/server/connector.go
@@ -659,12 +659,18 @@ func (c *Connector) findAndConnectBackend(frontendConn net.Conn,
 			}
 		}
 
-		if waker != nil && nextState == mcproto.StateStatus {
+		if nextState == mcproto.StateStatus {
+			// Previously gated on `waker != nil` so only auto-scale routes
+			// got a predefined response. For static fleets (no waker) clients
+			// just saw a closed connection on backend-down. Now any known
+			// route whose backend dial fails returns the configured asleep/
+			// loading MOTD — falls back to the global AUTO_SCALE_ASLEEP_MOTD
+			// when no per-route override is set.
 			logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
 				"client":   clientAddr,
 				"server":   serverAddress,
 				"isLegacy": isLegacy,
-			}).Debug("Scalable backend unreachable: serving predefined status response")
+			}).Debug("Backend unreachable: serving predefined status response")
 
 			br := bufio.NewReader(frontendConn)
 			if isLegacy {