diff --git a/client/tests/test_input_roundtrip.gd b/client/tests/test_input_roundtrip.gd
index 03330097f..efdb561e6 100644
--- a/client/tests/test_input_roundtrip.gd
+++ b/client/tests/test_input_roundtrip.gd
@@ -9,9 +9,21 @@ extends GdUnitTestSuite
 
 const CONNECT_TIMEOUT: float = 3.0
 # Ceiling, not a sleep — the wait loop exits the moment the expected state
-# arrives. 5.0s flaked under load (gate run 2026-07-16: MoveEast observed
-# mid-move at timeout); 10.0s costs nothing when healthy.
+# arrives. NOTE: raising this can never fix a missing move. The 2026-07-16
+# gate flake ("MoveEast never registers") was the stance cooldown silently
+# discarding the input (see COOLDOWN_TICKS below), not slowness — a dropped
+# move stays dropped no matter how long the wait.
 const RESPONSE_TIMEOUT: float = 10.0
+# Server move cooldown: the proof-room player is Walk stance (ticks_per_move
+# = 2, server stance.rs). A move input arriving within that window is
+# silently throttled away (movement.rs::apply_move ->
+# PlayerMoveCooldown::try_move — TRACE-level log only, input consumed).
+# Space consecutive sends past it (2 ticks + 1 margin for apply/snapshot
+# lag) so back-to-back moves can never race the cooldown. Same fix as
+# test_sprint2_proof.gd (T-1068) — root-caused again in the T-180 hunt with
+# server trace logs: "Received input: tick=2 action=MoveEast" followed by
+# "Movement throttled by stance Walk cooldown".
+const COOLDOWN_TICKS: int = 3
 const MAX_PORT_ATTEMPTS: int = 5
 
 var _server_pid: int = -1
@@ -138,7 +150,9 @@ func _do_handshake(world_seed: int = 42) -> bool:
 ## - expect_position != null (Vector2, render coords): wait until the player
 ##   reaches that position and assert it. Deterministic under load — tick
 ##   margins race the free-running server when the test process is descheduled
-##   between drain and send.
+##   between drain and send. Afterwards, hold until the server clock is
+##   COOLDOWN_TICKS past the landing tick so the caller's next move can never
+##   race the stance cooldown (which silently discards early move attempts).
 ## - expect_position == null: wait for a snapshot at least 2 ticks past the
 ##   drain point (enough for no-op actions like Interact).
 func _send_and_receive(
@@ -203,6 +217,25 @@ func _send_and_receive(
 		assert_that(actual.is_equal_approx(expect_position)).override_failure_message(
 			"player must reach %s after '%s' — last seen %s" % [expect_position, action_name, actual]
 		).is_true()
+		# Space the next move past the per-stance cooldown (see COOLDOWN_TICKS).
+		# The server silently drops a move arriving within ticks_per_move ticks
+		# of the previous one; without this hold, back-to-back sends race the
+		# cooldown and an occasional move is throttled, leaving the player one
+		# tile short (the T-180 gate flake). The player is stationary meanwhile,
+		# so the fresher snapshot is still valid for the caller.
+		var landed_tick: int = int(snapshot.tick)
+		var spacing_deadline_ms: int = Time.get_ticks_msec() + int(RESPONSE_TIMEOUT * 1000.0)
+		while Time.get_ticks_msec() < spacing_deadline_ms:
+			_bridge.poll()
+			var m := _bridge.poll_message()
+			if m.size() > 0:
+				var d: Variant = Protocol.decode_snapshot(m)
+				if d != null:
+					snapshot = d
+					if int(d.tick) >= landed_tick + COOLDOWN_TICKS:
+						break
+				continue
+			await get_tree().create_timer(0.05).timeout
 	return snapshot