diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b9c8f930
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Do NOT ignore .git - needed in the image for version metadata
+# .git
+node_modules
+**/node_modules
+npm-debug.log
+yarn-error.log
+dist
+.DS_Store
+.gitignore
+.vscode
+.env
+.env.local
+logs
+*.log
+coverage
+tests
+docs
+.idea
+.cache
+# Ignore local config backups
+server/src/configs/koji_backups/**
+# Keep package and source files but ignore nested node_modules
+packages/*/node_modules
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker.yml b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
index e4eef64a0..1143535cc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ jobs:
   release:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.1
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 1
       - name: Set .gitsha
         run: 'echo ${{ github.sha }} > .gitsha'
       - name: Set .gitref
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3efc6246f..6c8e8b3f4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -5,16 +5,63 @@
 # - mount areas.json to /home/node/server/src/configs/areas.json
 # - Also mount every other configuration file necessary into the according directory.
 
-FROM node:22-alpine
+FROM node:22-alpine AS builder
 
 ENV NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=/home/node/.npm-global
 ENV PATH=$PATH:/home/node/.npm-global/bin
 
 WORKDIR /home/node
-COPY package.json .
-COPY yarn.lock .
-RUN apk add git
-RUN npm install -g yarn
+
+# Install minimal build deps
+RUN apk add --no-cache git python3 make g++
+
+# Install yarn (node:22 includes corepack but ensure yarn v1 available)
+RUN npm install -g yarn@1.22.19
+
+# Copy package manifests first for better layer caching
+COPY package.json yarn.lock ./
+COPY packages ./packages
+COPY server ./server
+COPY public ./public
+COPY ReactMap.js ./ReactMap.js
+
+# Copy remaining source needed for build (excluding node_modules via .dockerignore)
 COPY . .
-RUN yarn install
+
+# Capture git metadata for update checks in Docker builds.
+RUN if [ -d .git ]; then \
+    git rev-parse HEAD > .gitsha; \
+    ref="$(git symbolic-ref -q HEAD || true)"; \
+    if [ -z "$ref" ]; then ref="refs/heads/main"; fi; \
+    printf '%s\n' "$ref" > .gitref; \
+  fi
+
+# Install all deps and build
+RUN yarn install --frozen-lockfile
 RUN yarn build
+
+# Reinstall only production dependencies to a clean node_modules folder
+RUN rm -rf node_modules && HUSKY=0 yarn install --production --frozen-lockfile
+
+
+# Final runtime image
+FROM node:22-alpine AS runtime
+ENV NODE_ENV=production
+ENV NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=/home/node/.npm-global
+ENV PATH=$PATH:/home/node/.npm-global/bin
+WORKDIR /home/node
+
+# Install yarn in runtime if you need it (keeps compatibility).
+RUN npm install -g yarn@1.22.19
+
+# Copy production node_modules and built assets from builder
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/node_modules ./node_modules
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/package.json ./package.json
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/server ./server
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/public ./public
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/dist ./dist
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/ReactMap.js ./ReactMap.js
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/packages ./packages
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/config ./config
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/.gitsha ./.gitsha
+COPY --from=builder /home/node/.gitref ./.gitref