can you not delete as opposed to reset the VST instances in PLAY?

If we were to now show those empty gaps then you would have the problem that the names of the plugin windows (‘03 - Halion Sonic SE’) no longer match the entries in the rack, which is one of the reasons we kept it this way. If you want to have all the gaps closed up then just re-apply the Playback Template, and this will reassign instruments in score order.