diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 70baf7a5..e377bfbc 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 All changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
+## [8.0.6] - 2020-01-31
+
+(snake) add an option to disable answering pongs as response to pings, to test cobra client behavior with hanged connections 
+
 ## [8.0.5] - 2020-01-31
 
 (IXCobraConnection) set a ping timeout of 90 seconds. If no pong messages are received as responses to ping for a while, give up and close the connection
diff --git a/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXAppConfig.h b/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXAppConfig.h
index ca61446c..d1581ef1 100644
--- a/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXAppConfig.h
+++ b/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXAppConfig.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ namespace snake
 
         // Misc
         bool verbose;
+        bool disablePong;
     };
 
     bool isAppKeyValid(const AppConfig& appConfig, std::string appkey);
diff --git a/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXSnakeServer.cpp b/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXSnakeServer.cpp
index a9c77549..0394b302 100644
--- a/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXSnakeServer.cpp
+++ b/ixsnake/ixsnake/IXSnakeServer.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@ namespace snake
         , _server(appConfig.port, appConfig.hostname)
     {
         _server.setTLSOptions(appConfig.socketTLSOptions);
+
+        if (appConfig.disablePong)
+        {
+            _server.disablePong();
+        }
+
+        std::stringstream ss;
+        ss << "Listening on " << appConfig.hostname << ":" << appConfig.port;
+        ix::IXCoreLogger::Log(ss.str().c_str());
     }
 
     //
diff --git a/ws/ws.cpp b/ws/ws.cpp
index 311ffe99..ae58b2d0 100644
--- a/ws/ws.cpp
+++ b/ws/ws.cpp
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     bool redirect = false;
     bool version = false;
     bool verifyNone = false;
+    bool disablePong = false;
     int port = 8008;
     int redisPort = 6379;
     int statsdPort = 8125;
@@ -309,6 +310,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     snakeApp->add_option("--apps_config_path", appsConfigPath, "Path to auth data")
         ->check(CLI::ExistingPath);
     snakeApp->add_flag("-v", verbose, "Verbose");
+    snakeApp->add_flag("-d", disablePong, "Disable Pongs");
     addTLSOptions(snakeApp);
 
     CLI::App* httpServerApp = app.add_subcommand("httpd", "HTTP server");
@@ -492,7 +494,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
                                 redisPassword,
                                 verbose,
                                 appsConfigPath,
-                                tlsOptions);
+                                tlsOptions,
+                                disablePong);
     }
     else if (app.got_subcommand("httpd"))
     {
diff --git a/ws/ws.h b/ws/ws.h
index 70220322..7fc2501d 100644
--- a/ws/ws.h
+++ b/ws/ws.h
@@ -142,7 +142,8 @@ namespace ix
                       const std::string& redisPassword,
                       bool verbose,
                       const std::string& appsConfigPath,
-                      const ix::SocketTLSOptions& tlsOptions);
+                      const ix::SocketTLSOptions& tlsOptions,
+                      bool disablePong);
 
     int ws_httpd_main(int port,
                       const std::string& hostname,
diff --git a/ws/ws_snake.cpp b/ws/ws_snake.cpp
index f00501e1..6b3e31bf 100644
--- a/ws/ws_snake.cpp
+++ b/ws/ws_snake.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ namespace ix
                       const std::string& redisPassword,
                       bool verbose,
                       const std::string& appsConfigPath,
-                      const SocketTLSOptions& socketTLSOptions)
+                      const SocketTLSOptions& socketTLSOptions,
+                      bool disablePong)
     {
         snake::AppConfig appConfig;
         appConfig.port = port;
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ namespace ix
         appConfig.redisPort = redisPort;
         appConfig.redisPassword = redisPassword;
         appConfig.socketTLSOptions = socketTLSOptions;
+        appConfig.disablePong = disablePong;
 
         // Parse config file
         auto str = readAsString(appsConfigPath);