diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a678ca4..b5b7e84 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ Tune the network parameters to fit your system resources. The defaults are safe
 |----------|---------|-------------|
 | `MAX_PEERS` | `50000` | Maximum number of peers to track in memory. |
 | `MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE` | `2048` | Maximum size of a single message in bytes. |
-| `MAX_RELAY_HOPS` | `2` | Maximum number of times a message is relayed. |
+| `MAX_RELAY_HOPS` | `5` | Maximum number of times a message is relayed. |
 | `MAX_CONNECTIONS` | `15` | Maximum number of active P2P connections. |
 | `HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL` | `30000` | How often (ms) to send heartbeat messages. |
 | `CONNECTION_ROTATION_INTERVAL` | `300000` | How often (ms) to rotate connections. |
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index ac6e4ef..388befd 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,6 @@ services:
       # - CONNECTION_ROTATION_INTERVAL=300000 # Connection rotation frequency (ms)
       # - PEER_TIMEOUT=45000       # Time before peer is considered offline (ms)
       # - MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE=2048    # Max message size (bytes)
-      # - MAX_RELAY_HOPS=2         # Max message relay hops
+      # - MAX_RELAY_HOPS=5         # Max message relay hops
       # - CHAT_RATE_LIMIT=5000     # Chat rate limit window (ms)
       # - VISUAL_LIMIT=500         # Max particles on dashboard
diff --git a/src/config/constants.js b/src/config/constants.js
index b4c3acb..bf243c1 100644
--- a/src/config/constants.js
+++ b/src/config/constants.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ const VERIFICATION_POW_PREFIX = "0000";
 
 const MAX_PEERS = parseInt(process.env.MAX_PEERS) || 50000;
 const MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE = parseInt(process.env.MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE) || 2048;
-const MAX_RELAY_HOPS = parseInt(process.env.MAX_RELAY_HOPS) || 2;
+const MAX_RELAY_HOPS = parseInt(process.env.MAX_RELAY_HOPS) || 5;
 const MAX_CONNECTIONS = parseInt(process.env.MAX_CONNECTIONS) || 15;
 
 const HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL = parseInt(process.env.HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL) || 30000;
diff --git a/src/p2p/relay.js b/src/p2p/relay.js
index 70f708f..b0c0c2d 100644
--- a/src/p2p/relay.js
+++ b/src/p2p/relay.js
@@ -2,13 +2,15 @@ const relayMessage = (msg, sourceSocket, swarm, diagnostics) => {
   const data = JSON.stringify(msg) + "\n";
 
   // Gossip Subsampling:
-  // Instead of flooding everyone (which causes massive bandwidth usage with 50 connections),
-  // we relay to a random subset of peers (e.g., 6).
-  // This maintains "Epidemic" reach (O(log N)) while capping bandwidth.
-
-  const TARGET_GOSSIP_COUNT = 6;
+  // We relay to a subset of peers to prevent flooding, but scale with connection count.
+  // We use a minimum of 6 or 25% of eligible peers, whichever is larger.
+  
   const allSockets = Array.from(swarm.connections);
   const eligible = allSockets.filter((s) => s !== sourceSocket);
+  
+  const MIN_GOSSIP_COUNT = 6;
+  const GOSSIP_FACTOR = 0.25; // Relay to 25% of peers
+  const TARGET_GOSSIP_COUNT = Math.max(MIN_GOSSIP_COUNT, Math.ceil(eligible.length * GOSSIP_FACTOR));
 
   let targets = eligible;