diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2979a447..9ecc20df 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1327,6 +1327,8 @@ If you would like to `docker attach` to the Minecraft server console with color
 > This will bypass graceful server shutdown handling when using `docker stop`, so be sure the server console's `stop` command.
 > 
 > Make to enable stdin and tty with `-it` when using `docker run` or `stdin_open: true` and `tty: true` when using docker compose.
+>
+> This feature is incompatible with Autopause and cannot be set when `ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE=true`.
 
 ### Server Shutdown Options
 
@@ -1444,6 +1446,8 @@ Enable the Autopause functionality by setting:
 -e ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE=TRUE
 ```
 
+Autopause is not compatible with `EXEC_DIRECTLY=true` and the two cannot be set together.
+
 The following environment variables define the behaviour of auto-pausing:
 * `AUTOPAUSE_TIMEOUT_EST`, default `3600` (seconds)
   describes the time between the last client disconnect and the pausing of the process (read as timeout established)
diff --git a/scripts/start-configuration b/scripts/start-configuration
index 4afe71ee..f1eed964 100755
--- a/scripts/start-configuration
+++ b/scripts/start-configuration
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ if [ ! -e /data/eula.txt ]; then
   writeEula
 fi
 
+if isTrue "${ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE}" && isTrue "${EXEC_DIRECTLY:-false}"; then
+    log "EXEC_DIRECTLY=true is incompatible with ENABLE_AUTOPAUSE=true"
+    exit 1
+fi
 
 if [[ $PROXY ]]; then
     export http_proxy="$PROXY"