diff --git a/Dockerfile.tmpl b/Dockerfile.tmpl
index 1bb6322f..100cd3bf 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.tmpl
+++ b/Dockerfile.tmpl
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ FROM ./client/ AS client
 FROM ./utils/xorg-deps/ AS xorg-deps
 FROM ./runtime/$RUNTIME_DOCKERFILE AS runtime
 
+# tells neko-rooms which version of the API to use
+LABEL net.m1k1o.neko.api-version=3
+
 COPY --from=server /src/bin/plugins/ /etc/neko/plugins/
 COPY --from=server /src/bin/neko /usr/bin/neko
 COPY --from=client /src/dist/ /var/www