diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9120aac50a..f48bb18ac6 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ variables:
   GIT_DEPTH: 3
   GIT_CLEAN_FLAGS: -f
   CACHE_IMAGE_TAG: d7756444
+  TAG_REGEX: '/^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$/'
 
 default:
   # https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/pipelines/settings.html#auto-cancel-pending-pipelines
diff --git a/.gitlab/CI/check.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/CI/check.gitlab-ci.yml
index ad23e01a9e..a8a6b100ed 100644
--- a/.gitlab/CI/check.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/CI/check.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
-# cargo clippy is a superset of cargo check, so we don't check manually
 code-quality:
   extends: .recompile-branch
   stage: check
   image: registry.gitlab.com/veloren/veloren-docker-ci/cache/quality:${CACHE_IMAGE_TAG}
   tags: ["veloren/veloren", "check"]
   script:
+    - echo $CI_COMMIT_TAG
+    - echo $TAG_REGEX
     - ln -s /dockercache/target target
     - cat ./.gitlab/scripts/code-quality.sh
     - source ./.gitlab/scripts/code-quality.sh
diff --git a/.gitlab/CI/publish.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/CI/publish.gitlab-ci.yml
index 212063a953..7b64cc065b 100644
--- a/.gitlab/CI/publish.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/CI/publish.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -8,10 +8,6 @@
     - when: never
   before_script:
     - source "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.gitlab/scripts/utils.sh"
-    - publishtype PUBLISH_TYPE
-    - publishdockertag PUBLISH_DOCKER_TAG
-    - publishgittag PUBLISH_GIT_TAG
-    - echo "Publish detected '$PUBLISH_TYPE' Docker Tag '$PUBLISH_DOCKER_TAG' Git Tag '$PUBLISH_GIT_TAG'"
 
 docker:
   extends: .publish
@@ -29,7 +25,8 @@ docker:
     - export container=docker
     - echo "{\"auths\":{\"$CI_REGISTRY\":{\"username\":\"$CI_REGISTRY_USER\",\"password\":\"$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD\"}}}" > /kaniko/.docker/config.json
     - |
-      if [[ ! -z "${PUBLISH_DOCKER_TAG}" ]]; then
+      publishdockertag PUBLISH_DOCKER_TAG
+      if [ "${PUBLISH_DOCKER_TAG}"  != "" ]; then
         /kaniko/executor --context $CI_PROJECT_DIR --dockerfile $CI_PROJECT_DIR/server-cli/Dockerfile --destination "${CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE}/server-cli:${PUBLISH_DOCKER_TAG}"
       fi
 
@@ -43,13 +40,16 @@ gittag:
     - git config --global http.postBuffer 52428800
     - git remote set-url origin https://veloren-bot:${GITLAB_TOKEN_WRITE}@${CI_PROJECT_URL:8}
     - |
-      if [[ ! -z "${PUBLISH_GIT_TAG}" ]]; then
+      publishgittag PUBLISH_GIT_TAG
+      if [ "${PUBLISH_GIT_TAG}" != "" ]; then
         git tag -a "${PUBLISH_GIT_TAG}" -m '' -f;
         git push origin "${PUBLISH_GIT_TAG}" -f;
       fi
 
 pages:
   extends: .publish
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE != "schedule"
   image: registry.gitlab.com/veloren/veloren-docker-ci/cache/quality:${CACHE_IMAGE_TAG}
   tags: ["veloren/veloren", "publish"]
   artifacts:
diff --git a/.gitlab/CI/release.yml b/.gitlab/CI/release.yml
index f1b91ccaa5..680f6c2646 100644
--- a/.gitlab/CI/release.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/CI/release.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 .optional-release:
   stage: check
   rules:
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE != "merge_request_event" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule" || $CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+/
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE != "merge_request_event" || $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule" || ( $CI_COMMIT_TAG != null && $CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ $TAG_REGEX )
       when: never
     - when: manual
       allow_failure: true
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 .release:
   stage: build
   rules:
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE != "merge_request_event" && ($CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule" || $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH || $CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ /^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+/)
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE != "merge_request_event" && ( $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule" || $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH || ( $CI_COMMIT_TAG != null && $CI_COMMIT_TAG =~ $TAG_REGEX ) )
       when: on_success
     - when: never
   retry:
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/code-quality.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/code-quality.sh
index 5e63fdffb0..60b7285084 100755
--- a/.gitlab/scripts/code-quality.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/code-quality.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+# cargo clippy is a superset of cargo check, so we don't check manually
 time cargo clippy --all-targets --locked --features="bin_cmd_doc_gen,bin_compression,bin_csv,bin_graphviz,bin_bot,bin_asset_migrate,asset_tweak" -- -D warnings &&
 # Ensure that the veloren-voxygen default-publish feature builds as it excludes some default features
 time cargo clippy -p veloren-voxygen --locked --no-default-features --features="default-publish" -- -D warnings &&
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/util.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/util.sh
index 28f9a54d0a..2ad34607cc 100755
--- a/.gitlab/scripts/util.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/util.sh
@@ -1,97 +1,49 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-### forbid setting SCHEDULE_CADENCE to v0.1.2 syntax
-sanitize () {
+### returns respective DOCKER TAG
+### release-tag => <release-tag> (e.g. v1.2.3)
+### schedule => <SCHEDULE_CADENCE> (e.g. nightly)
+### master => "master"
+### else => ""
+publishdockertag () {
+# this stores the result in a variable defined by the caller
 local -n VAR=$1
-INPUT=$2
-if [[ "${INPUT}" =~ ^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+ ]]; then
-  echo "---WARN---SANITIZE---ACTIVE---"
-  VAR="";
-  return 1;
-fi
-VAR="${INPUT}";
-}
-
-### returns the respective type of publish for the ci
-### 0 => optional build/no publish
-### 10 => master build
-### 20 => scheduled build
-### 30 => release build
-publishtype () {
-local -n VAR=$1
-if [[ "${CI_COMMIT_TAG}" =~ ^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+ ]]; then
-  VAR=30;
+VAR="";
+if [[ "${CI_COMMIT_TAG}" =~ ${TAG_REGEX} ]]; then
+  VAR="${CI_COMMIT_TAG}";
   return 0;
 fi
 if [[ -z "${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}" && ${CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE} == "schedule" ]]; then
-  VAR=20;
+  # sanitize check
+  if [[ "${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}" =~ ${TAG_REGEX} ]]; then
+    VAR="invalid_cadence";
+  else
+    VAR="${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}";
+  fi
   return 0;
 fi
 if [[ ${CI_COMMIT_BRANCH} == ${CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH} ]]; then
-  VAR=10;
-  return 0;
-fi
-VAR=0;
-}
-
-### returns respective DOCKER TAG
-### 0 => exit code 3
-### 10 => master
-### 20 => <SCHEDULE_CADENCE>
-### 30 => <tag>
-### else => exit code 7
-
-publishdockertag () {
-local -n VAR=$1
-INPUT=$2
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "0" ]]; then
-  VAR="";
-  return 3;
-fi
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "10" ]]; then
   VAR="master";
   return 0;
 fi
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "20" ]]; then
-  VAR="${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}";
-  sanitize $1 "${VAR}";
-  return 0;
-fi
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "30" ]]; then
-  VAR="${CI_COMMIT_TAG}";
-  return 0;
-fi
-VAR="";
-return 7;
 }
 
 ### returns respective GIT TAG
-### 0 => exit code 3
-### 10 => exit code 4
-### 20 => <SCHEDULE_CADENCE>
-### 30 => exit code 6
-### else => exit code 7
-
+### release-tag => "" (releases already have a tag)
+### schedule => <SCHEDULE_CADENCE> (e.g. nightly)
+### master => "" (master doesn't need a tag)
+### else => ""
 publishgittag () {
 local -n VAR=$1
-INPUT=$2
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "0" ]]; then
-  VAR="";
-  return 3;
-fi
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "10" ]]; then
-  VAR="";
-  return 4;
-fi
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "20" ]]; then
+if [[ -z "${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}" && ${CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE} == "schedule" ]]; then
   VAR="${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}";
-  sanitize $1 "${VAR}";
-  return 0;
-fi
-if [[ "${INPUT}" == "30" ]]; then
-  VAR="${CI_COMMIT_TAG}";
+  # sanitize check
+  if [[ "${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}" =~ ${TAG_REGEX} ]]; then
+    VAR="invalid_cadence";
+  else
+    VAR="${SCHEDULE_CADENCE}";
+  fi
   return 0;
 fi
 VAR="";
-return 7;
 }
\ No newline at end of file