diff --git a/evennia/commands/default/system.py b/evennia/commands/default/system.py
index 0b1ed827ae..3a2476e186 100644
--- a/evennia/commands/default/system.py
+++ b/evennia/commands/default/system.py
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ class CmdPy(COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS):
       clientraw - turn off all client-specific escaping. Note that this may
         lead to different output depending on prototocol (such as angular brackets
         being parsed as HTML in the webclient but not in telnet clients)
-      noecho - in Python console mode, turn off the input echo (e.g. if your client 
+      noecho - in Python console mode, turn off the input echo (e.g. if your client
         does this for you already)
 
     Without argument, open a Python console in-game. This is a full console,
@@ -429,13 +429,14 @@ def format_script_list(scripts):
 
         nextrep = script.time_until_next_repeat()
         if nextrep is None:
-            nextrep = "PAUS" if script.db._paused_time else "--"
+            nextrep = "PAUSED" if script.db._paused_time else "--"
         else:
             nextrep = "%ss" % nextrep
 
         maxrepeat = script.repeats
+        remaining = script.remaining_repeats() or 0
         if maxrepeat:
-            rept = "%i/%i" % (maxrepeat - script.remaining_repeats(), maxrepeat)
+            rept = "%i/%i" % (maxrepeat - remaining, maxrepeat)
         else:
             rept = "-/-"
 
diff --git a/evennia/contrib/custom_gametime.py b/evennia/contrib/custom_gametime.py
index e1065add38..b94a308ced 100644
--- a/evennia/contrib/custom_gametime.py
+++ b/evennia/contrib/custom_gametime.py
@@ -298,6 +298,9 @@ class GametimeScript(DefaultScript):
 
     def at_repeat(self):
         """Call the callback and reset interval."""
+
+        from evennia.utils.utils import calledby
+
         callback = self.db.callback
         if callback:
             callback()
diff --git a/evennia/scripts/scripts.py b/evennia/scripts/scripts.py
index b45ac2a0ee..3881d4971a 100644
--- a/evennia/scripts/scripts.py
+++ b/evennia/scripts/scripts.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class ExtendedLoopingCall(LoopingCall):
             steps if we want.
 
         """
-        assert not self.running, "Tried to start an already running " "ExtendedLoopingCall."
+        assert not self.running, "Tried to start an already running ExtendedLoopingCall."
         if interval < 0:
             raise ValueError("interval must be >= 0")
         self.running = True
@@ -107,7 +107,8 @@ class ExtendedLoopingCall(LoopingCall):
         if self.start_delay:
             self.start_delay = None
             self.starttime = self.clock.seconds()
-        LoopingCall.__call__(self)
+        if self._deferred:
+            LoopingCall.__call__(self)
 
     def force_repeat(self):
         """
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ class ExtendedLoopingCall(LoopingCall):
                 running.
 
         """
-        assert self.running, "Tried to fire an ExtendedLoopingCall " "that was not running."
+        assert self.running, "Tried to fire an ExtendedLoopingCall that was not running."
         self.call.cancel()
         self.call = None
         self.starttime = self.clock.seconds()
@@ -173,7 +174,8 @@ class ScriptBase(ScriptDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
             )
             del self.db._paused_time
             del self.db._paused_repeats
-        else:
+
+        elif not self.ndb._task.running:
             # starting script anew
             self.ndb._task.start(self.db_interval, now=not self.db_start_delay)
 
@@ -185,6 +187,7 @@ class ScriptBase(ScriptDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
         task = self.ndb._task
         if task and task.running:
             task.stop()
+        self.ndb._task = None
 
     def _step_errback(self, e):
         """
@@ -266,13 +269,13 @@ class ScriptBase(ScriptDB, metaclass=TypeclassBase):
                 self.db_key = cdict["key"]
                 updates.append("db_key")
             if cdict.get("interval") and self.interval != cdict["interval"]:
-                self.db_interval = cdict["interval"]
+                self.db_interval = max(0, cdict["interval"])
                 updates.append("db_interval")
             if cdict.get("start_delay") and self.start_delay != cdict["start_delay"]:
                 self.db_start_delay = cdict["start_delay"]
                 updates.append("db_start_delay")
             if cdict.get("repeats") and self.repeats != cdict["repeats"]:
-                self.db_repeats = cdict["repeats"]
+                self.db_repeats = max(0, cdict["repeats"])
                 updates.append("db_repeats")
             if cdict.get("persistent") and self.persistent != cdict["persistent"]:
                 self.db_persistent = cdict["persistent"]
diff --git a/evennia/server/server.py b/evennia/server/server.py
index 7602435068..4bbf3aee0f 100644
--- a/evennia/server/server.py
+++ b/evennia/server/server.py
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ class Evennia(object):
             yield [
                 (s.pause(manual_pause=False), s.at_server_reload())
                 for s in ScriptDB.get_all_cached_instances()
-                if s.is_active or s.attributes.has("_manual_pause")
+                if s.id and (s.is_active or s.attributes.has("_manual_pause"))
             ]
             yield self.sessions.all_sessions_portal_sync()
             self.at_server_reload_stop()
diff --git a/evennia/utils/create.py b/evennia/utils/create.py
index 0f6c1f22dd..8e9d98b305 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/create.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/create.py
@@ -255,11 +255,11 @@ def create_script(
     if obj:
         kwarg["db_obj"] = dbid_to_obj(obj, _ObjectDB)
     if interval:
-        kwarg["db_interval"] = interval
+        kwarg["db_interval"] = max(0, interval)
     if start_delay:
         kwarg["db_start_delay"] = start_delay
     if repeats:
-        kwarg["db_repeats"] = repeats
+        kwarg["db_repeats"] = max(0, repeats)
     if persistent:
         kwarg["db_persistent"] = persistent
     if desc: