diff --git a/src/client/render/gl/RenderSettings.ts b/src/client/render/gl/RenderSettings.ts
index 4d2af1bed..9c6ef0353 100644
--- a/src/client/render/gl/RenderSettings.ts
+++ b/src/client/render/gl/RenderSettings.ts
@@ -229,6 +229,10 @@ export interface RenderSettings {
     minScreenScale: number; // minimum world-scale when zoomed out (prevents vanishing)
     cullZoom: number; // popups hidden below this zoom level
   };
+  ghostCost: {
+    screenScale: number; // screen-relative em scale; divided by zoom each frame for fixed on-screen size
+    screenYOffset: number; // screen-relative downward offset from icon center; divided by zoom each frame for fixed on-screen gap
+  };
   spawnOverlay: {
     highlightRadius: number; // tile highlight radius (squared internally)
     highlightAlpha: number; // tile highlight opacity (0–1)
diff --git a/src/client/render/gl/passes/WorldTextPass.ts b/src/client/render/gl/passes/WorldTextPass.ts
index 5feef24b2..4ffd13d19 100644
--- a/src/client/render/gl/passes/WorldTextPass.ts
+++ b/src/client/render/gl/passes/WorldTextPass.ts
@@ -38,10 +38,6 @@ const CONQUEST_Y_OFFSET = 8;
 /** World-space font size for conquest popups. */
 const CONQUEST_SCALE = 6;
 const CONQUEST_OUTLINE_WIDTH = 2.0;
-/** Tiles below the ghost icon center for the cost label. */
-const GHOST_COST_Y_OFFSET = 3;
-/** World-space font size — smaller than popups so it sits unobtrusively under the icon. */
-const GHOST_COST_SCALE = 4;
 /** Matches player-name outline width for a consistent UI look. */
 const GHOST_COST_OUTLINE_WIDTH = 1.4;
 /**
@@ -351,9 +347,10 @@ export class WorldTextPass {
     }
     // The vertex shader adds +0.5 to (x, y) for tile-center alignment, so we
     // pass raw tile coords here — same convention as the other popup entries.
+    // Y offset is applied in rebuildInstances (zoom-relative).
     this.ghostCostLabel = {
       x: label.tileX,
-      y: label.tileY + GHOST_COST_Y_OFFSET,
+      y: label.tileY,
       text: renderNumber(label.cost),
       colorR: r,
       colorG: g,
@@ -474,8 +471,12 @@ export class WorldTextPass {
     // Ghost cost label — persistent, no fade or rise. layoutString already
     // centers cursors around 0, so passing the tile coord places the text
     // centered on the tile (vertex shader adds the +0.5 tile-center offset).
+    // Scale is divided by zoom so the chip keeps a constant on-screen size.
     const label = this.ghostCostLabel;
     if (label) {
+      const invZoom = 1 / Math.max(zoom, 0.0001);
+      const ghostScale = this.settings.ghostCost.screenScale * invZoom;
+      const ghostY = label.y + this.settings.ghostCost.screenYOffset * invZoom;
       layoutString(
         label.text,
         this.glyph,
@@ -490,14 +491,14 @@ export class WorldTextPass {
 
         const off = count * FLOATS_PER_INSTANCE;
         this.instanceData[off + 0] = label.x;
-        this.instanceData[off + 1] = label.y;
+        this.instanceData[off + 1] = ghostY;
         this.instanceData[off + 2] = this.cursors[i];
         this.instanceData[off + 3] = this.charCodes[i];
         this.instanceData[off + 4] = 1;
         this.instanceData[off + 5] = label.colorR;
         this.instanceData[off + 6] = label.colorG;
         this.instanceData[off + 7] = label.colorB;
-        this.instanceData[off + 8] = GHOST_COST_SCALE;
+        this.instanceData[off + 8] = ghostScale;
         this.instanceData[off + 9] = GHOST_COST_OUTLINE_WIDTH;
         count++;
       }
diff --git a/src/client/render/gl/render-settings.json b/src/client/render/gl/render-settings.json
index cbf3d7273..d532d0f4e 100644
--- a/src/client/render/gl/render-settings.json
+++ b/src/client/render/gl/render-settings.json
@@ -244,6 +244,10 @@
     "minScreenScale": 0.15,
     "cullZoom": 0.3
   },
+  "ghostCost": {
+    "screenScale": 30,
+    "screenYOffset": 50
+  },
   "spawnOverlay": {
     "highlightRadius": 9,
     "highlightAlpha": 1.0,