diff --git a/tools/server/server-context.cpp b/tools/server/server-context.cpp
index a9edbd7be8b..1b208631c79 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-context.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-context.cpp
@@ -431,6 +431,13 @@ struct server_slot {
             return;
         }
 
+        // the buffer is only ever read by send_final_response(), and only when the request
+        // asked for per-token probabilities. Without them every token still copied a string
+        // and a vector into a list that grows for the whole generation and is then dropped.
+        if (task->params.sampling.n_probs <= 0) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         generated_token_probs.push_back(token);
     }
 
diff --git a/tools/server/server-queue.cpp b/tools/server/server-queue.cpp
index 78169e9a5d8..de663ddabf5 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-queue.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-queue.cpp
@@ -387,79 +387,114 @@ void server_queue::cleanup_pending_task(int id_target) {
 //
 
 void server_response::add_waiting_task_id(int id_task) {
-    RES_DBG("add task %d to waiting list. current waiting = %d (before add)\n", id_task, (int) waiting_task_ids.size());
-
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
-    waiting_task_ids.insert(id_task);
+
+    RES_DBG("add task %d to waiting list. current waiting = %d (before add)\n", id_task, (int) waiting.size());
+
+    waiting.emplace(id_task, std::make_shared<waiter>());
 }
 
 void server_response::add_waiting_task_ids(const std::unordered_set<int> & id_tasks) {
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
 
+    // one waiter for the whole set: these ids belong to a single reader, which waits for any
+    // of them at a time
+    auto w = std::make_shared<waiter>();
+
     for (const auto & id_task : id_tasks) {
-        RES_DBG("add task %d to waiting list. current waiting = %d (before add)\n", id_task, (int) waiting_task_ids.size());
-        waiting_task_ids.insert(id_task);
+        RES_DBG("add task %d to waiting list. current waiting = %d (before add)\n", id_task, (int) waiting.size());
+        waiting.emplace(id_task, w);
     }
 }
 
 void server_response::remove_waiting_task_id(int id_task) {
-    RES_DBG("remove task %d from waiting list. current waiting = %d (before remove)\n", id_task, (int) waiting_task_ids.size());
-
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
-    waiting_task_ids.erase(id_task);
-    // make sure to clean up all pending results
-    queue_results.erase(
-        std::remove_if(queue_results.begin(), queue_results.end(), [id_task](const server_task_result_ptr & res) {
+
+    RES_DBG("remove task %d from waiting list. current waiting = %d (before remove)\n", id_task, (int) waiting.size());
+
+    auto it = waiting.find(id_task);
+    if (it == waiting.end()) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // make sure to clean up all pending results of this task, the waiter may still be held by
+    // the other ids of the same reader
+    auto & results = it->second->results;
+    results.erase(
+        std::remove_if(results.begin(), results.end(), [id_task](const server_task_result_ptr & res) {
             return res->id == id_task;
         }),
-        queue_results.end());
+        results.end());
+
+    waiting.erase(it);
 }
 
 void server_response::remove_waiting_task_ids(const std::unordered_set<int> & id_tasks) {
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
 
     for (const auto & id_task : id_tasks) {
-        RES_DBG("remove task %d from waiting list. current waiting = %d (before remove)\n", id_task, (int) waiting_task_ids.size());
-        waiting_task_ids.erase(id_task);
+        RES_DBG("remove task %d from waiting list. current waiting = %d (before remove)\n", id_task, (int) waiting.size());
+        waiting.erase(id_task);
+    }
+}
+
+server_response::waiter_ptr server_response::find_waiter(const std::unordered_set<int> & id_tasks) const {
+    for (const auto & id_task : id_tasks) {
+        auto it = waiting.find(id_task);
+        if (it != waiting.end()) {
+            return it->second;
+        }
     }
+
+    return nullptr;
 }
 
 server_task_result_ptr server_response::recv(const std::unordered_set<int> & id_tasks) {
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
+
+    auto w = find_waiter(id_tasks);
+    GGML_ASSERT(w && "recv() called for task ids that are not in the waiting list");
+
     while (true) {
-        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
-        condition_results.wait(lock, [&]{
-            if (!running) {
-                RES_DBG("%s : queue result stop\n", "recv");
-                std::terminate(); // we cannot return here since the caller is HTTP code
-            }
-            return !queue_results.empty();
-        });
+        if (!running) {
+            RES_DBG("%s : queue result stop\n", "recv");
+            std::terminate(); // we cannot return here since the caller is HTTP code
+        }
 
-        for (size_t i = 0; i < queue_results.size(); i++) {
-            if (id_tasks.find(queue_results[i]->id) != id_tasks.end()) {
-                server_task_result_ptr res = std::move(queue_results[i]);
-                queue_results.erase(queue_results.begin() + i);
-                return res;
-            }
+        if (!w->results.empty()) {
+            server_task_result_ptr res = std::move(w->results.front());
+            w->results.pop_front();
+            return res;
         }
+
+        // bounded, so a terminate() that lands after the id was removed from the map still
+        // gets noticed here
+        w->cv.wait_for(lock, std::chrono::seconds(1));
     }
 
     // should never reach here
 }
 
 server_task_result_ptr server_response::recv_with_timeout(const std::unordered_set<int> & id_tasks, int timeout) {
-    while (true) {
-        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
 
-        for (int i = 0; i < (int) queue_results.size(); i++) {
-            if (id_tasks.find(queue_results[i]->id) != id_tasks.end()) {
-                server_task_result_ptr res = std::move(queue_results[i]);
-                queue_results.erase(queue_results.begin() + i);
-                return res;
-            }
+    auto w = find_waiter(id_tasks);
+    if (!w) {
+        // the tasks are no longer in the waiting list, so no result can arrive for them.
+        // wait out the timeout anyway, so the caller sees the poll interval it asked for
+        // instead of a busy loop
+        condition_gone.wait_for(lock, std::chrono::seconds(timeout));
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+
+    while (true) {
+        if (!w->results.empty()) {
+            server_task_result_ptr res = std::move(w->results.front());
+            w->results.pop_front();
+            return res;
         }
 
-        std::cv_status cr_res = condition_results.wait_for(lock, std::chrono::seconds(timeout));
+        std::cv_status cr_res = w->cv.wait_for(lock, std::chrono::seconds(timeout));
         if (!running) {
             RES_DBG("%s : queue result stop\n", __func__);
             std::terminate(); // we cannot return here since the caller is HTTP code
@@ -481,31 +516,39 @@ void server_response::send(server_task_result_ptr && result) {
     RES_DBG("sending result for task id = %d\n", result->id);
 
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
-    for (const auto & id_task : waiting_task_ids) {
-        if (result->id == id_task) {
-            RES_DBG("task id = %d pushed to result queue\n", result->id);
 
-            queue_results.emplace_back(std::move(result));
-            condition_results.notify_all();
-            return;
-        }
+    auto it = waiting.find(result->id);
+    if (it == waiting.end()) {
+        return;
     }
+
+    RES_DBG("task id = %d pushed to result queue\n", result->id);
+
+    auto & w = *it->second;
+
+    w.results.emplace_back(std::move(result));
+    w.cv.notify_one();
 }
 
 void server_response::broadcast(server_task_result_ptr && result) {
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
-    for (const auto & id_task : waiting_task_ids) {
+    for (const auto & [id_task, w] : waiting) {
         RES_DBG("task id = %d pushed to result queue\n", id_task);
         server_task_result_ptr res_copy(result->clone());
         res_copy->id = id_task; // override id with target task id
-        queue_results.emplace_back(std::move(res_copy));
+        w->results.emplace_back(std::move(res_copy));
+        w->cv.notify_one();
     }
-    condition_results.notify_all();
 }
 
 void server_response::terminate() {
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex_results);
     running = false;
-    condition_results.notify_all();
+    for (const auto & [id_task, w] : waiting) {
+        (void) id_task;
+        w->cv.notify_all();
+    }
+    condition_gone.notify_all();
 }
 
 //
diff --git a/tools/server/server-queue.h b/tools/server/server-queue.h
index e17733a743f..10109d7c258 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-queue.h
+++ b/tools/server/server-queue.h
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@
 #include <condition_variable>
 #include <deque>
 #include <exception>
+#include <memory>
 #include <mutex>
 #include <thread>
-#include <vector>
+#include <unordered_map>
 #include <unordered_set>
+#include <vector>
 
 // struct for managing server tasks
 // in most cases, use server_response_reader to post new tasks and retrieve results
@@ -155,14 +157,36 @@ struct server_response {
 private:
     bool running = true;
 
-    // for keeping track of all tasks waiting for the result
-    std::unordered_set<int> waiting_task_ids;
+    // One waiter per reader, shared by every task id that reader registered in one call.
+    // Results are queued on the waiter that owns the id, so sending a result wakes only the
+    // thread that is waiting for it, and that thread finds its result without searching.
+    //
+    // Previously there was a single result vector and a single condition variable: every
+    // result woke every waiting HTTP thread, and each of them re-took the mutex and scanned
+    // the whole vector before going back to sleep. With N slots generating that is N wakeups
+    // and N scans per token, i.e. N^2 per decode step, all of it contending with the decode
+    // thread for the same mutex.
+    struct waiter {
+        std::condition_variable cv;
+
+        // FIFO, so results are handed out in the order they were sent, as before
+        std::deque<server_task_result_ptr> results;
+    };
 
-    // the main result queue (using ptr for polymorphism)
-    std::vector<server_task_result_ptr> queue_results;
+    using waiter_ptr = std::shared_ptr<waiter>;
+
+    // task id --> the waiter that is expecting its results
+    std::unordered_map<int, waiter_ptr> waiting;
 
     std::mutex mutex_results;
-    std::condition_variable condition_results;
+
+    // only used to park a reader whose ids are no longer in the waiting list, so that it
+    // still returns after the timeout it asked for rather than spinning
+    std::condition_variable condition_gone;
+
+    // all ids registered together share one waiter, so the first hit is the right one
+    // must be called with mutex_results held
+    waiter_ptr find_waiter(const std::unordered_set<int> & id_tasks) const;
 
 public:
     // add the id_task to the list of tasks waiting for response