diff --git a/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_manager.ex b/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_manager.ex
index a6b22890..f98ee25c 100644
--- a/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_manager.ex
+++ b/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_manager.ex
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.Manager do
 
   alias WandererApp.Map.Server
 
-  @maps_start_per_second 10
-  @maps_start_interval 1000
+  @maps_start_chunk_size 20
+  @maps_start_interval 500
   @maps_queue :maps_queue
   @check_maps_queue_interval :timer.seconds(1)
 
@@ -58,9 +58,9 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.Manager do
     {:ok, pings_cleanup_timer} =
       :timer.send_interval(@pings_cleanup_interval, :cleanup_pings)
 
-    safe_async_task(fn ->
-      start_last_active_maps()
-    end)
+    # safe_async_task(fn ->
+    #   start_last_active_maps()
+    # end)
 
     {:ok,
      %{
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.Manager do
       @maps_queue
       |> WandererApp.Queue.to_list!()
       |> Enum.uniq()
-      |> Enum.chunk_every(@maps_start_per_second)
+      |> Enum.chunk_every(@maps_start_chunk_size)
 
     WandererApp.Queue.clear(@maps_queue)
 
diff --git a/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool.ex b/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool.ex
index dc0c135a..07dfe880 100644
--- a/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool.ex
+++ b/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool.ex
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.MapPool do
   @cache :map_pool_cache
   @registry :map_pool_registry
   @unique_registry :unique_map_pool_registry
+  @map_pool_limit 20
 
   @garbage_collection_interval :timer.hours(4)
   @systems_cleanup_timeout :timer.minutes(30)
@@ -94,34 +95,33 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.MapPool do
   def handle_cast(:stop, state), do: {:stop, :normal, state}
 
   @impl true
-  def handle_cast({:start_map, map_id}, state) do
-    case do_start_map(map_id, state) do
-      {:ok, new_state} ->
-        {:noreply, new_state}
+  def handle_call({:start_map, map_id}, _from, %{map_ids: map_ids, uuid: uuid} = state) do
+    # Enforce capacity limit to prevent pool overload due to race conditions
+    if length(map_ids) >= @map_pool_limit do
+      Logger.warning(
+        "[Map Pool #{uuid}] Pool at capacity (#{length(map_ids)}/#{@map_pool_limit}), " <>
+          "rejecting map #{map_id} and triggering new pool creation"
+      )
 
-      {:error, _reason} ->
-        # Error already logged in do_start_map
-        {:noreply, state}
+      # Trigger a new pool creation attempt asynchronously
+      # This allows the system to create a new pool for this map
+      spawn(fn ->
+        WandererApp.Map.MapPoolDynamicSupervisor.start_map(map_id)
+      end)
+
+      {:reply, :ok, state}
+    else
+      case do_start_map(map_id, state) do
+        {:ok, new_state} ->
+          {:reply, :ok, new_state}
+
+        {:error, _reason} ->
+          # Error already logged in do_start_map
+          {:reply, :ok, state}
+      end
     end
   end
 
-  @impl true
-  def handle_cast(
-        {:stop_map, map_id},
-        %{map_ids: map_ids, uuid: uuid} = state
-      ) do
-    Registry.update_value(@unique_registry, Module.concat(__MODULE__, uuid), fn r_map_ids ->
-      r_map_ids |> Enum.reject(fn id -> id == map_id end)
-    end)
-
-    Cachex.del(@cache, map_id)
-
-    map_id
-    |> Server.Impl.stop_map()
-
-    {:noreply, %{state | map_ids: map_ids |> Enum.reject(fn id -> id == map_id end)}}
-  end
-
   @impl true
   def handle_call(
         {:stop_map, map_id},
diff --git a/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool_dynamic_supervisor.ex b/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool_dynamic_supervisor.ex
index 93deed26..232fb025 100644
--- a/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool_dynamic_supervisor.ex
+++ b/lib/wanderer_app/map/map_pool_dynamic_supervisor.ex
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.MapPoolDynamicSupervisor do
   @cache :map_pool_cache
   @registry :map_pool_registry
   @unique_registry :unique_map_pool_registry
-  @map_pool_limit 10
+  @map_pool_limit 20
 
   @name __MODULE__
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.MapPoolDynamicSupervisor do
             start_child([map_id], pools |> Enum.count())
 
           pid ->
-            GenServer.cast(pid, {:start_map, map_id})
+            GenServer.call(pid, {:start_map, map_id})
         end
     end
   end
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.MapPoolDynamicSupervisor do
             find_pool_by_scanning_registry(map_id)
 
           [{pool_pid, _}] ->
-            GenServer.cast(pool_pid, {:stop_map, map_id})
+            GenServer.call(pool_pid, {:stop_map, map_id})
         end
 
       {:error, reason} ->
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ defmodule WandererApp.Map.MapPoolDynamicSupervisor do
 
             # Update the cache to fix the inconsistency
             Cachex.put(@cache, map_id, pool_uuid)
-            GenServer.cast(pool_pid, {:stop_map, map_id})
+            GenServer.call(pool_pid, {:stop_map, map_id})
 
           nil ->
             Logger.debug("Map #{map_id} not found in any pool registry")