diff --git a/src/game/engine/src/modules/climate/ecological_event_utils.gd b/src/game/engine/src/modules/climate/ecological_event_utils.gd
index 98625dfc..c0333f4d 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/src/modules/climate/ecological_event_utils.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/src/modules/climate/ecological_event_utils.gd
@@ -91,7 +91,13 @@ static func spawn_resource(tile: Variant, cfg: Dictionary) -> void:
 		spawn_resource_weighted(tile, table)
 		return
 
-	var resource_id: String = cfg.get("spawns_resource", "")
+	# `Dictionary.get(key, default)` only returns `default` when the key is
+	# ABSENT — a config with an explicit `"spawns_resource": null` returns
+	# `null` (Nil), which crashes a direct assignment to a typed `String`.
+	# Guard the null/absent case → no-spawn, matching `resource_terrain` below.
+	var resource_id: String = ""
+	if cfg.get("spawns_resource") != null:
+		resource_id = str(cfg["spawns_resource"])
 	if resource_id == "" or resource_id == "null":
 		return
 	var resource_terrain: Variant = cfg.get("resource_terrain", null)