diff --git a/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkManagerHUD.cs b/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkManagerHUD.cs
index 62a126bc4..f78eedefa 100644
--- a/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkManagerHUD.cs
+++ b/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkManagerHUD.cs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ void StartButtons()
                 // cant be a server in webgl build
                 if (GUILayout.Button("Single Player"))
                 {
-                    NetworkServer.dontListen = true;
+                    NetworkServer.listen = false;
                     manager.StartHost();
                 }
 #else
diff --git a/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkServer.cs b/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkServer.cs
index 64646bd57..4650d278e 100644
--- a/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkServer.cs
+++ b/Assets/Mirror/Core/NetworkServer.cs
@@ -70,9 +70,21 @@ public static partial class NetworkServer
         public static readonly Dictionary<uint, NetworkIdentity> spawned =
             new Dictionary<uint, NetworkIdentity>();
 
-        /// <summary>Single player mode can use dontListen to not accept incoming connections</summary>
-        // see also: https://github.com/vis2k/Mirror/pull/2595
-        public static bool dontListen;
+        /// <summary>Single player mode can set listen=false to not accept incoming connections.</summary>
+        static bool _listen = true;
+        public static bool listen
+        {
+            get { return _listen; }
+            set { _listen = value; }
+        }
+
+        // DEPRECATED 2024-10-14
+        [Obsolete("NetworkServer.dontListen was replaced with NetworkServer.listen. The new value is the opposite, and avoids double negatives like 'dontListen=false'")]
+        public static bool dontListen
+        {
+            get => !listen;
+            set => listen = !value;
+        }
 
         /// <summary>active checks if the server has been started either has standalone or as host server.</summary>
         public static bool active { get; internal set; }
@@ -137,7 +149,7 @@ public static void Listen(int maxConns)
             maxConnections = maxConns;
 
             // only start server if we want to listen
-            if (!dontListen)
+            if (listen)
             {
                 Transport.active.ServerStart();
 
@@ -241,7 +253,7 @@ public static void Shutdown()
             }
 
             // Reset all statics here....
-            dontListen = false;
+            listen = true;
             isLoadingScene = false;
             lastSendTime = 0;
             actualTickRate = 0;