diff --git a/Source/ACE.DatLoader.Tests/SurfaceTextureTests.cs b/Source/ACE.DatLoader.Tests/SurfaceTextureTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c0951e5b84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Source/ACE.DatLoader.Tests/SurfaceTextureTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
+using ACE.DatLoader.FileTypes;
+using ACE.Entity.Enum;
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+
+namespace ACE.DatLoader.Tests
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Tests the SurfaceTexture header and texture-reference layout without
+    /// depending on installed DAT archives or the DatManager singleton.
+    /// </summary>
+    [TestClass]
+    public class SurfaceTextureTests
+    {
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void Unpack_TwoTextureReferences_PreservesRetailLayout()
+        {
+            // The IDs mirror an observed HighRes/Portal pair. Header bytes are
+            // constructed in-memory so the test can run without client DAT files.
+            var data = BuildRecord(0x0500000C, 0, TextureType.Texture2D,
+                0x06003B9D, 0x06003B9E);
+
+            var result = UnpackCompletely<SurfaceTexture>(data);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(0x0500000Cu, result.Id);
+            Assert.AreEqual(0u, result.DataCategory);
+            Assert.AreEqual(TextureType.Texture2D, result.TextureType);
+            CollectionAssert.AreEqual(new uint[] { 0x06003B9D, 0x06003B9E }, result.Textures.ToArray());
+        }
+
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void Unpack_NonzeroDataCategory_RetainsUnsignedBits()
+        {
+            // A synthetic boundary case: retail SurfaceTexture categories
+            // observed so far were all zero, but the field is a UInt32 on disk.
+            var data = BuildRecord(0x05000001, 0xF0000001u, TextureType.Cube,
+                0x06000001);
+
+            var result = UnpackCompletely<SurfaceTexture>(data);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(0xF0000001u, result.DataCategory);
+            Assert.AreEqual(TextureType.Cube, result.TextureType);
+            CollectionAssert.AreEqual(new uint[] { 0x06000001 }, result.Textures.ToArray());
+        }
+
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void Unpack_ZeroTextureReferences_ConsumesCompleteRecord()
+        {
+            var data = BuildRecord(0x05000002, 0, TextureType.Texture2D);
+
+            var result = UnpackCompletely<SurfaceTexture>(data);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(0u, result.DataCategory);
+            Assert.AreEqual(TextureType.Texture2D, result.TextureType);
+            Assert.AreEqual(0, result.Textures.Count);
+        }
+
+        [TestMethod]
+        public void Unpack_HeaderMatchesExistingRenderTextureLayout()
+        {
+            // RenderTexture is an independently implemented reader for the
+            // same binary field layout. Compare their decoded values.
+            var data = BuildRecord(0x05000003, 0x80000000u, TextureType.Movie2D,
+                0x06000010, 0x06000011);
+
+            var surface = UnpackCompletely<SurfaceTexture>(data);
+            var render = UnpackCompletely<RenderTexture>(data);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(render.Id, surface.Id);
+            Assert.AreEqual(render.DataCategory, surface.DataCategory);
+            Assert.AreEqual(render.TextureType, surface.TextureType);
+            CollectionAssert.AreEqual(render.Textures.ToArray(), surface.Textures.ToArray());
+        }
+
+        private static T UnpackCompletely<T>(byte[] bytes) where T : FileType, new()
+        {
+            using var stream = new MemoryStream(bytes, writable: false);
+            using var reader = new BinaryReader(stream);
+            var value = new T();
+            value.Unpack(reader);
+            Assert.AreEqual(stream.Length, stream.Position,
+                "The parser must consume exactly the bytes in the record.");
+            return value;
+        }
+
+        private static byte[] BuildRecord(uint id, uint category,
+            TextureType textureType, params uint[] textureIds)
+        {
+            using var stream = new MemoryStream();
+            using (var writer = new BinaryWriter(stream, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8, leaveOpen: true))
+            {
+                writer.Write(id);                   // UInt32 resource ID
+                writer.Write(category);             // UInt32 DataCategory
+                writer.Write((byte)textureType);    // Byte TextureType
+                writer.Write(textureIds.Length);    // Int32 List<uint> count
+                foreach (var textureId in textureIds)
+                    writer.Write(textureId);
+            }
+            return stream.ToArray();
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Source/ACE.DatLoader/FileTypes/SurfaceTexture.cs b/Source/ACE.DatLoader/FileTypes/SurfaceTexture.cs
index 6bd609820d..53fd6f0607 100644
--- a/Source/ACE.DatLoader/FileTypes/SurfaceTexture.cs
+++ b/Source/ACE.DatLoader/FileTypes/SurfaceTexture.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using ACE.Common;
 using ACE.DatLoader.Entity;
+using ACE.Entity.Enum;
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
@@ -10,17 +11,24 @@ namespace ACE.DatLoader.FileTypes
     [DatFileType(DatFileType.SurfaceTexture)]
     public class SurfaceTexture : FileType
     {
-        // public int Id { get; private set; }
-        public int Unknown { get; private set; }
-        public byte UnknownByte { get; private set; }
-        // public int TextureCount { get; private set; }
-        public List<uint> Textures { get; private set; } = new List<uint>(); // These values correspond to a Surface (0x06) entry
+        // The original client identifies ImgTex as SURFACETEXTURE (DB type 0x0B).
+        // DBObj::Serialize reads/writes this field for categorized resource types.
+        // All examined retail SurfaceTexture records have DataCategory == 0.
+        public uint DataCategory { get; private set; }
+
+        // ImgTex::Serialize writes a fixed byte value of 2.
+        // RenderTexture uses TextureType.Texture2D for this value.
+        // On read, the original ImgTex serializer skips the byte without interpreting it.
+        public TextureType TextureType { get; private set; }
+
+        // References to Texture resources (IDs in the 0x06 and 0x07 ranges).
+        public List<uint> Textures { get; private set; } = new List<uint>(); // References to Texture (0x06) entries.
 
         public override void Unpack(BinaryReader reader)
         {
             Id = reader.ReadUInt32();
-            Unknown = reader.ReadInt32();
-            UnknownByte = reader.ReadByte();
+            DataCategory = reader.ReadUInt32();
+            TextureType = (TextureType)reader.ReadByte();
             Textures.Unpack(reader);
         }
     }