diff --git a/backend/src/handlers/admin.rs b/backend/src/handlers/admin.rs
index d001c4d..3233268 100644
--- a/backend/src/handlers/admin.rs
+++ b/backend/src/handlers/admin.rs
@@ -197,6 +197,23 @@ pub async fn patch_config(
                     "Wert für {key} liegt außerhalb des zulässigen Bereichs ({min}–{max})."
                 )));
             }
+            // Zero is in range and catastrophic. `quota_tolerance` is the multiplier in
+            // `free_disk * tolerance / active_uploaders`, so 0 makes every per-user limit 0 and
+            // refuses EVERY upload — mid-event, with "Du hast dein Upload-Limit für dieses Event
+            // erreicht", an error naming the wrong cause entirely. `storage_quota_enabled` is the
+            // intended off-switch.
+            //
+            // Rejecting the value rather than raising the floor: very small tolerances are
+            // legitimate (they are how a large disk is throttled down to a sensible per-guest
+            // ceiling, and how the e2e quota tests steer it — around 1e-5 on a 174 GB volume), so
+            // a floor of, say, 0.01 would forbid real configurations to prevent one typo.
+            if key_str == "quota_tolerance" && n == 0.0 {
+                return Err(AppError::BadRequest(
+                    "quota_tolerance = 0 würde jeden Upload blockieren. Zum Abschalten der \
+                     Speicher-Quote stattdessen „Speicher-Quote aktiv“ ausschalten."
+                        .into(),
+                ));
+            }
         } else if BOOL_KEYS.contains(&key_str) {
             match value.trim().to_ascii_lowercase().as_str() {
                 "true" | "false" | "1" | "0" | "yes" | "no" | "on" | "off" => {}
diff --git a/e2e/specs/05-admin/config.spec.ts b/e2e/specs/05-admin/config.spec.ts
index 4119c7e..dca1005 100644
--- a/e2e/specs/05-admin/config.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/specs/05-admin/config.spec.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,40 @@ test.describe('Admin — config API', () => {
     expect(cfg.privacy_note).toBe(note);
     await api.patchConfig(adminToken, { privacy_note: '' });
   });
+  test('quota_tolerance = 0 is rejected, with a pointer to the real off-switch', async ({
+    api,
+    adminToken,
+  }) => {
+    // Zero is inside the documented 0–1 range and catastrophic: the per-user limit is
+    // `free_disk * tolerance / active_uploaders`, so 0 refuses EVERY upload — mid-event, with
+    // "Du hast dein Upload-Limit für dieses Event erreicht", which names the wrong cause
+    // entirely. `storage_quota_enabled` is what an admin reaching for an off-switch wants.
+    const res = await fetch(
+      (process.env.E2E_FRONTEND_URL ?? 'http://localhost:3101') + '/api/v1/admin/config',
+      {
+        method: 'PATCH',
+        headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${adminToken}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+        body: JSON.stringify({ quota_tolerance: '0' }),
+      }
+    );
+    expect(res.status).toBe(400);
+    expect(
+      (await res.text()).toLowerCase(),
+      'the error must name the switch the admin actually wanted'
+    ).toContain('speicher-quote');
+
+    // The value is untouched — validation fully precedes any write.
+    expect((await api.getConfig(adminToken)).quota_tolerance).toBe('0.75');
+  });
+
+  test('a very small quota_tolerance is still accepted', async ({ api, adminToken }) => {
+    // The mirror. Rejecting 0 must not become a floor: small tolerances are how a large disk is
+    // throttled to a sensible per-guest ceiling, and how the quota specs steer it (~1e-5 on a
+    // 174 GB volume). A floor of 0.01 would forbid real configurations to prevent one typo.
+    await api.patchConfig(adminToken, { quota_tolerance: '0.00001' });
+    expect((await api.getConfig(adminToken)).quota_tolerance).toBe('0.00001');
+    await api.patchConfig(adminToken, { quota_tolerance: '0.75' });
+  });
 });
 
 test.describe('Admin — stats', () => {