diff --git a/Projects/Server/Network/Encryption/GameEncryption.cs b/Projects/Server/Network/Encryption/GameEncryption.cs
index 78c219b63..fde81188c 100644
--- a/Projects/Server/Network/Encryption/GameEncryption.cs
+++ b/Projects/Server/Network/Encryption/GameEncryption.cs
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
  *************************************************************************/
 
 using System;
-using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
-using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
 using System.Runtime.Intrinsics;
 using System.Security.Cryptography;
 using Server.Logging;
diff --git a/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.Network.cs b/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.Network.cs
index 494492cc1..3aad63146 100644
--- a/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.Network.cs
+++ b/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.Network.cs
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ public partial class NetState
     private const int SendBufferSize = 1024 * 256;  // 256KB send buffers
     private const int MaxConnections = 4096;        // Max concurrent connections
 
+    private static readonly Queue<NetState> _disposed = [];
+    private static readonly TimeSpan ConnectingSocketIdleLimit = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(5000); // 5 seconds
+
     // Socket manager handles buffer pools, socket lifecycle, and I/O operations
     private static RingSocketManager _socketManager;
 
@@ -46,6 +49,9 @@ public partial class NetState
     private static int _pendingAcceptCount;
     private const int PendingAcceptsPerListener = 32;
 
+    private const long AliveCheckIntervalMs = 5000;
+    private static long _nextAliveCheck;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Gets the IORingGroup instance for socket operations.
     /// </summary>
@@ -293,6 +299,13 @@ public partial class NetState
             if (!ns.SentFirstPacket || !ns.Seeded)
             {
                 ns.Disconnect(null);
+
+                // Force immediate cleanup - these are unauthenticated connections
+                // where graceful disconnect can get stuck with pending sends.
+                if (ns._socket is { DisconnectPending: true })
+                {
+                    _socketManager.DisconnectImmediate(ns._socket);
+                }
             }
         }
     }
@@ -321,6 +334,7 @@ public partial class NetState
 
     public static void Slice()
     {
+        var curTicks = Core.TickCount;
         DisconnectUnattachedSockets();
 
         // Process throttled states
@@ -363,6 +377,7 @@ public partial class NetState
                         // Verify generation via object identity to avoid stale completion issues
                         if (nsRecv != null && nsRecv._socket == evt.Socket)
                         {
+                            nsRecv.NextActivityCheck = curTicks + 30000;
                             HandleDataReceived(nsRecv, evt.BytesTransferred);
                         }
                         break;
@@ -375,7 +390,7 @@ public partial class NetState
                         if (nsSend != null && nsSend._socket == evt.Socket)
                         {
                             // Update activity check on successful send
-                            nsSend.NextActivityCheck = Core.TickCount + 90000;
+                            nsSend.NextActivityCheck = curTicks + 30000;
                         }
                         break;
                     }
@@ -436,7 +451,16 @@ public partial class NetState
         // Process disposes
         while (_disposed.TryDequeue(out var ns))
         {
-            ns.Dispose();
+            ns.DisposeInternal();
+        }
+
+        // Check for dead connections AFTER processing all completions.
+        // Recv completions reset NextActivityCheck, so after a server stall,
+        // buffered client pings update timestamps before this check fires.
+        if (curTicks - _nextAliveCheck >= 0)
+        {
+            _nextAliveCheck = curTicks + AliveCheckIntervalMs;
+            CheckAllAlive();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.cs b/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.cs
index 36a116142..21be39811 100755
--- a/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.cs
+++ b/Projects/Server/Network/NetState/NetState.cs
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ using Server.Logging;
 using Server.Menus;
 using System;
 using System.Buffers;
-using System.Collections.Concurrent;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Net;
@@ -34,14 +33,12 @@ public partial class NetState : IComparable<NetState>, IValueLinkListNode<NetSta
 {
     private static readonly ILogger logger = LogFactory.GetLogger(typeof(NetState));
 
-    private static readonly TimeSpan ConnectingSocketIdleLimit = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(5000); // 5 seconds
     private const int HuePickerCap = 512;
     private const int MenuCap = 512;
     private const int PacketPerSecondThreshold = 3000;
 
     private static readonly Queue<NetState> _flushPending = new(2048);
     private static readonly Queue<NetState> _pendingDisconnects = new(256); // Processed AFTER flush
-    private static readonly ConcurrentQueue<NetState> _disposed = new();
     private static readonly Queue<NetState> _throttled = new(256);
     private static readonly Queue<NetState> _throttledPending = new(256);
 
@@ -104,11 +101,6 @@ public partial class NetState : IComparable<NetState>, IValueLinkListNode<NetSta
         ConfigureNetwork();
     }
 
-    public static void Initialize()
-    {
-        Timer.DelayCall(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1), TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1.5), CheckAllAlive);
-    }
-
     // Internal constructor for accepted sockets
     private NetState(RingSocket socket, IPAddress address)
     {
@@ -938,7 +930,17 @@ public partial class NetState : IComparable<NetState>, IValueLinkListNode<NetSta
 
     public void CheckAlive(long curTicks)
     {
-        if (_socket != null && NextActivityCheck - curTicks < 0)
+        if (_socket == null || NextActivityCheck - curTicks >= 0)
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (_socket.DisconnectPending)
+        {
+            LogInfo("Force disconnecting stuck socket...");
+            _socketManager.DisconnectImmediate(_socket);
+        }
+        else
         {
             LogInfo("Disconnecting due to inactivity...");
             Disconnect("Disconnecting due to inactivity.");
@@ -1031,10 +1033,14 @@ public partial class NetState : IComparable<NetState>, IValueLinkListNode<NetSta
         }
     }
 
+    private void DisposeInternal() => Dispose();
+
     // Do not run this directly. Use Disconnect instead.
     // This is available for testing cleanup only.
+    [Obsolete("Use Disconnect instead")]
     public void Dispose()
     {
+        var wasRunning = _running;
         _running = false;
         // It's possible we could queue for dispose multiple times
         if (_socket == null)
@@ -1045,9 +1051,8 @@ public partial class NetState : IComparable<NetState>, IValueLinkListNode<NetSta
         TraceDisconnect(_disconnectReason, _toString);
 
         // If still running, force immediate disconnect
-        if (_running)
+        if (wasRunning)
         {
-            _running = false;
             _socketManager?.DisconnectImmediate(_socket);
         }
 
diff --git a/Projects/Server/Server.csproj b/Projects/Server/Server.csproj
index 02e830648..583434605 100644
--- a/Projects/Server/Server.csproj
+++ b/Projects/Server/Server.csproj
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
     </Target>
     <ItemGroup>
         <ProjectReference Include="..\Logger\Logger.csproj" />
-        <PackageReference Include="IORingGroup" Version="1.0.0" />
+        <PackageReference Include="IORingGroup" Version="1.0.1" />
         <PackageReference Include="CommunityToolkit.HighPerformance" Version="8.4.0" />
         <PackageReference Include="LibDeflate.Bindings" Version="1.0.2.120" />
         <PackageReference Include="System.IO.Hashing" Version="10.0.2" />