diff --git a/src/main/scala/Monitor.scala b/src/main/scala/Monitor.scala
index a228bb0b..5d069576 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/Monitor.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/Monitor.scala
@@ -188,5 +188,7 @@ object Monitor:
         val step     = Kamon.gauge("connector.flush.config.step").withoutTags()
         val interval = Kamon.gauge("connector.flush.config.interval").withoutTags()
         val maxDelay = Kamon.gauge("connector.flush.config.maxDelay").withoutTags()
-      val qSize           = Kamon.histogram("connector.flush.qSize").withoutTags()
-      val channelsToFlush = Kamon.histogram("connector.flush.channelsToFlush").withoutTags()
+      val qSizeReal               = Kamon.histogram("connector.flush.qSize").withoutTags()
+      val qSizeEstimate           = Kamon.histogram("connector.flush.qSize.estimate").withoutTags()
+      val channelsToFlush         = Kamon.histogram("connector.flush.channelsToFlush").withoutTags()
+      val loopRuntimeMicroseconds = Kamon.histogram("connector.flush.loopRuntimeMicroseconds").withoutTags()
diff --git a/src/main/scala/netty/ActorChannelConnector.scala b/src/main/scala/netty/ActorChannelConnector.scala
index dc87ede0..e347a72b 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/netty/ActorChannelConnector.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/netty/ActorChannelConnector.scala
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import io.netty.handler.codec.http.websocketx.*
 import io.netty.util.concurrent.{ Future as NettyFuture, GenericFutureListener }
 import org.apache.pekko.actor.typed.{ ActorRef, Scheduler }
 
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+import scala.concurrent.duration.Deadline
 
 import lila.ws.Controller.Endpoint
 import lila.ws.netty.ProtocolHandler.key
@@ -19,8 +19,12 @@ final private class ActorChannelConnector(
     workers: EventLoopGroup
 )(using scheduler: Scheduler, ec: Executor):
 
-  private val flushQ  = java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue[Channel]()
+  private val flushQ  = ActorChannelConnector.FlushQueue()
   private val monitor = Monitor.connector.flush
+  private val flushThread = Future:
+    while !workers.isShuttingDown && !workers.isTerminated do
+      val delay = flush().timeLeft.max(0.millis)
+      Thread.sleep(delay.toMillis, (delay.toNanos % 1_000_000).toInt)
 
   private object config:
     private def int(key: String) = settings.makeSetting(key, staticConfig.getInt(key))
@@ -32,8 +36,7 @@ final private class ActorChannelConnector(
       monitor.config.step.update(step.get())
       monitor.config.interval.update(interval.get())
       monitor.config.maxDelay.update(maxDelay.get())
-
-  workers.schedule[Unit](() => flush(), 1, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+      monitor.qSizeReal.record(flushQ.realSizeWithLinearPerformance())
 
   def apply(endpoint: Endpoint, channel: Channel): Unit =
     val clientPromise = Promise[Client]()
@@ -58,30 +61,49 @@ final private class ActorChannelConnector(
         .addListener(ChannelFutureListener.CLOSE)
     case ipc.ClientIn.RoundPingFrameNoFlush =>
       channel.write { PingWebSocketFrame(Unpooled.copyLong(System.currentTimeMillis())) }
-    case in if withFlush || !config.isFlushQEnabled() =>
+    case in if withFlush || flushThread.isCompleted || !config.isFlushQEnabled() =>
       channel.writeAndFlush(TextWebSocketFrame(in.write))
     case in =>
       channel.write(TextWebSocketFrame(in.write))
       flushQ.add(channel)
 
-  private def flush(): Unit =
-    val qSize           = flushQ.size
+  private def flush(): Deadline =
+    val entered         = Deadline.now
+    val qSize           = flushQ.estimateSize()
     val maxDelayFactor  = config.interval.get().toDouble / config.maxDelay.get().atLeast(1)
     var channelsToFlush = config.step.get().atLeast((qSize * maxDelayFactor).toInt)
-    val nextIntervalMillis =
-      if config.isFlushQEnabled() then config.interval.get()
-      else if qSize == 0 then 1000 // hibernate
-      else 1                       // interval is 0 but we still need to empty the queue
-
-    workers.schedule[Unit](() => flush(), nextIntervalMillis, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
-
-    monitor.qSize.record(qSize)
-    monitor.channelsToFlush.record(channelsToFlush)
 
     while channelsToFlush > 0 do
-      Option(flushQ.poll()) match
+      flushQ.poll() match
         case Some(channel) =>
           if channel.isOpen then channel.flush()
           channelsToFlush -= 1
         case _ =>
           channelsToFlush = 0
+
+    monitor.qSizeEstimate.record(qSize)
+    monitor.channelsToFlush.record(channelsToFlush)
+    monitor.loopRuntimeMicroseconds.record((Deadline.now - entered).toMicros)
+
+    entered + {
+      if config.isFlushQEnabled() then config.interval.get().millis
+      else if qSize == 0 then 1000.millis // hibernate
+      else 1.millis                       // interval is 0 but we still need to empty the queue
+    }
+
+object ActorChannelConnector:
+  private class FlushQueue:
+    private val queue = java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue[Channel]()
+    private val size  = java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger()
+
+    def add(channel: Channel): Unit =
+      queue.add(channel)
+      size.getAndIncrement()
+
+    def poll(): Option[Channel] =
+      val maybeChannel = Option(queue.poll())
+      if maybeChannel.nonEmpty then size.getAndDecrement()
+      maybeChannel
+
+    def estimateSize(): Int                  = size.get()
+    def realSizeWithLinearPerformance(): Int = queue.size()