diff --git a/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee b/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee
index f99bef6dd6..299d198f57 100644
--- a/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee
+++ b/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee
@@ -18,4 +18,18 @@ module.exports = HttpApiController =
 		rate = parseFloat(rate) || 0
 		logger.log {rate}, "setting client drain rate"
 		DrainManager.startDrain io, rate
-		res.send 204
\ No newline at end of file
+		res.send 204
+
+	disconnectClient: (req, res, next) ->
+		io = req.app.get("io")
+		client_id = req.params.client_id
+		client = io.sockets.sockets[client_id]
+
+		if !client
+			logger.info({client_id}, "api: client already disconnected")
+			res.sendStatus(404)
+			return
+		logger.warn({client_id}, "api: requesting client disconnect")
+		client.on "disconnect", () ->
+			res.sendStatus(204)
+		client.disconnect()
diff --git a/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee b/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee
index 93cdd07926..49166b8de1 100644
--- a/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee
+++ b/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ module.exports = Router =
 		app.post "/project/:project_id/message/:message", httpAuth, bodyParser.json(limit: "5mb"), HttpApiController.sendMessage
 		
 		app.post "/drain", httpAuth, HttpApiController.startDrain
+		app.post "/client/:client_id/disconnect", httpAuth, HttpApiController.disconnectClient
 
 		session.on 'connection', (error, client, session) ->
 			client?.on "error", (err) ->
diff --git a/services/real-time/test/acceptance/coffee/DrainManagerTests.coffee b/services/real-time/test/acceptance/coffee/DrainManagerTests.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b5b192cf88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/real-time/test/acceptance/coffee/DrainManagerTests.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+RealTimeClient = require "./helpers/RealTimeClient"
+FixturesManager = require "./helpers/FixturesManager"
+
+expect = require("chai").expect
+
+async = require "async"
+request = require "request"
+
+Settings = require "settings-sharelatex"
+
+drain = (rate, callback) ->
+	request.post {
+		url: "http://localhost:3026/drain?rate=#{rate}"
+		auth: {
+			user: Settings.internal.realTime.user,
+			pass: Settings.internal.realTime.pass
+		}
+	}, (error, response, data) ->
+		callback error, data
+	return null
+
+describe "DrainManagerTests", ->
+	before (done) ->
+		FixturesManager.setUpProject {
+			privilegeLevel: "owner"
+			project: {
+				name: "Test Project"
+			}
+		}, (e, {@project_id, @user_id}) => done()
+		return null
+
+	before (done) ->
+		# cleanup to speedup reconnecting
+		@timeout(10000)
+		RealTimeClient.disconnectAllClients done
+
+	# trigger and check cleanup
+	it "should have disconnected all previous clients", (done) ->
+		RealTimeClient.getConnectedClients (error, data) ->
+			return done(error) if error
+			expect(data.length).to.equal(0)
+			done()
+
+	describe "with two clients in the project", ->
+		beforeEach (done) ->
+			async.series [
+				(cb) =>
+					@clientA = RealTimeClient.connect()
+					@clientA.on "connectionAccepted", cb
+
+				(cb) =>
+					@clientB = RealTimeClient.connect()
+					@clientB.on "connectionAccepted", cb
+
+				(cb) =>
+					@clientA.emit "joinProject", project_id: @project_id, cb
+
+				(cb) =>
+					@clientB.emit "joinProject", project_id: @project_id, cb
+			], done
+
+		describe "starting to drain", () ->
+			beforeEach (done) ->
+				async.parallel [
+					(cb) =>
+						@clientA.on "reconnectGracefully", cb
+					(cb) =>
+						@clientB.on "reconnectGracefully", cb
+
+					(cb) -> drain(2, cb)
+				], done
+
+			afterEach (done) ->
+				# reset drain
+				drain(0, done)
+
+			it "should not timeout", ->
+				expect(true).to.equal(true)
+
+			it "should not have disconnected", ->
+				expect(@clientA.socket.connected).to.equal true
+				expect(@clientB.socket.connected).to.equal true
diff --git a/services/real-time/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/RealTimeClient.coffee b/services/real-time/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/RealTimeClient.coffee
index e3254a79a5..7d54e23b3c 100644
--- a/services/real-time/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/RealTimeClient.coffee
+++ b/services/real-time/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/RealTimeClient.coffee
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 XMLHttpRequest = require("../../libs/XMLHttpRequest").XMLHttpRequest
 io = require("socket.io-client")
+async = require("async")
 
 request = require "request"
 Settings = require "settings-sharelatex"
@@ -55,3 +56,20 @@ module.exports = Client =
 		}, (error, response, data) ->
 			callback error, data
 
+
+	disconnectClient: (client_id, callback) ->
+		request.post {
+			url: "http://localhost:3026/client/#{client_id}/disconnect"
+			auth: {
+				user: Settings.internal.realTime.user,
+				pass: Settings.internal.realTime.pass
+			}
+		}, (error, response, data) ->
+			callback error, data
+		return null
+
+	disconnectAllClients: (callback) ->
+		Client.getConnectedClients (error, clients) ->
+			async.each clients, (clientView, cb) ->
+				Client.disconnectClient clientView.client_id, cb
+			, callback