diff --git a/docs/errors.md b/docs/errors.md
index 7842aaa..398e968 100644
--- a/docs/errors.md
+++ b/docs/errors.md
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Fired on every loaded AMX when a threaded query fails. Parameters:
 
 | Parameter | Type | Description |
 |---|---|---|
-| `errorid` | int | MySQL server error code (1062, 1045, 1064, …) or `0` for transport-level errors (TCP drop, IO error) |
+| `errorid` | int | MySQL server error code (1062, 1045, 1064, …) or `0` when the statement never reached the server — a dropped connection, an IO error, or a `.sql` file that could not be read |
 | `error` | string | Full error text from the `mysql` crate |
 | `callback` | string | Name of the public the query asked for (empty if fire-and-forget) |
 | `query` | string | Exact SQL that was sent to the server. **Printing it puts the whole statement in your server log** — see the note below |
diff --git a/src/callback.rs b/src/callback.rs
index 39b4c2f..ff47947 100644
--- a/src/callback.rs
+++ b/src/callback.rs
@@ -87,14 +87,18 @@ pub fn fire_on_query_error(
             None => continue,
         };
 
+        // The macro pushes its arguments in reverse (the AMX stack
+        // convention), so the order listed here is the order the public
+        // receives them in. It must match the forward:
+        //   OnQueryError(errorid, error[], callback[], query[], connId)
         let _ = exec_public!(
             amx,
             "OnQueryError",
-            conn_id,
-            query => string,
-            callback => string,
+            error_id,
             error_msg => string,
-            error_id
+            callback => string,
+            query => string,
+            conn_id
         );
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/connection.rs b/src/connection.rs
index 5a90217..b8d75e5 100644
--- a/src/connection.rs
+++ b/src/connection.rs
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ fn collect_result<P: mysql::prelude::Protocol>(
                 Err(e) => {
                     return Err(QueryError {
                         code: extract_mysql_errno(&e),
-                        message: e.to_string(),
+                        message: describe_mysql_error(&e),
                     });
                 }
             }
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ pub fn execute_query(conn: &mut PooledConn, query: &str) -> Result<CacheEntry, Q
     let raw = {
         let result = conn.query_iter(query).map_err(|e| QueryError {
             code: extract_mysql_errno(&e),
-            message: e.to_string(),
+            message: describe_mysql_error(&e),
         })?;
         collect_result(result)?
     };
@@ -690,6 +690,21 @@ fn extract_mysql_errno(err: &mysql::Error) -> u16 {
     }
 }
 
+/// The text to hand a gamemode for a failed query.
+///
+/// `mysql::Error`'s `Display` wraps the server's own message in the variant
+/// name, so a missing table reached `OnQueryError` as
+/// `MySqlError { ERROR 1146 (42S02): Table 'db.t' doesn't exist }` - Rust
+/// internals in a Pawn string. For a server-side error the message alone is
+/// what the script wants; everything else (IO, TLS, protocol) keeps the full
+/// text, which is all the detail there is.
+fn describe_mysql_error(err: &mysql::Error) -> String {
+    match err {
+        mysql::Error::MySqlError(e) => e.message.clone(),
+        other => other.to_string(),
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
diff --git a/src/natives/query.rs b/src/natives/query.rs
index b846910..c9ebc67 100644
--- a/src/natives/query.rs
+++ b/src/natives/query.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use samp::cell::Ref;
 use samp::native;
 use samp::prelude::*;
 
+use crate::callback;
 use crate::connection::{EscapeMode, escape_string};
 use crate::error::{ErrorState, MysqlError};
 use crate::logger::Logger;
@@ -182,9 +183,11 @@ impl MysqlPlugin {
         let script = match std::fs::read_to_string(&path) {
             Ok(script) => script,
             Err(err) => {
+                // The path is resolved against the server's working directory,
+                // which is the server root - not `scriptfiles/`. Getting that
+                // wrong is the common mistake here, so say where we looked.
                 let msg = format!("mysql_query_file: could not read '{path}': {err}");
-                Logger::warn(&msg);
-                self.connections.global_error = ErrorState::new(MysqlError::QueryFailed, msg);
+                self.report_script_failure(&msg, &path, &callback, conn_id);
                 return false;
             }
         };
@@ -192,8 +195,7 @@ impl MysqlPlugin {
         let statements = crate::sql::split_statements(&script);
         if statements.is_empty() {
             let msg = format!("mysql_query_file: '{path}' contains no statements.");
-            Logger::warn(&msg);
-            self.connections.global_error = ErrorState::new(MysqlError::QueryFailed, msg);
+            self.report_script_failure(&msg, &path, &callback, conn_id);
             return false;
         }
 
@@ -305,6 +307,25 @@ impl MysqlPlugin {
         }
         i32::try_from(output.len()).unwrap_or(i32::MAX)
     }
+
+    /// Reports a `mysql_query_file` failure that happens before any statement
+    /// is submitted - the file could not be read, or held nothing to run.
+    ///
+    /// These used to be a log line and a `false` return, which a script that
+    /// fires the native and forgets it - the documented, callback-free way to
+    /// run a schema - never sees. A statement that fails *after* submission
+    /// reaches `OnQueryError`, so the two halves of the same operation
+    /// reported through different channels. Now both go to `OnQueryError`,
+    /// with the path as the "query" so the message names the file.
+    fn report_script_failure(&mut self, msg: &str, path: &str, callback: &str, conn_id: i32) {
+        Logger::warn(msg);
+        self.connections.global_error = ErrorState::new(MysqlError::QueryFailed, msg.to_string());
+        // `errorid` is documented as the MySQL server's own code, or 0 when the
+        // failure never reached the server. Nothing was sent here, so 0 it is -
+        // inventing a plugin-specific number would break that contract. The
+        // per-connection errno still reports MYSQL_ERROR_QUERY_FAILED.
+        callback::fire_on_query_error(&self.amx_list, 0, msg, callback, path, conn_id);
+    }
 }
 
 /// Parses variadic callback parameters based on the format string.