diff --git a/code/_helpers/time.dm b/code/_helpers/time.dm
index 9f83595e493..19e2206cd09 100644
--- a/code/_helpers/time.dm
+++ b/code/_helpers/time.dm
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ var/round_start_time = 0
 
 /hook/roundstart/proc/start_timer()
 	round_start_time = world.time
+	return 1
 
 #define round_duration_in_ticks (round_start_time ? world.time - round_start_time : 0)
 
diff --git a/code/world.dm b/code/world.dm
index 9dc5fe536ee..b81c0f7c3a5 100644
--- a/code/world.dm
+++ b/code/world.dm
@@ -422,6 +422,10 @@ var/world_topic_spam_protect_time = world.timeofday
 	return 1
 
 /world/proc/load_mode()
+	if(!fexists("data/mode.txt"))
+		return
+
+
 	var/list/Lines = file2list("data/mode.txt")
 	if(Lines.len)
 		if(Lines[1])