Type "!=" in code blocks without it auto converting to "≠"

[ariehen]

It could be this if you are using Windows.

Special characters are being merged?

That most often comes from font ligatures. I see the same in the Sandbox on Windows 11. Whatever the default monospace font Obsidian is using has those. I don’t see it on macOS. If you change Settings > Appearance → Monospace font to a different monospace font without ligatures, it should be fine. I randomly picked Source Code Pro (not sure if that’s in Windows by default) and the => weren’t combined in the code block.

As mentioned there, try changing your monospace font (Settings > Appearance > Font → Monospace font) to Consolas or one without ligatures.