diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
index 65fe92e3..6820622b 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
@@ -796,12 +796,11 @@ func _fix_start_positions_if_needed() -> void:
 
 
 func _apply_per_player_difficulty_overrides() -> void:
+	# DataLoader.get_data("difficulty") returns {"easy": {full entry}, "normal": {...}, ...}
+	# already keyed by id — no wrapping "ai_difficulty" array at this level.
 	var diff_data: Dictionary = DataLoader.get_data("difficulty")
-	if diff_data == null:
+	if diff_data == null or diff_data.is_empty():
 		return
-	var levels: Dictionary = {}
-	for entry: Dictionary in diff_data.get("ai_difficulty", []):
-		levels[str(entry.get("id", ""))] = entry.get("ai_modifiers", {})
 	# Use a fixed upper bound — this runs before loading_screen.gd populates
 	# GameState.players, so players.size() == 0. Check all possible player slots.
 	for p_idx: int in range(8):
@@ -809,7 +808,8 @@ func _apply_per_player_difficulty_overrides() -> void:
 		var tier: String = EnvConfig.get_var(key, "")
 		if tier.is_empty():
 			continue
-		var mods: Dictionary = levels.get(tier, {})
+		var entry: Dictionary = diff_data.get(tier, {})
+		var mods: Dictionary = entry.get("ai_modifiers", {})
 		if mods.is_empty():
 			print("AutoPlay: WARNING: unknown difficulty tier '%s' for %s" % [tier, key])
 			continue