A protocol you did not author is not yours to improve

Interoperating with someone else's implementation inverts the usual instincts. The names are not descriptive enough, the numbering has gaps, half the messages are ones you draw no UI for — and every one of those is load-bearing. A renamed field or a reordered number is not a refactor; it is a client that connects successfully and silently cannot join anything.

Write that down where the schema lives, because it is the only defence against a well-meant cleanup:

/*
 * Source of truth: <the schema you are implementing>. Every field number below is that file's
 * number and every constant is its string spelled exactly. NOTHING here may be "improved": a
 * renamed field or a reordered number is a client that silently cannot join.
 */

Traps