diff --git a/src/console_commands.cpp b/src/console_commands.cpp
index 7625016..38a47f8 100644
--- a/src/console_commands.cpp
+++ b/src/console_commands.cpp
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ typedef struct cmd {
 	cmdfunc *func;
 } cmd;
 
-static cmdfunc do_help, do_status, do_loglevel, do_addpeers, do_droppeers, do_showpeers, do_exit;
+static cmdfunc do_help, do_status, do_loglevel, do_addpeers, do_droppeers, do_showpeers, do_outpeers, do_inpeers, do_exit;
 
 static cmd cmds[] = {
 	{ STRCONST("help"), "", "display list of commands", do_help },
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ static cmd cmds[] = {
 	{ STRCONST("addpeers"), "<peeraddr>", "add peer", do_addpeers },
 	{ STRCONST("droppeers"), "", "disconnect all peers", do_droppeers },
 	{ STRCONST("peers"), "", "show all peers", do_showpeers },
+	{ STRCONST("outpeers"), "", "set maximum number of outgoing connections", do_outpeers },
+	{ STRCONST("inpeers"), "", "set maximum number of incoming connections", do_inpeers },
 	{ STRCONST("exit"), "", "terminate p2pool", do_exit },
 	{ STRCNULL, NULL, NULL, NULL }
 };
@@ -138,6 +140,24 @@ static int do_showpeers(p2pool* m_pool, const char* /* args */)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int do_outpeers(p2pool* m_pool, const char* args)
+{
+	if (m_pool->p2p_server()) {
+		m_pool->p2p_server()->set_max_outgoing_peers(strtoul(args, nullptr, 10));
+		LOGINFO(0, "max outgoing peers set to " << m_pool->p2p_server()->max_outgoing_peers());
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int do_inpeers(p2pool* m_pool, const char* args)
+{
+	if (m_pool->p2p_server()) {
+		m_pool->p2p_server()->set_max_incoming_peers(strtoul(args, nullptr, 10));
+		LOGINFO(0, "max incoming peers set to " << m_pool->p2p_server()->max_incoming_peers());
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int do_exit(p2pool *m_pool, const char * /* args */)
 {
 	bkg_jobs_tracker.wait();
diff --git a/src/p2p_server.cpp b/src/p2p_server.cpp
index 10455bc..8472f3a 100644
--- a/src/p2p_server.cpp
+++ b/src/p2p_server.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ P2PServer::P2PServer(p2pool* pool)
 	, m_peerId(m_rng())
 	, m_peerListLastSaved(0)
 {
+	set_max_outgoing_peers(pool->params().m_maxOutgoingPeers);
+	set_max_incoming_peers(pool->params().m_maxIncomingPeers);
+
 	uv_mutex_init_checked(&m_rngLock);
 	uv_mutex_init_checked(&m_blockLock);
 	uv_mutex_init_checked(&m_peerListLock);
@@ -227,7 +230,7 @@ void P2PServer::update_peer_connections()
 	}
 
 	// Try to have at least N outgoing connections (N defaults to 10, can be set via --out-peers command line parameter)
-	for (uint32_t i = m_numConnections - m_numIncomingConnections, n = m_pool->params().m_maxOutgoingPeers; (i < n) && !peer_list.empty();) {
+	for (uint32_t i = m_numConnections - m_numIncomingConnections; (i < m_maxOutgoingPeers) && !peer_list.empty();) {
 		const uint64_t k = get_random64() % peer_list.size();
 		const Peer& peer = peer_list[k];
 
@@ -903,11 +906,11 @@ bool P2PServer::P2PClient::on_connect()
 {
 	P2PServer* server = static_cast<P2PServer*>(m_owner);
 
-	if (!server || !server->m_pool) {
+	if (!server) {
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	if (m_isIncoming && (server->m_numIncomingConnections > server->m_pool->params().m_maxIncomingPeers)) {
+	if (m_isIncoming && (server->m_numIncomingConnections > server->m_maxIncomingPeers)) {
 		LOGINFO(5, "Connection from " << log::Gray() << static_cast<char*>(m_addrString) << log::NoColor() << " rejected (incoming connections limit was reached)");
 		return false;
 	}
diff --git a/src/p2p_server.h b/src/p2p_server.h
index e458136..a3ea5bd 100644
--- a/src/p2p_server.h
+++ b/src/p2p_server.h
@@ -130,11 +130,19 @@ public:
 	void show_peers();
 	size_t peer_list_size() const { return m_peerList.size(); }
 
+	uint32_t max_outgoing_peers() const { return m_maxOutgoingPeers; }
+	uint32_t max_incoming_peers() const { return m_maxIncomingPeers; }
+
+	void set_max_outgoing_peers(uint32_t n) { m_maxOutgoingPeers = std::min(std::max(n, 10U), 1000U); }
+	void set_max_incoming_peers(uint32_t n) { m_maxIncomingPeers = std::min(std::max(n, 10U), 1000U); }
+
 private:
 	p2pool* m_pool;
 	BlockCache* m_cache;
 	bool m_cacheLoaded;
 	std::string m_initialPeerList;
+	uint32_t m_maxOutgoingPeers;
+	uint32_t m_maxIncomingPeers;
 
 	uv_rwlock_t m_cachedBlocksLock;
 	unordered_map<hash, PoolBlock*> m_cachedBlocks;