diff --git a/src/plugins/liveobjects/livemap.ts b/src/plugins/liveobjects/livemap.ts
index b147dcf80..ec30576df 100644
--- a/src/plugins/liveobjects/livemap.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/liveobjects/livemap.ts
@@ -1,24 +1,27 @@
 import { LiveObject, LiveObjectData } from './liveobject';
-import { StateValue } from './statemessage';
+import { LiveObjects } from './liveobjects';
+import { MapSemantics, StateValue } from './statemessage';
 
 export interface ObjectIdStateData {
-  /**
-   * A reference to another state object, used to support composable state objects.
-   */
+  /** A reference to another state object, used to support composable state objects. */
   objectId: string;
 }
 
 export interface ValueStateData {
   /**
-   * A concrete leaf value in the state object graph.
+   * The encoding the client should use to interpret the value.
+   * Analogous to the `encoding` field on the `Message` and `PresenceMessage` types.
    */
+  encoding?: string;
+  /** A concrete leaf value in the state object graph. */
   value: StateValue;
 }
 
 export type StateData = ObjectIdStateData | ValueStateData;
 
 export interface MapEntry {
-  // TODO: add tombstone, timeserial
+  tombstone: boolean;
+  timeserial: string;
   data: StateData;
 }
 
@@ -27,6 +30,15 @@ export interface LiveMapData extends LiveObjectData {
 }
 
 export class LiveMap extends LiveObject<LiveMapData> {
+  constructor(
+    liveObjects: LiveObjects,
+    private _semantics: MapSemantics,
+    initialData?: LiveMapData | null,
+    objectId?: string,
+  ) {
+    super(liveObjects, initialData, objectId);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns the value associated with the specified key in the underlying Map object.
    * If no element is associated with the specified key, undefined is returned.
diff --git a/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjects.ts b/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjects.ts
index 9e4373e42..f83cc91b3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjects.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjects.ts
@@ -155,17 +155,19 @@ export class LiveObjects {
       }
 
       let newObject: LiveObject;
-      switch (entry.objectType) {
+      // assign to a variable so TS doesn't complain about 'never' type in the default case
+      const objectType = entry.objectType;
+      switch (objectType) {
         case 'LiveCounter':
           newObject = new LiveCounter(this, entry.objectData, objectId);
           break;
 
         case 'LiveMap':
-          newObject = new LiveMap(this, entry.objectData, objectId);
+          newObject = new LiveMap(this, entry.semantics, entry.objectData, objectId);
           break;
 
         default:
-          throw new this._client.ErrorInfo(`Unknown live object type: ${entry.objectType}`, 40000, 400);
+          throw new this._client.ErrorInfo(`Unknown live object type: ${objectType}`, 40000, 400);
       }
       newObject.setRegionalTimeserial(entry.regionalTimeserial);
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjectspool.ts b/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjectspool.ts
index 5f46c1a0a..c19433cae 100644
--- a/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjectspool.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/liveobjects/liveobjectspool.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import type BaseClient from 'common/lib/client/baseclient';
 import { LiveMap } from './livemap';
 import { LiveObject } from './liveobject';
 import { LiveObjects } from './liveobjects';
+import { MapSemantics } from './statemessage';
 
 export const ROOT_OBJECT_ID = 'root';
 
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ export class LiveObjectsPool {
 
   private _getInitialPool(): Map<string, LiveObject> {
     const pool = new Map<string, LiveObject>();
-    const root = new LiveMap(this._liveObjects, null, ROOT_OBJECT_ID);
+    const root = new LiveMap(this._liveObjects, MapSemantics.LWW, null, ROOT_OBJECT_ID);
     pool.set(root.getObjectId(), root);
     return pool;
   }
diff --git a/src/plugins/liveobjects/syncliveobjectsdatapool.ts b/src/plugins/liveobjects/syncliveobjectsdatapool.ts
index 1d30c5ad6..3c787eb09 100644
--- a/src/plugins/liveobjects/syncliveobjectsdatapool.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/liveobjects/syncliveobjectsdatapool.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { LiveObjectData } from './liveobject';
 import { LiveObjects } from './liveobjects';
+import { MapSemantics } from './statemessage';
 
 export interface LiveObjectDataEntry {
   objectData: LiveObjectData;
@@ -7,14 +8,26 @@ export interface LiveObjectDataEntry {
   objectType: 'LiveMap' | 'LiveCounter';
 }
 
+export interface LiveCounterDataEntry extends LiveObjectDataEntry {
+  created: boolean;
+  objectType: 'LiveCounter';
+}
+
+export interface LiveMapDataEntry extends LiveObjectDataEntry {
+  objectType: 'LiveMap';
+  semantics: MapSemantics;
+}
+
+export type AnyDataEntry = LiveCounterDataEntry | LiveMapDataEntry;
+
 /**
  * @internal
  */
 export class SyncLiveObjectsDataPool {
-  private _pool: Map<string, LiveObjectDataEntry>;
+  private _pool: Map<string, AnyDataEntry>;
 
   constructor(private _liveObjects: LiveObjects) {
-    this._pool = new Map<string, LiveObjectDataEntry>();
+    this._pool = new Map<string, AnyDataEntry>();
   }
 
   entries() {
@@ -30,6 +43,6 @@ export class SyncLiveObjectsDataPool {
   }
 
   reset(): void {
-    this._pool = new Map<string, LiveObjectDataEntry>();
+    this._pool = new Map<string, AnyDataEntry>();
   }
 }