diff --git a/src/routes/health.ts b/src/routes/health.ts
index 92050f3..d962971 100644
--- a/src/routes/health.ts
+++ b/src/routes/health.ts
@@ -54,10 +54,14 @@ export function healthRoutes(): Hono {
       checks.db = false;
     }
     
-    // Check WebSocket subsystem — saturated WS means new clients can't connect
+    // Check WebSocket subsystem — saturated WS means new clients can't connect.
+    // Use liveConnections (the `ws` library's own live socket count) rather
+    // than totalConnections, which lags behind during the async auth/rate-limit
+    // chain and would under-report true saturation under connection bursts.
     try {
       const wsMetrics = getWebSocketMetrics();
-      const utilization = wsMetrics.totalConnections / wsMetrics.limits.maxGlobalConnections;
+      const liveConnections = wsMetrics.liveConnections ?? wsMetrics.totalConnections;
+      const utilization = liveConnections / wsMetrics.limits.maxGlobalConnections;
       checks.ws = utilization < 0.95; // degraded if >95% of connection slots used
     } catch {
       checks.ws = false;
diff --git a/src/routes/ws.ts b/src/routes/ws.ts
index b2ee32e..7cd81b7 100644
--- a/src/routes/ws.ts
+++ b/src/routes/ws.ts
@@ -201,6 +201,15 @@ const metrics: Metrics = {
   lastResetTime: Date.now(),
 };
 
+// metrics.totalConnections only reflects sockets that have finished the
+// async IP-blocklist/auth-ban/rate-limit chain in the "connection" handler
+// below — a burst of concurrent handshakes can sit open at the `ws` library
+// level for that entire await chain before metrics.totalConnections is ever
+// incremented. Holding the live wss instance lets callers (health checks)
+// read wss.clients.size, the library's own real-time count, instead of
+// trusting our slower-to-update bookkeeping.
+let liveWss: WebSocketServer | null = null;
+
 /**
  * Safely send a JSON-serializable payload to a WebSocket client.
  *
@@ -458,6 +467,11 @@ export function getWebSocketMetrics(): any {
 
   return {
     totalConnections: metrics.totalConnections,
+    // The live count from the `ws` library itself — includes sockets still
+    // mid-handshake in the async auth/rate-limit chain that totalConnections
+    // hasn't counted yet. Falls back to totalConnections if the WS server
+    // hasn't been set up yet (e.g. in tests that don't call setupWebSocket).
+    liveConnections: liveWss ? liveWss.clients.size : metrics.totalConnections,
     connectionsPerSlab: Object.fromEntries(metrics.connectionsPerSlab),
     messagesPerSec: parseFloat((metrics.messagesReceived / elapsedSec).toFixed(2)),
     bytesPerSec: parseInt((metrics.bytesSent / elapsedSec).toFixed(0), 10),
@@ -472,6 +486,7 @@ export function getWebSocketMetrics(): any {
 
 export function setupWebSocket(server: Server): WebSocketServer {
   const wss = new WebSocketServer({ server, maxPayload: 1024 });
+  liveWss = wss;
 
   // Idempotent re-entry: drop any listeners left over from a previous call
   // (tests, hot reload, restart) before re-registering. The eventBus is a
diff --git a/tests/routes/health.test.ts b/tests/routes/health.test.ts
index 6e08651..14ca7fe 100644
--- a/tests/routes/health.test.ts
+++ b/tests/routes/health.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,41 @@ describe("health routes", () => {
     vi.mocked(getSupabase).mockReturnValue(mockSupabase);
   });
 
+  describe("WS liveness check (BUG-110)", () => {
+    it("flags ws as degraded when liveConnections (not totalConnections) is near the cap", async () => {
+      mockConnection.getSlot.mockResolvedValue(100);
+      mockSupabase.select.mockResolvedValue({ count: 5, error: null });
+      // totalConnections (our slower bookkeeping) looks fine, but
+      // liveConnections (the real wss.clients.size) is saturated — the
+      // check must use the latter.
+      vi.mocked(getWebSocketMetrics).mockReturnValue({
+        totalConnections: 0,
+        liveConnections: 999,
+        limits: { maxGlobalConnections: 1000 },
+      });
+
+      const app = healthRoutes();
+      const res = await app.request("/health");
+      const data = await res.json();
+      expect(data.checks.ws).toBe(false);
+      expect(data.status).not.toBe("ok");
+    });
+
+    it("falls back to totalConnections when liveConnections is absent", async () => {
+      mockConnection.getSlot.mockResolvedValue(100);
+      mockSupabase.select.mockResolvedValue({ count: 5, error: null });
+      vi.mocked(getWebSocketMetrics).mockReturnValue({
+        totalConnections: 5,
+        limits: { maxGlobalConnections: 1000 },
+      });
+
+      const app = healthRoutes();
+      const res = await app.request("/health");
+      const data = await res.json();
+      expect(data.checks.ws).toBe(true);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("should return 200 with ok status when RPC and DB work", async () => {
     mockConnection.getSlot.mockResolvedValue(123456789);
     mockSupabase.select.mockResolvedValue({ count: 5, error: null });
diff --git a/tests/routes/ws-live-metrics.test.ts b/tests/routes/ws-live-metrics.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f592232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/routes/ws-live-metrics.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+/**
+ * WS live connection metrics (BUG-110).
+ *
+ * metrics.totalConnections is only incremented once a connection clears the
+ * async IP-blocklist/auth-ban/rate-limit chain in the "connection" handler —
+ * a socket that's open at the `ws` library level but still mid-handshake is
+ * invisible to it. getWebSocketMetrics().liveConnections should instead
+ * reflect wss.clients.size, the library's own real-time count, so health
+ * checks built on it don't under-report true connection-slot pressure.
+ *
+ * This test stalls a connection inside the isAuthBanned() await (by mocking
+ * the shared store to never resolve it) to deterministically reproduce the
+ * gap between the two counters.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach, vi } from "vitest";
+import http from "node:http";
+import WebSocket from "ws";
+
+let resolveAuthBanned: (() => void) | null = null;
+
+vi.mock("../../src/middleware/shared-store.js", () => ({
+  getSharedStore: () => ({
+    isAuthBanned: () =>
+      new Promise<boolean>((resolve) => {
+        resolveAuthBanned = () => resolve(false);
+      }),
+    recordAuthFailure: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ count: 0, bannedUntil: 0 }),
+    getConnectionCount: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(0),
+    incrementConnectionCount: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
+    decrementConnectionCount: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
+    evictExpiredAuthFailures: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
+  }),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@percolator/shared", () => ({
+  createLogger: vi.fn(() => ({
+    info: vi.fn(),
+    warn: vi.fn(),
+    error: vi.fn(),
+    debug: vi.fn(),
+  })),
+  eventBus: { on: vi.fn(), off: vi.fn() },
+  getSupabase: vi.fn(),
+  sanitizeSlabAddress: vi.fn((s: string) => s),
+  sendInfoAlert: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+function waitForOpen(ws: WebSocket): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    ws.once("open", resolve);
+    ws.once("error", reject);
+  });
+}
+
+function waitForClose(ws: WebSocket): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    if (ws.readyState === WebSocket.CLOSED) return resolve();
+    ws.once("close", () => resolve());
+  });
+}
+
+describe("WS live connection metrics (BUG-110)", () => {
+  let server: http.Server;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.resetModules();
+    resolveAuthBanned = null;
+    process.env.NODE_ENV = "test";
+    process.env.WS_AUTH_REQUIRED = "false";
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    delete process.env.WS_AUTH_REQUIRED;
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve) => server.close(() => resolve()));
+  });
+
+  it("reports liveConnections from the real wss instance while a connection is mid-handshake", async () => {
+    const { setupWebSocket, getWebSocketMetrics } = await import(
+      "../../src/routes/ws.js"
+    );
+
+    server = http.createServer();
+    setupWebSocket(server as unknown as import("node:http").Server);
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve) => server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", resolve));
+    const { port } = server.address() as { port: number };
+
+    const ws = new WebSocket(`ws://127.0.0.1:${port}/`);
+    try {
+      await waitForOpen(ws);
+
+      // The socket is open at the ws-library level, but the server-side
+      // handler is stuck awaiting isAuthBanned() — it never reached
+      // clients.add().
+      const metrics = getWebSocketMetrics();
+      expect(metrics.totalConnections).toBe(0);
+      expect(metrics.liveConnections).toBe(1);
+    } finally {
+      // Unblock the stalled handler (even on assertion failure) so the
+      // connection can close and server.close() in afterEach doesn't hang.
+      resolveAuthBanned?.();
+      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 20));
+      ws.close();
+      await waitForClose(ws);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to totalConnections when no connection is mid-handshake", async () => {
+    const { setupWebSocket, getWebSocketMetrics } = await import(
+      "../../src/routes/ws.js"
+    );
+
+    server = http.createServer();
+    setupWebSocket(server as unknown as import("node:http").Server);
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve) => server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", resolve));
+
+    const metrics = getWebSocketMetrics();
+    expect(metrics.totalConnections).toBe(0);
+    expect(metrics.liveConnections).toBe(0);
+  });
+});