diff --git a/server/internal/config/server.go b/server/internal/config/server.go
index 99be15f4..ac76e87b 100644
--- a/server/internal/config/server.go
+++ b/server/internal/config/server.go
@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@ package config
 
 import (
 	"path"
+	"slices"
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
-
-	"github.com/m1k1o/neko/server/pkg/utils"
 )
 
 type Server struct {
@@ -121,8 +120,7 @@ func (s *Server) Set() {
 	s.Metrics = viper.GetBool("server.metrics")
 
 	s.CORS = viper.GetStringSlice("server.cors")
-	in, _ := utils.ArrayIn("*", s.CORS)
-	if len(s.CORS) == 0 || in {
+	if len(s.CORS) == 0 || slices.Contains(s.CORS, "*") {
 		s.CORS = []string{"*"}
 	}
 }
@@ -162,8 +160,7 @@ func (s *Server) SetV2() {
 	}
 	if viper.IsSet("cors") {
 		s.CORS = viper.GetStringSlice("cors")
-		in, _ := utils.ArrayIn("*", s.CORS)
-		if len(s.CORS) == 0 || in {
+		if len(s.CORS) == 0 || slices.Contains(s.CORS, "*") {
 			s.CORS = []string{"*"}
 		}
 		log.Warn().Msg("you are using v2 configuration 'NEKO_CORS' which is deprecated, please use 'NEKO_SERVER_CORS' instead")
@@ -182,12 +179,12 @@ func (s *Server) HasCors() bool {
 }
 
 func (s *Server) AllowOrigin(origin string) bool {
-	// if CORS is disabled, allow all origins
-	if len(s.CORS) == 0 {
+	// if CORS is not configured, or a wildcard is present,
+	// allow WebSocket connections from any origin
+	if len(s.CORS) == 0 || s.CORS[0] == "*" {
 		return true
 	}
 
-	// if CORS is enabled, allow only origins in the list
-	in, _ := utils.ArrayIn(origin, s.CORS)
-	return in || s.CORS[0] == "*"
+	// allow only origins in the list
+	return slices.Contains(s.CORS, origin)
 }
diff --git a/server/internal/http/batch.go b/server/internal/http/batch.go
index 6e008f5f..b7d813dd 100644
--- a/server/internal/http/batch.go
+++ b/server/internal/http/batch.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/m1k1o/neko/server/pkg/types"
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ func (b *batchHandler) Handle(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if exists, _ := utils.ArrayIn(request.Path, b.Excluded); exists {
+		if slices.Contains(b.Excluded, request.Path) {
 			res.Error(utils.HttpBadRequest("this path is excluded from batch requests"))
 			responses[i] = res
 			continue
diff --git a/server/internal/session/manager.go b/server/internal/session/manager.go
index a638595b..67cf14bb 100644
--- a/server/internal/session/manager.go
+++ b/server/internal/session/manager.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package session
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"slices"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
@@ -303,7 +304,7 @@ func (manager *SessionManagerCtx) Broadcast(event string, payload any, exclude .
 		}
 
 		if len(exclude) > 0 {
-			if in, _ := utils.ArrayIn(session.ID(), exclude); in {
+			if slices.Contains(exclude, session.ID()) {
 				continue
 			}
 		}
@@ -319,7 +320,7 @@ func (manager *SessionManagerCtx) AdminBroadcast(event string, payload any, excl
 		}
 
 		if len(exclude) > 0 {
-			if in, _ := utils.ArrayIn(session.ID(), exclude); in {
+			if slices.Contains(exclude, session.ID()) {
 				continue
 			}
 		}
@@ -335,7 +336,7 @@ func (manager *SessionManagerCtx) InactiveCursorsBroadcast(event string, payload
 		}
 
 		if len(exclude) > 0 {
-			if in, _ := utils.ArrayIn(session.ID(), exclude); in {
+			if slices.Contains(exclude, session.ID()) {
 				continue
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/server/internal/websocket/manager.go b/server/internal/websocket/manager.go
index 9fd67fab..e62bba33 100644
--- a/server/internal/websocket/manager.go
+++ b/server/internal/websocket/manager.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"net/http"
+	"slices"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -333,7 +334,7 @@ func (manager *WebSocketManagerCtx) handle(connection *websocket.Conn, peer type
 			}
 
 			// log events if not ignored
-			if ok, _ := utils.ArrayIn(data.Event, nologEvents); !ok {
+			if !slices.Contains(nologEvents, data.Event) {
 				payload := data.Payload
 				if len(payload) > maxPayloadLogLength {
 					payload = []byte("<truncated>")
diff --git a/server/internal/websocket/peer.go b/server/internal/websocket/peer.go
index 0c2fd553..f14e54d4 100644
--- a/server/internal/websocket/peer.go
+++ b/server/internal/websocket/peer.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package websocket
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
+	"slices"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
@@ -11,7 +12,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/m1k1o/neko/server/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/m1k1o/neko/server/pkg/types/event"
 	"github.com/m1k1o/neko/server/pkg/types/message"
-	"github.com/m1k1o/neko/server/pkg/utils"
 )
 
 type WebSocketPeerCtx struct {
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func (peer *WebSocketPeerCtx) Send(event string, payload any) {
 	}
 
 	// log events if not ignored
-	if ok, _ := utils.ArrayIn(event, nologEvents); !ok {
+	if !slices.Contains(nologEvents, event) {
 		if len(raw) > maxPayloadLogLength {
 			raw = []byte("<truncated>")
 		}
diff --git a/server/pkg/utils/array.go b/server/pkg/utils/array.go
deleted file mode 100644
index a84853be..00000000
--- a/server/pkg/utils/array.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-package utils
-
-func ArrayIn[T comparable](val T, array []T) (exists bool, index int) {
-	exists, index = false, -1
-
-	for i, a := range array {
-		if a == val {
-			exists, index = true, i
-			return
-		}
-	}
-
-	return
-}