hhmm, i see what you mean. if you add the full path (C:\mirc) then it just ignores the "settings $readini" bit. So indeed it does look like a bug.

EG.
menu channel {
Settings $readini(C:\mirc\mirc.ini,text,nothin)
.AWAY:/ascript
.BACK:/ascript
.-
.NS-Ident:/ns identify $readini(C:\mirc\text\ini\main.ini,n,$network,ns_pass)
}
ignores the "Settings $readini(C:\mirc\mirc.ini,text,nothin)" and shows:

away
back
-
ns-ident

in the main menu. However, changing it to "$readini(mirc.ini,text,nothin)" and it works fine.