The "nested mixedcolumns" does not work properly when it reaches the bottom of the "outer mixedcolumns" here: $ context --version mtx-context | ConTeXt Process Management 0.60 mtx-context | mtx-context | main context file: d:/ConTeXt/tex/texmf-local/tex/context/base/context.mkiv mtx-context | current version: 2012.07.24 15:58 here is the minimal example (mostly copied from page-mix.mkiv =========================================== \setupbodyfont[5pt] \starttext \setupmixedcolumns [boxedcolumns] [n=2, balance=no] \definemixedcolumns [nestedboxedcolumns] [boxedcolumns] [n=2, background=color, backgroundcolor=yellow, color=red, strut=yes, balance=yes, backgroundoffset=0mm] \startboxedcolumns % \dorecurse{10}{\input zapf \par \input ward \par} \obeydepth \startnestedboxedcolumns \dorecurse{15}{\input zapf\par} \stopnestedboxedcolumns \par \input zapf \par \obeydepth \startnestedboxedcolumns \input zapf \stopnestedboxedcolumns \par \input zapf \stopboxedcolumns \stoptext -- Best Regards Chen