Is it just green/teal that have messed up server ticks?
 

It's really frustrating have your mana essentially stolen. I'm finding it impossible to ensure I'm getting my meditation ticks while minimizing sitting time.

What's messed up about it? I only started playing EQ when green came out so this is an earnest question

The mana bar jumps all over the place making it hard to know when you got your "tick".

blue does it too.

It's an idosincracy if the titanium client. The client shows what it thinks the values should be. This is then corrected by the server to classic values. Welcome to the server

Once you figure out the right tick, you can ignore the other one and, yes, time your sits.

But how do you "keep" knowing which is which. Stuff happens and you can't constantly keep it on your radar.

It will take you only one tick to figure out the cycle.

But I can't see the second tick if the first one goes off.

It's the second tick that brings your health and mana back down. First tick is too much, second tick corrects it. When you are real low level you won't be able to tell from the mana bar, so look at health numbers instead. Once you are 20+ you should be able to see the mana correction.

Wait for the correction before you stand.