for some ungodly reason my KVM box slightly changes the available refresh rate settings on my 1440p144 monitor, so the mode settings were not applying correctly...
···63636464// External display
6565output "PNP(AOC) Q32G2WG4 0x00000BCC" {
6666- mode "2560x1440@143.912"
6666+ mode "2560x1440@143.999"
6767 // Main monitor is to the left of the laptop monitor
6868 position x=0 y=0
6969}