diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index ff4490a..6853b46 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -1,19 +1,15 @@
-name: Deploy via rsync
+name: Restart server
 on:
   push:
     branches:
       - release
 
 jobs:
-  deploy:
+  restart:
     runs-on: [ ubuntu-22.04 ]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Install rsync
-        run: sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq rsync
-        continue-on-error: true
-
       - name: Setup SSH
         run: |
           mkdir -p ~/.ssh
@@ -21,20 +17,6 @@ jobs:
           chmod 600 ~/.ssh/deploy_key
           ssh-keyscan -H ${{ secrets.SERVER_HOST }} >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts 2>/dev/null
 
-      - name: Rsync to /opt/barotrauma
-        run: |
-          rsync -avz --delete \
-            --exclude=.git --exclude=.gitea \
-            -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/deploy_key" \
-            ./ ${{ secrets.SERVER_USER }}@${{ secrets.SERVER_HOST }}:/opt/barotrauma/
-
-      - name: Extract LocalMods on server
-        run: |
-          ssh -i ~/.ssh/deploy_key \
-            ${{ secrets.SERVER_USER }}@${{ secrets.SERVER_HOST }} \
-            "cd /opt/barotrauma && \
-             [ -f LocalMods.tar.gz ] && tar -xzf LocalMods.tar.gz && rm -f LocalMods.tar.gz && echo 'LocalMods extracted' || echo 'No LocalMods.tar.gz'"
-
       - name: Restart server
         run: |
           ssh -i ~/.ssh/deploy_key \
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 82d7320..c3a5d6c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 LocalMods/
+LocalMods.tar.gz
diff --git a/LocalMods.tar.gz b/LocalMods.tar.gz
deleted file mode 100644
index e4087b1..0000000
--- a/LocalMods.tar.gz
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:5d5e9100b3bfd7b828058adcc8872978d573b99fb5b685e590b61f0aa3efa61d
-size 965533546
diff --git a/prep b/prep
index a853bf4..6bfcea1 100755
--- a/prep
+++ b/prep
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-"""Prepare local mods, tar them, generate config, and commit."""
+"""Prepare local mods, rsync to server, generate config, and commit."""
 
 import os
 import subprocess
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ BASE = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
 PREPARE_LOCAL = os.path.join(BASE, "prepare_local")
 AUTOGEN = os.path.join(BASE, "scripts", "autogen_config.py")
 LOCALMODS_DIR = os.path.join(BASE, "LocalMods")
-TAR_PATH = os.path.join(BASE, "LocalMods.tar.gz")
+
+RSYNC_DEST = "root@homelabvm:/opt/barotrauma/LocalMods/"
 
 
 def log_ok(msg):
@@ -26,9 +27,9 @@ def main():
     msg = " ".join(sys.argv[1:]) if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "Update LocalMods"
 
     print()
-    print("╔════════════════════════════════════╗")
-    print("║        Prep: mods → tar → commit  ║")
-    print("╚════════════════════════════════════╝")
+    print("╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗")
+    print("║  Prep: mods → rsync → config → commit║")
+    print("╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝")
     print()
 
     log_info("Step 1/4: Copy mods from workshop...")
@@ -36,12 +37,13 @@ def main():
     log_ok("LocalMods ready")
     print()
 
-    log_info("Step 2/4: Taring LocalMods/...")
-    if os.path.exists(TAR_PATH):
-        os.remove(TAR_PATH)
-    subprocess.run(["tar", "-czf", TAR_PATH, "-C", BASE, "LocalMods"], check=True)
-    size = os.path.getsize(TAR_PATH)
-    log_ok(f"Created {TAR_PATH} ({size / 1024:.1f} KB)")
+    log_info("Step 2/4: Rsyncing LocalMods/ to server...")
+    subprocess.run([
+        "rsync", "-avz", "--delete",
+        "-e", "ssh -p 22",
+        LOCALMODS_DIR + "/", RSYNC_DEST
+    ], check=True)
+    log_ok("LocalMods synced to homelabvm")
     print()
 
     log_info("Step 3/4: Generating config_player.xml...")
diff --git a/unpack b/unpack
deleted file mode 100755
index 433a4c0..0000000
--- a/unpack
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-"""Unpack LocalMods.tar.gz into LocalMods/ and remove the archive."""
-
-import os
-import subprocess
-import sys
-
-BASE = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-TAR_PATH = os.path.join(BASE, "LocalMods.tar.gz")
-
-
-def log_ok(msg):
-    print(f"\033[92m✓\033[0m {msg}")
-
-def log_info(msg):
-    print(f"• {msg}")
-
-def log_err(msg):
-    print(f"\033[91m✗\033[0m {msg}", file=sys.stderr)
-
-
-def main():
-    print()
-
-    if not os.path.isfile(TAR_PATH):
-        log_err(f"Not found: {TAR_PATH}")
-        sys.exit(1)
-
-    log_info(f"Extracting: {TAR_PATH}")
-    subprocess.run(["tar", "-xzf", TAR_PATH, "-C", BASE], check=True)
-
-    size = os.path.getsize(TAR_PATH)
-    os.remove(TAR_PATH)
-    log_ok(f"Extracted to {os.path.join(BASE, 'LocalMods')}/")
-    log_ok(f"Removed archive ({size / 1024:.1f} KB freed)")
-    print()
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    main()