diff --git a/server/db/pg/schema.ts b/server/db/pg/schema.ts
index 1b8542d1..93090d42 100644
--- a/server/db/pg/schema.ts
+++ b/server/db/pg/schema.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ export const exitNodes = pgTable("exitNodes", {
     endpoint: varchar("endpoint").notNull(),
     publicKey: varchar("publicKey").notNull(),
     listenPort: integer("listenPort").notNull(),
-    reachableAt: varchar("reachableAt")
+    reachableAt: varchar("reachableAt"),
+    maxConnections: integer("maxConnections")
 });
 
 export const users = pgTable("user", {
diff --git a/server/db/sqlite/schema.ts b/server/db/sqlite/schema.ts
index 3398cc6d..0198afd8 100644
--- a/server/db/sqlite/schema.ts
+++ b/server/db/sqlite/schema.ts
@@ -117,7 +117,8 @@ export const exitNodes = sqliteTable("exitNodes", {
     endpoint: text("endpoint").notNull(), // this is how to reach gerbil externally - gets put into the wireguard config
     publicKey: text("publicKey").notNull(),
     listenPort: integer("listenPort").notNull(),
-    reachableAt: text("reachableAt") // this is the internal address of the gerbil http server for command control
+    reachableAt: text("reachableAt"), // this is the internal address of the gerbil http server for command control
+    maxConnections: integer("maxConnections")
 });
 
 export const users = sqliteTable("user", {
diff --git a/server/lib/readConfigFile.ts b/server/lib/readConfigFile.ts
index 5d8500b4..b9f90d46 100644
--- a/server/lib/readConfigFile.ts
+++ b/server/lib/readConfigFile.ts
@@ -162,7 +162,6 @@ export const configSchema = z
         gerbil: z
             .object({
                 exit_node_name: z.string().optional(),
-                max_connections: z.number().positive().gt(0).optional(),
                 start_port: portSchema
                     .optional()
                     .default(51820)
diff --git a/server/routers/newt/handleNewtPingRequestMessage.ts b/server/routers/newt/handleNewtPingRequestMessage.ts
index 946152a8..e0cdb83d 100644
--- a/server/routers/newt/handleNewtPingRequestMessage.ts
+++ b/server/routers/newt/handleNewtPingRequestMessage.ts
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ export const handleNewtPingRequestMessage: MessageHandler = async (context) => {
             // higher = more desirable
 
             let weight = 1;
-            const maxConnections = config.getRawConfig().gerbil.max_connections;
-            if (maxConnections !== undefined) {
+            const maxConnections = node.maxConnections;
+            if (maxConnections !== null && maxConnections !== undefined) {
                 const [currentConnections] = await db
                     .select({
                         count: count()