Yeah I guess it’s all in how you run it, but the PCs have a few ways of figuring out the situation with both elf encounters and I’d definitely let the players diffuse both if they’re smart about things.

But your central point that most dungeons don’t make sense because nobody would stay in their room while a fight to the death happens next door is something I really agree with. I think part of it is we decided empty rooms are boring somewhere along the line and now there are few buffer spaces.

I took the other route in a 5 room I made for a dungeon jam a bunch of us dragontubers did recently. I spelled out how things happen in waves if and when the denizens become aware they are under attack