diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 6e22469840..7d5b00b3ef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -254,12 +254,7 @@ jobs:
         run: pnpm exec playwright install
 
       - name: E2E Tests
-        uses: nick-fields/retry@v3
-        with:
-          retry_on: error
-          max_attempts: 2
-          timeout_minutes: 15
-          command: pnpm test:e2e ${{ matrix.suite }}
+        run: pnpm test:e2e ${{ matrix.suite }}
 
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         if: always()
diff --git a/packages/payload/src/admin/forms/Form.ts b/packages/payload/src/admin/forms/Form.ts
index 8b9f657709..8501b5ff29 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/admin/forms/Form.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/admin/forms/Form.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ export type Data = {
 export type Row = {
   blockType?: string
   collapsed?: boolean
-  errorPaths?: Set<string>
+  errorPaths?: string[]
   id: string
 }
 
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export type FilterOptionsResult = {
 export type FormField = {
   disableFormData?: boolean
   errorMessage?: string
-  errorPaths?: Set<string>
+  errorPaths?: string[]
   fieldSchema?: Field
   filterOptions?: FilterOptionsResult
   initialValue: unknown
diff --git a/packages/payload/src/fields/baseFields/baseIDField.ts b/packages/payload/src/fields/baseFields/baseIDField.ts
index d66c418ee1..eadb170a8e 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/fields/baseFields/baseIDField.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/fields/baseFields/baseIDField.ts
@@ -12,10 +12,8 @@ export const baseIDField: Field = {
   name: 'id',
   type: 'text',
   admin: {
-    disabled: true,
-  },
-  hooks: {
-    beforeChange: [generateID],
+    hidden: true,
   },
+  defaultValue: generateID,
   label: 'ID',
 }
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/ArrayRow.tsx b/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/ArrayRow.tsx
index 6540dd4238..f592a24a6a 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/ArrayRow.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/ArrayRow.tsx
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export const ArrayRow: React.FC<ArrayRowProps> = ({
     '0',
   )}`
 
-  const errorCount = row.errorPaths?.size
+  const errorCount = row.errorPaths?.length
   const fieldHasErrors = errorCount > 0 && hasSubmitted
 
   const classNames = [
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/index.tsx b/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/index.tsx
index 71bdfa5417..6fdf028599 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/fields/Array/index.tsx
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ export const _ArrayField: React.FC<ArrayFieldProps> = (props) => {
   const hasMaxRows = maxRows && rows.length >= maxRows
 
   const fieldErrorCount =
-    rows.reduce((total, row) => total + (row?.errorPaths?.size || 0), 0) + (valid ? 0 : 1)
+    rows.reduce((total, row) => total + (row?.errorPaths?.length || 0), 0) + (valid ? 0 : 1)
 
   const fieldHasErrors = submitted && fieldErrorCount > 0
 
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/BlockRow.tsx b/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/BlockRow.tsx
index 763b9defb9..5b6518816c 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/BlockRow.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/BlockRow.tsx
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ export const BlockRow: React.FC<BlockFieldProps> = ({
   const { i18n } = useTranslation()
   const hasSubmitted = useFormSubmitted()
 
-  const errorCount = row.errorPaths?.size
+  const errorCount = row.errorPaths?.length
   const fieldHasErrors = errorCount > 0 && hasSubmitted
 
   const classNames = [
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/index.tsx b/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/index.tsx
index 4c783a0451..57828b27d6 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/fields/Blocks/index.tsx
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ const _BlocksField: React.FC<BlocksFieldProps> = (props) => {
 
   const hasMaxRows = maxRows && rows.length >= maxRows
 
-  const fieldErrorCount = rows.reduce((total, row) => total + (row?.errorPaths?.size || 0), 0)
+  const fieldErrorCount = rows.reduce((total, row) => total + (row?.errorPaths?.length || 0), 0)
   const fieldHasErrors = submitted && fieldErrorCount + (valid ? 0 : 1) > 0
 
   const showMinRows = rows.length < minRows || (required && rows.length === 0)
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/fieldReducer.ts b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/fieldReducer.ts
index 3f362abe36..da4af32037 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/fieldReducer.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/fieldReducer.ts
@@ -17,14 +17,13 @@ const ObjectId = (ObjectIdImport.default ||
 export function fieldReducer(state: FormState, action: FieldAction): FormState {
   switch (action.type) {
     case 'REPLACE_STATE': {
-      const newState = {}
-
       if (action.optimize !== false) {
         // Only update fields that have changed
         // by comparing old value / initialValue to new
         // ..
         // This is a performance enhancement for saving
         // large documents with hundreds of fields
+        const newState = {}
 
         Object.entries(action.state).forEach(([path, field]) => {
           const oldField = state[path]
@@ -36,12 +35,10 @@ export function fieldReducer(state: FormState, action: FieldAction): FormState {
             newState[path] = oldField
           }
         })
-      } else {
-        // If we're not optimizing, just set the state to the new state
-        return action.state
+        return newState
       }
-
-      return newState
+      // If we're not optimizing, just set the state to the new state
+      return action.state
     }
 
     case 'REMOVE': {
@@ -114,7 +111,7 @@ export function fieldReducer(state: FormState, action: FieldAction): FormState {
       const withNewRow = [...(state[path]?.rows || [])]
 
       const newRow: Row = {
-        id: new ObjectId().toHexString(),
+        id: (subFieldState?.id.value as string) || new ObjectId().toHexString(),
         blockType: blockType || undefined,
         collapsed: false,
       }
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/index.tsx b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/index.tsx
index 3b2b705071..598b6655f0 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/index.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import type { FormState } from 'payload/types'
 import isDeepEqual from 'deep-equal'
 import { useRouter } from 'next/navigation.js'
 import { serialize } from 'object-to-formdata'
-import { wait } from 'payload/utilities'
+import { deepCopyObject, wait } from 'payload/utilities'
 import QueryString from 'qs'
 import React, { useCallback, useEffect, useReducer, useRef, useState } from 'react'
 import { toast } from 'react-toastify'
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ export const Form: React.FC<FormProps> = (props) => {
     () => {
       const executeOnChange = async () => {
         if (Array.isArray(onChange)) {
-          let revalidatedFormState: FormState = fields
+          let revalidatedFormState: FormState = contextRef.current.fields
 
           for (const onChangeFn of onChange) {
             revalidatedFormState = await onChangeFn({
@@ -538,10 +538,17 @@ export const Form: React.FC<FormProps> = (props) => {
             })
           }
 
-          const { changed, newState } = mergeServerFormState(fields || {}, revalidatedFormState)
+          const { changed, newState } = mergeServerFormState(
+            contextRef.current.fields || {},
+            revalidatedFormState,
+          )
 
           if (changed) {
-            dispatchFields({ type: 'REPLACE_STATE', optimize: false, state: newState })
+            dispatchFields({
+              type: 'REPLACE_STATE',
+              optimize: false,
+              state: newState,
+            })
           }
         }
       }
@@ -549,7 +556,9 @@ export const Form: React.FC<FormProps> = (props) => {
       if (modified) void executeOnChange()
     },
     150,
-    [fields, dispatchFields, onChange],
+    // Make sure we trigger this whenever modified changes (not just when `fields` changes), otherwise we will miss merging server form state for the first form update/onChange. Here's why:
+    // `fields` updates before `modified`, because setModified is in a setTimeout. So on the first change, modified is false, so we don't trigger the effect even though we should.
+    [contextRef.current.fields, dispatchFields, onChange, modified],
   )
 
   const actionString =
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/mergeErrorPaths.ts b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/mergeErrorPaths.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..32b2148d71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/mergeErrorPaths.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { arraysHaveSameStrings } from '@payloadcms/ui/utilities/arraysHaveSameStrings'
+
+export const mergeErrorPaths = (
+  existing?: string[],
+  incoming?: string[],
+): {
+  changed: boolean
+  result?: string[]
+} => {
+  if (!existing) {
+    return {
+      changed: false,
+      result: undefined,
+    }
+  }
+
+  const existingErrorPaths: string[] = []
+  const incomingErrorPaths: string[] = []
+
+  if (Array.isArray(incoming) && incoming?.length) {
+    incoming.forEach((path) => incomingErrorPaths.push(path))
+  }
+
+  if (Array.isArray(existing) && existing?.length) {
+    existing.forEach((path) => existingErrorPaths.push(path))
+  }
+
+  if (!arraysHaveSameStrings(existingErrorPaths, incomingErrorPaths)) {
+    return {
+      changed: true,
+      result: incomingErrorPaths,
+    }
+  }
+  return {
+    changed: false,
+    result: existing,
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/mergeServerFormState.ts b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/mergeServerFormState.ts
index 9e4083e364..7906736dc6 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/mergeServerFormState.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/mergeServerFormState.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import type { FormState } from 'payload/types'
 
-import { arraysHaveSameStrings } from '../../utilities/arraysHaveSameStrings.js'
+import { mergeErrorPaths } from './mergeErrorPaths.js'
 
-const propsToCheck = ['passesCondition', 'valid', 'errorMessage']
+const serverPropsToAccept = ['passesCondition', 'valid', 'errorMessage']
 
 /**
  * Merges certain properties from the server state into the client state. These do not include values,
@@ -12,44 +12,70 @@ const propsToCheck = ['passesCondition', 'valid', 'errorMessage']
  * is the thing we want to keep in sync with the server (where it's calculated) on the client.
  */
 export const mergeServerFormState = (
-  oldState: FormState,
-  newState: FormState,
+  existingState: FormState,
+  incomingState: FormState,
 ): { changed: boolean; newState: FormState } => {
   let changed = false
 
-  if (oldState) {
-    Object.entries(newState).forEach(([path, newFieldState]) => {
-      if (!oldState[path]) return
+  if (existingState) {
+    Object.entries(existingState).forEach(([path, newFieldState]) => {
+      if (!incomingState[path]) return
 
-      newFieldState.initialValue = oldState[path].initialValue
-      newFieldState.value = oldState[path].value
+      /**
+       * Handle error paths
+       */
 
-      const oldErrorPaths: string[] = []
-      const newErrorPaths: string[] = []
-
-      if (oldState[path].errorPaths instanceof Set) {
-        oldState[path].errorPaths.forEach((path) => oldErrorPaths.push(path))
+      const errorPathsResult = mergeErrorPaths(
+        newFieldState.errorPaths,
+        incomingState[path].errorPaths as unknown as string[],
+      )
+      if (errorPathsResult.result) {
+        if (errorPathsResult.changed) {
+          changed = errorPathsResult.changed
+        }
+        newFieldState.errorPaths = errorPathsResult.result
       }
 
-      if (
-        newFieldState.errorPaths &&
-        !Array.isArray(newFieldState.errorPaths) &&
-        typeof newFieldState.errorPaths
-      ) {
-        Object.values(newFieldState.errorPaths).forEach((path) => newErrorPaths.push(path))
-      }
-
-      if (!arraysHaveSameStrings(oldErrorPaths, newErrorPaths)) {
-        changed = true
-      }
-
-      propsToCheck.forEach((prop) => {
-        if (newFieldState[prop] != oldState[path][prop]) {
+      /**
+       * Handle the rest which is in serverPropsToAccept
+       */
+      serverPropsToAccept.forEach((prop) => {
+        if (incomingState[path]?.[prop] !== newFieldState[prop]) {
           changed = true
+          if (!(prop in incomingState[path])) {
+            delete newFieldState[prop]
+          } else {
+            newFieldState[prop] = incomingState[path][prop]
+          }
         }
       })
+
+      /**
+       * Handle rows
+       */
+      if (Array.isArray(newFieldState.rows) && newFieldState?.rows.length) {
+        let i = 0
+        for (const row of newFieldState.rows) {
+          const incomingRow = incomingState[path]?.rows?.[i]
+          if (incomingRow) {
+            const errorPathsRowResult = mergeErrorPaths(
+              row.errorPaths,
+              incomingRow.errorPaths as unknown as string[],
+            )
+            if (errorPathsRowResult.result) {
+              if (errorPathsResult.changed) {
+                changed = true
+              }
+              incomingRow.errorPaths = errorPathsRowResult.result
+            }
+          }
+
+          i++
+        }
+      }
     })
   }
 
-  return { changed, newState }
+  // Conditions don't work if we don't memcopy the new state, as the object references would otherwise be the same
+  return { changed, newState: { ...existingState } }
 }
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/types.ts b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/types.ts
index 7009b87f7d..590e30cb0a 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/types.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/Form/types.ts
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ export type Context = {
   disabled: boolean
   dispatchFields: Dispatch<FieldAction>
   /**
-   * @deprecated Form context fields may be outdated and should not be relied on. Instead, prefer `useFormFields`.
+   * Form context fields may be outdated and should not be relied on. Instead, prefer `useFormFields`.
    */
   fields: FormState
   formRef: React.MutableRefObject<HTMLFormElement>
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/addFieldStatePromise.ts b/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/addFieldStatePromise.ts
index 33ae11190b..67533c4f6d 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/addFieldStatePromise.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/addFieldStatePromise.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export type AddFieldStatePromiseArgs = {
    */
   anyParentLocalized?: boolean
   data: Data
-  errorPaths: Set<string>
+  errorPaths: string[]
   field: NonPresentationalField
   /**
    * You can use this to filter down to only `localized` fields that require translation (type: text, textarea, etc.). Another plugin might want to look for only `point` type fields to do some GIS function. With the filter function you can go in like a surgeon.
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ export const addFieldStatePromise = async (args: AddFieldStatePromiseArgs): Prom
     id,
     anyParentLocalized = false,
     data,
-    errorPaths: parentErrorPaths,
+    errorPaths: parentErrorPaths = [],
     field,
     filter,
     forceFullValue = false,
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ export const addFieldStatePromise = async (args: AddFieldStatePromiseArgs): Prom
     const validate = operation === 'update' ? field.validate : undefined
 
     const fieldState: FormField = {
-      errorPaths: new Set(),
+      errorPaths: [],
       fieldSchema: includeSchema ? field : undefined,
       initialValue: undefined,
       passesCondition,
@@ -144,7 +144,9 @@ export const addFieldStatePromise = async (args: AddFieldStatePromiseArgs): Prom
       fieldState.valid = false
       // TODO: this is unpredictable, need to figure out why
       // It will sometimes lead to inconsistencies across re-renders
-      parentErrorPaths.add(`${path}${field.name}`)
+      if (!parentErrorPaths.includes(`${path}${field.name}`)) {
+        parentErrorPaths.push(`${path}${field.name}`)
+      }
     } else {
       fieldState.valid = true
     }
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/index.tsx b/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/index.tsx
index 3908327ded..74f6166261 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/index.tsx
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ export const buildStateFromSchema = async (args: Args): Promise<FormState> => {
     await iterateFields({
       id,
       data: fullData,
-      errorPaths: new Set(),
+      errorPaths: [],
       fields: fieldSchema,
       fullData,
       operation,
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/iterateFields.ts b/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/iterateFields.ts
index 7dbba5ed07..e7455f8d8f 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/iterateFields.ts
+++ b/packages/ui/src/forms/buildStateFromSchema/iterateFields.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ type Args = {
    */
   anyParentLocalized?: boolean
   data: Data
-  errorPaths: Set<string>
+  errorPaths: string[]
   fields: FieldSchema[]
   filter?: (args: AddFieldStatePromiseArgs) => boolean
   /**
diff --git a/packages/ui/src/providers/ComponentMap/buildComponentMap/mapFields.tsx b/packages/ui/src/providers/ComponentMap/buildComponentMap/mapFields.tsx
index 2ed184110d..712e687d63 100644
--- a/packages/ui/src/providers/ComponentMap/buildComponentMap/mapFields.tsx
+++ b/packages/ui/src/providers/ComponentMap/buildComponentMap/mapFields.tsx
@@ -228,7 +228,6 @@ export const mapFields = (args: {
               disabled: field.admin?.disabled,
               fieldMap: mapFields({
                 config,
-                disableAddingID: true,
                 fieldSchema: field.fields,
                 filter,
                 parentPath: path,
@@ -251,7 +250,6 @@ export const mapFields = (args: {
             const blocks = field.blocks.map((block) => {
               const blockFieldMap = mapFields({
                 config,
-                disableAddingID: true,
                 fieldSchema: block.fields,
                 filter,
                 parentPath: `${path}.${block.slug}`,
diff --git a/test/access-control/e2e.spec.ts b/test/access-control/e2e.spec.ts
index c81e739bbb..6c68500c8c 100644
--- a/test/access-control/e2e.spec.ts
+++ b/test/access-control/e2e.spec.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
   initPageConsoleErrorCatch,
   openDocControls,
   openNav,
+  saveDocAndAssert,
 } from '../helpers.js'
 import { AdminUrlUtil } from '../helpers/adminUrlUtil.js'
 import { initPayloadE2E } from '../helpers/initPayloadE2E.js'
@@ -248,7 +249,7 @@ describe('access control', () => {
       await expect(deleteAction).toBeHidden()
 
       await page.locator('#field-approvedForRemoval').check()
-      await page.locator('#action-save').click()
+      await saveDocAndAssert(page)
 
       await openDocControls(page)
       const deleteAction2 = page.locator('#action-delete')
@@ -272,7 +273,7 @@ describe('access control', () => {
 
     // Allow access to test global.
     await page.locator('.checkbox-input:has(#field-test) input').check()
-    await page.locator('#action-save').click()
+    await saveDocAndAssert(page)
 
     await openNav(page)
 
diff --git a/test/fields/e2e.spec.ts b/test/fields/e2e.spec.ts
index 73ae36a6da..1b3d3136ae 100644
--- a/test/fields/e2e.spec.ts
+++ b/test/fields/e2e.spec.ts
@@ -1386,7 +1386,8 @@ describe('fields', () => {
       await expect(dateField).toBeVisible()
       await dateField.fill('02/07/2023')
       await expect(dateField).toHaveValue('02/07/2023')
-      await page.locator('#action-save').click()
+      await saveDocAndAssert(page)
+
       const clearButton = page.locator('#field-default .date-time-picker__clear-button')
       await expect(clearButton).toBeVisible()
       await clearButton.click()
@@ -1409,10 +1410,7 @@ describe('fields', () => {
 
           // enter date in default date field
           await dateField.fill('02/07/2023')
-          await page.locator('#action-save').click()
-
-          // wait for navigation to update route
-          await expect.poll(() => page.url(), { timeout: 1000 }).not.toContain('create')
+          await saveDocAndAssert(page)
 
           // get the ID of the doc
           const routeSegments = page.url().split('/')
@@ -1473,10 +1471,7 @@ describe('fields', () => {
 
           // enter date in default date field
           await dateField.fill('02/07/2023')
-          await page.locator('#action-save').click()
-
-          // wait for navigation to update route
-          await expect.poll(() => page.url(), { timeout: 1000 }).not.toContain('create')
+          await saveDocAndAssert(page)
 
           // get the ID of the doc
           const routeSegments = page.url().split('/')
diff --git a/test/fields/lexical.e2e.spec.ts b/test/fields/lexical.e2e.spec.ts
index 18d1d4fabe..255b22d6c0 100644
--- a/test/fields/lexical.e2e.spec.ts
+++ b/test/fields/lexical.e2e.spec.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ async function navigateToLexicalFields() {
   const url: AdminUrlUtil = new AdminUrlUtil(serverURL, 'lexical-fields')
   await page.goto(url.list)
   const linkToDoc = page.locator('tbody tr:first-child .cell-title a').first()
-  await expect(() => expect(linkToDoc).toBeTruthy()).toPass({ timeout: 45000 })
+  await expect(() => expect(linkToDoc).toBeTruthy()).toPass({ timeout: POLL_TOPASS_TIMEOUT })
   const linkDocHref = await linkToDoc.getAttribute('href')
 
   await linkToDoc.click()
@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ describe('lexical', () => {
       await expect(nestedEditorParagraph).toHaveText('Some text below relationship node 12345')
     })
 
-    test.skip('should respect row removal in nested array field', async () => {
+    test('should respect row removal in nested array field', async () => {
       await navigateToLexicalFields()
       const richTextField = page.locator('.rich-text-lexical').nth(1) // second
       await richTextField.scrollIntoViewIfNeeded()