diff --git a/services/real-time/app/coffee/DrainManager.coffee b/services/real-time/app/coffee/DrainManager.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..08caac3c28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/real-time/app/coffee/DrainManager.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+logger = require "logger-sharelatex"
+
+module.exports =
+	startDrain: (io, rate) ->
+		# Clear out any old interval
+		clearInterval @interval
+		if rate == 0
+			return
+		@interval = setInterval () =>
+			@reconnectNClients(io, rate)
+		, 1000
+
+	RECONNECTED_CLIENTS: {}
+	reconnectNClients: (io, N) ->
+		drainedCount = 0
+		for client in io.sockets.clients()
+			logger.log {client_id: client.id, already_reconnecting: @RECONNECTED_CLIENTS[client.id]}, "Considering client"
+			if !@RECONNECTED_CLIENTS[client.id]
+				@RECONNECTED_CLIENTS[client.id] = true
+				logger.log {client_id: client.id}, "Asking client to reconnect gracefully"
+				client.emit "reconnectGracefully"
+				drainedCount++
+			if drainedCount == N
+				break
+		if drainedCount < N
+			logger.log "All clients have been told to reconnectGracefully"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee b/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee
index 1082a11b34..a2a9d4d23c 100644
--- a/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee
+++ b/services/real-time/app/coffee/HttpApiController.coffee
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 WebsocketLoadBalancer = require "./WebsocketLoadBalancer"
+DrainManager = require "./DrainManager"
 logger = require "logger-sharelatex"
 
 module.exports = HttpApiController =
@@ -9,4 +10,12 @@ module.exports = HttpApiController =
 				WebsocketLoadBalancer.emitToRoom req.params.project_id, req.params.message, payload
 		else
 			WebsocketLoadBalancer.emitToRoom req.params.project_id, req.params.message, req.body
-		res.send 204 # No content
\ No newline at end of file
+		res.send 204 # No content
+	
+	startDrain: (req, res, next) ->
+		io = req.app.get("io")
+		rate = req.query.rate or "4"
+		rate = parseInt(rate, 10)
+		logger.log {rate}, "setting client drain rate"
+		DrainManager.startDrain io, rate
+		res.send 204
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee b/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee
index 64fdb6931d..2f56020578 100644
--- a/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee
+++ b/services/real-time/app/coffee/Router.coffee
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ module.exports = Router =
 		app.get "/clients/:client_id", HttpController.getConnectedClient
 
 		app.post "/project/:project_id/message/:message", httpAuth, bodyParser.json(limit: "5mb"), HttpApiController.sendMessage
+		
+		app.post "/drain", httpAuth, HttpApiController.startDrain
 
 		session.on 'connection', (error, client, session) ->
 			if error?
diff --git a/services/real-time/test/unit/coffee/DrainManagerTests.coffee b/services/real-time/test/unit/coffee/DrainManagerTests.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3cdaf1ca0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/real-time/test/unit/coffee/DrainManagerTests.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+should = require('chai').should()
+sinon = require "sinon"
+SandboxedModule = require('sandboxed-module')
+path = require "path"
+modulePath = path.join __dirname, "../../../app/js/DrainManager"
+
+describe "DrainManager", ->
+	beforeEach ->
+		@DrainManager = SandboxedModule.require modulePath, requires:
+			"logger-sharelatex": @logger = log: sinon.stub()
+		@io =
+			sockets:
+				clients: sinon.stub()
+
+	describe "reconnectNClients", ->
+		beforeEach ->
+			@clients = []
+			for i in [0..9]
+				@clients[i] = {
+					id: i
+					emit: sinon.stub()
+				}
+			@io.sockets.clients.returns @clients
+
+		describe "after first pass", ->
+			beforeEach ->
+				@DrainManager.reconnectNClients(@io, 3)
+			
+			it "should reconnect the first 3 clients", ->
+				for i in [0..2]
+					@clients[i].emit.calledWith("reconnectGracefully").should.equal true
+			
+			it "should not reconnect any more clients", ->
+				for i in [3..9]
+					@clients[i].emit.calledWith("reconnectGracefully").should.equal false
+			
+			describe "after second pass", ->
+				beforeEach ->
+					@DrainManager.reconnectNClients(@io, 3)
+				
+				it "should reconnect the next 3 clients", ->
+					for i in [3..5]
+						@clients[i].emit.calledWith("reconnectGracefully").should.equal true
+				
+				it "should not reconnect any more clients", ->
+					for i in [6..9]
+						@clients[i].emit.calledWith("reconnectGracefully").should.equal false
+				
+				it "should not reconnect the first 3 clients again", ->
+					for i in [0..2]
+						@clients[i].emit.calledOnce.should.equal true
+				
+				describe "after final pass", ->
+					beforeEach ->
+						@DrainManager.reconnectNClients(@io, 100)
+				
+					it "should not reconnect the first 6 clients again", ->
+						for i in [0..5]
+							@clients[i].emit.calledOnce.should.equal true
+					
+					it "should log out that it reached the end", ->
+						@logger.log
+							.calledWith("All clients have been told to reconnectGracefully")
+							.should.equal true