diff --git a/contrib/plugins/banner.js b/contrib/plugins/banner.js
index 701ff3cb..332a6822 100644
--- a/contrib/plugins/banner.js
+++ b/contrib/plugins/banner.js
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 (function() {
 
 // usage: copy this to '.banner.js' in your webroot,
-// and run copyparty with the following argument:
-// --body-foot '<script src="/.banner.js"></script>'
+// and run copyparty with the following arguments:
+// --js-browser /.banner.js  --js-other /.banner.js
 
 
 
diff --git a/copyparty/web/browser.js b/copyparty/web/browser.js
index 3c6fa79a..7ee15ba7 100644
--- a/copyparty/web/browser.js
+++ b/copyparty/web/browser.js
@@ -1618,7 +1618,12 @@ var LANGS = ["eng", "nor", "chi"];
 if (window.langmod)
 	langmod();
 
-var L = Ls[sread("cpp_lang", LANGS) || lang] || Ls.eng || Ls.nor || Ls.chi;
+for (var a = LANGS.length; a > 0;)
+	if (!Ls[LANGS[--a]])
+		LANGS.splice(a, 1);
+
+var L = Ls[sread("cpp_lang", LANGS) || lang] ||
+			Ls.eng || Ls.nor || Ls.chi;
 
 for (var a = 0; a < LANGS.length; a++) {
 	for (var b = a + 1; b < LANGS.length; b++) {
diff --git a/copyparty/web/splash.js b/copyparty/web/splash.js
index 9055ca43..cba8120c 100644
--- a/copyparty/web/splash.js
+++ b/copyparty/web/splash.js
@@ -81,12 +81,11 @@ var Ls = {
 	}
 };
 
-var LANGS = ["eng", "nor", "chi"];
-
 if (window.langmod)
 	langmod();
 
-var d = Ls[sread("cpp_lang", LANGS) || lang] || Ls.eng || Ls.nor || Ls.chi;
+var d = Ls[sread("cpp_lang", Object.keys(Ls)) || lang] ||
+			Ls.eng || Ls.nor || Ls.chi;
 
 for (var k in (d || {})) {
 	var f = k.slice(-1),
diff --git a/scripts/make-sfx.sh b/scripts/make-sfx.sh
index 7b79573a..b9b816f0 100755
--- a/scripts/make-sfx.sh
+++ b/scripts/make-sfx.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ set -e
 echo
 
 berr() { p=$(head -c 72 </dev/zero | tr '\0' =); printf '\n%s\n\n' $p; cat; printf '\n%s\n\n' $p; }
+aerr() { printf '%s\n' "$*" | berr; }
 
 help() { exec cat <<'EOF'
 
@@ -28,9 +29,11 @@ help() { exec cat <<'EOF'
 #
 # `no-tfp` saves ~10k by removing the tftp server, disabling --tftp
 #
+# `no-zm` saves ~7k by removing the zeroconf mDNS server
+#
 # `no-smb` saves ~3.5k by removing the smb / cifs server
 #
-# `no-zm` saves ~k by removing the zeroconf mDNS server
+# `no-pf` saves ~2.8k by removing the option to download partyfuse
 #
 # _____________________________________________________________________
 # web features:
@@ -52,10 +55,15 @@ help() { exec cat <<'EOF'
 #
 # `ign-wd` allows building an sfx without webdeps
 #
-# ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-#
+# _____________________________________________________________________
 # if you are on windows, you can use msys2:
 #   PATH=/c/Users/$USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python310:"$PATH" ./make-sfx.sh fast
+#
+# _____________________________________________________________________
+# some usage examples:
+#   ./scripts/make-sfx.sh lang eng no-cm no-hl no-dd no-fnt no-smb no-pf
+#   ./scripts/rls.sh sfx  lang eng no-cm no-hl no-dd no-fnt no-smb no-pf
+#   (reduces v1.14.2 from 700k to 495k)
 
 EOF
 }
@@ -112,6 +120,7 @@ while [ ! -z "$1" ]; do
 		no-tfp) no_tfp=1 ; ;;
 		no-smb) no_smb=1 ; ;;
 		no-zm)  no_zm=1  ; ;;
+		no-pf)  no_pf=1  ; ;;
 		no-fnt) no_fnt=1 ; ;;
 		no-hl)  no_hl=1  ; ;;
 		no-dd)  no_dd=1  ; ;;
@@ -119,7 +128,6 @@ while [ ! -z "$1" ]; do
 		dl-wd)  dl_wd=1  ; ;;
 		ign-wd) ign_wd=1 ; ;;
 		fast)   zopf=    ; ;;
-		ultra)  ultra=1  ; ;;
 		lang)   shift;langs="$1"; ;;
 		*)      help     ; ;;
 	esac
@@ -428,6 +436,9 @@ rm -f ftp/pyftpdlib/{__main__,prefork}.py
 [ $no_zm ] &&
 	rm -rf copyparty/mdns.py copyparty/stolen/dnslib
 
+[ $no_pf ] &&
+	rm -rf copyparty/web/a/partyfuse.py
+
 [ $no_cm ] && {
 	rm -rf copyparty/web/mde.* copyparty/web/deps/easymde*
 	echo h > copyparty/web/mde.html
@@ -451,11 +462,16 @@ rm -f ftp/pyftpdlib/{__main__,prefork}.py
 	ised 's/(cursor: ?)url\([^)]+\), ?(pointer)/\1\2/; s/[0-9]+% \{cursor:[^}]+\}//; s/animation: ?cursor[^};]+//' $f
 }
 
-[ $langs ] &&
+[ $langs ] && {
+	echo $langs | grep -q eng || {
+		langs="eng|$langs"
+		aerr "ERROR: removing english is not supported; will do this instead: $langs"
+	}
 	for f in copyparty/web/{browser.js,splash.js}; do
 		gzip -d "$f.gz" || true
-		iawk '/^\}/{l=0} !l; /^var Ls =/{l=1;next} o; /^\t["}]/{o=0} /^\t"'"$langs"'"/{o=1;print}' $f
+		iawk '/^\}/{l=0} !l; /^var Ls =/{l=1;next} !l{next} o; /^\t["}]/{o=0} /^\t"'"$langs"'"/{o=1;print}' $f
 	done
+}
 
 [ ! $repack ] && {
 	# uncomment
diff --git a/scripts/rls.sh b/scripts/rls.sh
index 32023803..ac6b2b7d 100755
--- a/scripts/rls.sh
+++ b/scripts/rls.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
+# if specified, keep the following sfx flags last: gz gzz fast
+
 parallel=1
 
 [ -e make-sfx.sh ] || cd scripts
@@ -35,6 +37,14 @@ f=../dist/copyparty-sfx
 
 $f$s.py --version >/dev/null
 
+while [ "$1" ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        gz*) break;;
+        fast) break;;
+    esac
+    shift
+done
+
 [ $parallel -gt 1 ] && {
     printf '\033[%s' s 2r H "0;1;37;44mbruteforcing sfx size -- press enter to terminate" K u "7m $* " K $'27m\n'
     trap "rm -f .sfx-run; printf '\033[%s' s r u" INT TERM EXIT