PVD must always have some hidden features to impress users.
And, of course, a simple Easter Egg just won't do.
I've attempted to clarify this by testing. It seems the MRU database is recorded in pvdconfig.ini, but any other changes are recorded in databasename.ini—if one exists beside databasename.pvd. Settings changed for any database for which there is no databasename.ini
or which is connected via server will continue to be recorded in pvdconfig.ini. There are exceptions, not all of which I've figured out.
Web searches, for example, are loaded from pvdconfig.ini regardless of what's in the database-specific configurations.
I like this. Now when I switch to my test database, a separate configuration file will automatically be used. Although I'm usually connected to my main database by server, I've created a separate configuration for it as well. It specifies a different skin—so it will be more obvious to me I'm not connected by server—when that's the case.