Scaling Laravel Reverb WebSockets in Production | Mohamed Said [Skip to content](#main) [ ![](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MH.png) Mohamed SaidLaravel Backend Engineer ](https://msaied.com/public) - [Home](https://msaied.com/public) - [Projects](https://msaied.com/public/projects) - [Articles](https://msaied.com/public/articles) - [Certificates](https://msaied.com/public/certificates) - [About](https://msaied.com/public#about) [ Contact](https://msaied.com/public#contact) Menu Menu ---- Close - [HomeStart here](https://msaied.com/public) - [ProjectsCase studies](https://msaied.com/public/projects) - [ArticlesEngineering notes](https://msaied.com/public/articles) - [CertificatesCredentials](https://msaied.com/public/certificates) - [AboutHow I work](https://msaied.com/public#about) - [ContactGet in touch](https://msaied.com/public#contact) [Start a conversation](https://msaied.com/public#contact) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/201094619204) [Email](mailto:hello@msaied.com) 1. [Home](https://msaied.com/public) 2. / 3. [Articles](https://msaied.com/public/articles) 4. / 5. Laravel WebSocket Broadcasting with Reverb: Scaling Beyond a Single Worker Laravel WebSocket Broadcasting with Reverb: Scaling Beyond a Single Worker =========================================================================== Reverb ships with a single-process model by default. Learn how to scale it horizontally with Redis pub/sub, tune connection limits, and keep broadcast delivery reliable under real production load. ![](https://cdn.msaied.com/01M22N44A70A5MC2S599JP0MPH.webp) [Mohamed Said](https://msaied.com/public#person) Published 1 Jul 2026 · Updated 1 Jul 2026 · 3 min read ShareCopy linkCopied ![Laravel WebSocket Broadcasting with Reverb: Scaling Beyond a Single Worker](https://cdn.msaied.com/335/b2461babce9e90ae5fe8dc789cd7046c.png) On this page +1. [The Single-Worker Problem](#the-single-worker-problem) 2. [Enabling Redis Pub/Sub in Reverb](#enabling-redis-pubsub-in-reverb) 3. [Running Multiple Reverb Workers](#running-multiple-reverb-workers) 4. [Nginx WebSocket Proxy](#nginx-websocket-proxy) 5. [Tuning Connection Limits](#tuning-connection-limits) 6. [Keeping Broadcasts Reliable](#keeping-broadcasts-reliable) 7. [Health Checks](#health-checks) 8. [Takeaways](#takeaways) The Single-Worker Problem ------------------------- Laravel Reverb is a first-party WebSocket server written in PHP using ReactPHP. Out of the box it runs as a single process, which is fine for development and low-traffic apps. The moment you deploy multiple application servers — or your connection count climbs past a few thousand — you hit a wall: clients connected to server A never receive events published from server B. The fix is a shared pub/sub backend. Reverb supports Redis as a message bus so every worker node subscribes to the same channel stream. Enabling Redis Pub/Sub in Reverb -------------------------------- In `config/reverb.php`, switch the `scaling` driver: ```php 'servers' => [ 'reverb' => [ // ... 'scaling' => [ 'enabled' => true, 'driver' => 'redis', 'connection' => 'default', // your redis connection name ], ], ], ``` Reverb uses a dedicated Redis Pub/Sub connection (not the cache or queue connection) so it never blocks your job workers. Make sure the `redis` extension or `predis/predis` is available and that your Redis instance allows enough concurrent clients. Running Multiple Reverb Workers ------------------------------- Each node starts its own Reverb process. Supervisor is the standard approach: ```ini [program:reverb-worker] command=php /var/www/artisan reverb:start --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8080 autostart=true autorestart=true stopwaitsecs=10 numprocs=1 stdout_logfile=/var/log/reverb.log ``` Behind a load balancer, every node listens on the same port. The load balancer must support **sticky sessions** (IP hash or cookie-based) for the WebSocket upgrade handshake, but once the connection is established the Redis layer handles cross-node delivery transparently. ### Nginx WebSocket Proxy ```nginx upstream reverb { ip_hash; # sticky sessions for WS upgrade server 10.0.0.1:8080; server 10.0.0.2:8080; } server { listen 443 ssl; server_name ws.example.com; location / { proxy_pass http://reverb; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade"; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_read_timeout 3600s; } } ``` Tuning Connection Limits ------------------------ ReactPHP uses a non-blocking event loop, so a single Reverb process can hold thousands of open file descriptors. The OS default `ulimit -n` is often 1024 — far too low. Set it in Supervisor: ```ini [program:reverb-worker] ; ... minfds=65536 ``` Or in your systemd unit: ```ini [Service] LimitNOFILE=65536 ``` Also raise `max_connections` in `config/reverb.php`: ```php 'options' => [ 'tls' => [], 'max_request_size' => 10_000, ], ``` Reverb itself does not hard-cap connections by default, but you can add application-level guards via the `Reverb\Contracts\ServerFactory` if you need per-channel or per-app limits. Keeping Broadcasts Reliable --------------------------- Broadcasting from a queued job is the safest pattern. Never broadcast synchronously inside a request when you expect high throughput: ```php broadcast(new OrderShipped($order))->via('reverb'); // or inside a queued job: public function handle(): void { broadcast(new OrderShipped($this->order)); } ``` If the Reverb server is temporarily unreachable, the queued job will retry according to your queue configuration rather than silently dropping the event. ### Health Checks Reverb exposes a simple HTTP health endpoint when started with `--debug` or via a custom route. Wire it into your load balancer's health check so unhealthy nodes are removed automatically: ```bash curl -f http://10.0.0.1:8080/apps/{app_id}/health ``` Takeaways --------- - Enable the `redis` scaling driver in `config/reverb.php` to share state across nodes. - Use IP-hash sticky sessions at the load balancer only for the WebSocket upgrade; post-handshake routing is handled by Redis. - Raise `ulimit -n` (via Supervisor `minfds` or systemd `LimitNOFILE`) to at least 65 536 per node. - Always broadcast from queued jobs so delivery survives transient Reverb restarts. - Monitor the Redis pub/sub channel count alongside your application metrics — runaway subscriptions are a common memory leak vector. - [laravel](https://msaied.com/public/articles?search=laravel) - [reverb](https://msaied.com/public/articles?search=reverb) - [websockets](https://msaied.com/public/articles?search=websockets) - [broadcasting](https://msaied.com/public/articles?search=broadcasting) - [redis](https://msaied.com/public/articles?search=redis) Frequently asked questions --------------------------- Do I need sticky sessions on my load balancer when running multiple Reverb nodes?Yes, but only for the initial WebSocket upgrade handshake. Once the connection is established, the Redis pub/sub layer ensures events published on any node are delivered to all connected clients regardless of which node they are on. Can Reverb replace Pusher entirely in a high-traffic production app?Yes. With Redis scaling enabled, proper ulimit tuning, and broadcasts dispatched through queued jobs, Reverb handles the same workload as a managed Pusher cluster while keeping all traffic within your own infrastructure. What happens to in-flight WebSocket connections when I restart a Reverb worker?Clients are disconnected and must reconnect. Laravel Echo retries automatically with exponential back-off. Use Supervisor's stopwaitsecs to allow the process to drain gracefully, and deploy rolling restarts across nodes to minimise the visible impact. ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01M22N44A70A5MC2S599JP0MPH.webp)About the author ---------------- [Mohamed Said](https://msaied.com/public#person)Senior Backend Engineer specializing in Laravel, scalable SaaS platforms, APIs, and cloud infrastructure. I build secure, high-performance web applications that help businesses grow. [About](https://msaied.com/public#about) [GitHub ↗](https://github.com/EG-Mohamed) [LinkedIn ↗](https://www.linkedin.com/in/msaiedm/) [WhatsApp ↗](https://wa.me/201094619204) [Email Address ↗](mailto:hello@msaied.com) [My CV ↗](https://drive.google.com/file/u/0/d/1MF20IPRJyzfy32mhEutjL5EpSls0w2Q8/view) [Previous articleProfiling Laravel with Blackfire and Xdebug: Finding Real Bottlenecks](https://msaied.com/public/articles/profiling-laravel-with-blackfire-and-xdebug-finding-real-bottlenecks) [Next articleLaravel API Resources: Sparse Fieldsets, Conditional Relationships, and Versioning](https://msaied.com/public/articles/laravel-api-resources-sparse-fieldsets-conditional-relationships-and-versioning) On this page ------------- 1. [The Single-Worker Problem](#the-single-worker-problem) 2. [Enabling Redis Pub/Sub in Reverb](#enabling-redis-pubsub-in-reverb) 3. [Running Multiple Reverb Workers](#running-multiple-reverb-workers) 4. [Nginx WebSocket Proxy](#nginx-websocket-proxy) 5. [Tuning Connection Limits](#tuning-connection-limits) 6. [Keeping Broadcasts Reliable](#keeping-broadcasts-reliable) 7. [Health Checks](#health-checks) 8. [Takeaways](#takeaways) ### Have a technical challenge? Tell me what you’re building. I reply within two working days. [Start a conversation](https://msaied.com/public#contact) Related articles ----------------- [ ![](https://cdn.msaied.com/745/8744e1be5136b430da52e9fca3ed3964.png) · 3 min read### Service Container Deep Dive: Contextual Binding, Tagging, and Method Injection 6 Oct 2026 ](https://msaied.com/public/articles/service-container-deep-dive-contextual-binding-tagging-and-method-injection-1) [ ![](https://cdn.msaied.com/743/8998fac3a41451ab3fe1588194e17a43.png) Filament · 3 min read### Securing Filament Plugins with Plumb: Automated Security Scoring for PHP Packages 5 Oct 2026 ](https://msaied.com/public/articles/securing-filament-plugins-with-plumb-automated-security-scoring-for-php-packages) [ ![](https://cdn.msaied.com/742/2d02018669cdeedccb5de2efb898f0ee.png) Filament · 3 min read### Filament v3.3.56 Released: File Hash Names and Livewire Upload Fix 5 Oct 2026 ](https://msaied.com/public/articles/filament-v3356-released-file-hash-names-and-livewire-upload-fix) Have a technical challenge? ---------------------------- Tell me what you’re building. I reply within two working days. [Discuss your project ↗](https://msaied.com/public#contact) © 2026 Mohamed Said · Built with Laravel, meant to last.Senior Backend Engineer specializing in Laravel, scalable SaaS platforms, APIs, and cloud infrastructure. I build secure, high-performance web applications that help businesses grow. - [Home](https://msaied.com/public) - [Articles](https://msaied.com/public/articles) - [Certificates](https://msaied.com/public/certificates) - [GitHub](https://github.com/EG-Mohamed) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/msaiedm/) - [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/201094619204) - [Email Address](mailto:hello@msaied.com) - [My CV](https://drive.google.com/file/u/0/d/1MF20IPRJyzfy32mhEutjL5EpSls0w2Q8/view) - [Sitemap](https://msaied.com/public/sitemap.xml)