diff --git a/ChangeLog.txt b/ChangeLog.txt
index 6c7741633..1c036e81c 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.txt
+++ b/ChangeLog.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 Version 0.18-SNAPSHOT:
+   [feature] Server keep alive: added configuration setting so that the broker can specify a keep alive other then the one selected by clients. (#789)
    [feature] User properties: covered publish with user properties with tests and fixed publish of will messages. (#877)
    [feature] Topic alias: implemented handling of topic alias received by publishers. (#873)
    [feature] Flow-control: Handled client's receive maximum property to configure the inflight window through the client. (#858)
diff --git a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/BrokerConfiguration.java b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/BrokerConfiguration.java
index 421ad5fbc..dfbc14363 100644
--- a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/BrokerConfiguration.java
+++ b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/BrokerConfiguration.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig;
 
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 class BrokerConfiguration {
 
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ class BrokerConfiguration {
     private final int topicAliasMaximum;
     // integer max value means that the property is unset
     private int receiveMaximum;
+    private Optional<Integer> serverKeepAlive = Optional.empty();
 
     BrokerConfiguration(IConfig props) {
         allowAnonymous = props.boolProp(BrokerConstants.ALLOW_ANONYMOUS_PROPERTY_NAME, true);
@@ -70,6 +72,10 @@ class BrokerConfiguration {
         receiveMaximum = props.intProp(IConfig.RECEIVE_MAXIMUM, BrokerConstants.RECEIVE_MAXIMUM);
 
         topicAliasMaximum = props.intProp(IConfig.TOPIC_ALIAS_MAXIMUM_PROPERTY_NAME, BrokerConstants.DISABLED_TOPIC_ALIAS);
+
+        if (props.getProperty(IConfig.SERVER_KEEP_ALIVE_PROPERTY_NAME) != null) {
+            serverKeepAlive = Optional.of((int) props.durationProp(IConfig.SERVER_KEEP_ALIVE_PROPERTY_NAME).toMillis() / 1_000);
+        }
     }
 
     // test method
@@ -133,4 +139,8 @@ public int receiveMaximum() {
     public int topicAliasMaximum() {
         return topicAliasMaximum;
     }
+
+    public Optional<Integer> getServerKeepAlive() {
+        return serverKeepAlive;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/MQTTConnection.java b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/MQTTConnection.java
index 74085c400..a7930c860 100644
--- a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/MQTTConnection.java
+++ b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/MQTTConnection.java
@@ -358,6 +358,10 @@ private void executeConnect(MqttConnectMessage msg, String clientId, boolean ser
                 connAckPropertiesBuilder.topicAliasMaximum(topicAliasMaximum);
             }
 
+            if (brokerConfig.getServerKeepAlive().isPresent()) {
+                connAckPropertiesBuilder.serverKeepAlive(brokerConfig.getServerKeepAlive().get());
+            }
+
             final MqttProperties ackProperties = connAckPropertiesBuilder.build();
             connAckBuilder.properties(ackProperties);
         }
@@ -464,6 +468,13 @@ private void setupInflightResender(Channel channel) {
 
     private void initializeKeepAliveTimeout(Channel channel, MqttConnectMessage msg, String clientId) {
         int keepAlive = msg.variableHeader().keepAliveTimeSeconds();
+
+        // force server keep alive if configured
+        if (brokerConfig.getServerKeepAlive().isPresent()) {
+            int serverKeepAlive = brokerConfig.getServerKeepAlive().get();
+            LOG.info("Forcing server keep alive ({}) over client selection ({})", serverKeepAlive, keepAlive);
+            keepAlive = serverKeepAlive;
+        }
         NettyUtils.keepAlive(channel, keepAlive);
         NettyUtils.cleanSession(channel, msg.variableHeader().isCleanSession());
         NettyUtils.clientID(channel, clientId);
diff --git a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/FluentConfig.java b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/FluentConfig.java
index 93d219fb1..46f296e9c 100644
--- a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/FluentConfig.java
+++ b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/FluentConfig.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
 import static io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig.PERSISTENT_QUEUE_TYPE_PROPERTY_NAME;
 import static io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig.PORT_PROPERTY_NAME;
 import static io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig.RECEIVE_MAXIMUM;
+import static io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig.SERVER_KEEP_ALIVE_PROPERTY_NAME;
 import static io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig.SESSION_QUEUE_SIZE;
 import static io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig.SSL_PORT_PROPERTY_NAME;
 import static io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig.SSL_PROVIDER;
@@ -215,6 +217,12 @@ public FluentConfig topicAliasMaximum(int topicAliasMaximum) {
         return this;
     }
 
+    public FluentConfig serverKeepAlive(Duration keepAliveSeconds) {
+        int seconds = (int) keepAliveSeconds.toMillis() / 1_000;
+        configAccumulator.put(SERVER_KEEP_ALIVE_PROPERTY_NAME, seconds + "s");
+        return this;
+    }
+
     public class TLSConfig {
 
         private SSLProvider providerType;
diff --git a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/IConfig.java b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/IConfig.java
index ca2ef181d..f73fdad32 100644
--- a/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/IConfig.java
+++ b/broker/src/main/java/io/moquette/broker/config/IConfig.java
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ public abstract class IConfig {
     public static final String MAX_SERVER_GRANTED_QOS_PROPERTY_NAME = "max_server_granted_qos";
     public static final int DEFAULT_NETTY_MAX_BYTES_IN_MESSAGE = 8092;
     public static final String TOPIC_ALIAS_MAXIMUM_PROPERTY_NAME = "topic_alias_maximum";
+    public static final String SERVER_KEEP_ALIVE_PROPERTY_NAME = "server_keep_alive";
 
     public abstract void setProperty(String name, String value);
 
diff --git a/broker/src/test/java/io/moquette/integration/mqtt5/ConnectTest.java b/broker/src/test/java/io/moquette/integration/mqtt5/ConnectTest.java
index a977e7693..906a83970 100644
--- a/broker/src/test/java/io/moquette/integration/mqtt5/ConnectTest.java
+++ b/broker/src/test/java/io/moquette/integration/mqtt5/ConnectTest.java
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 import com.hivemq.client.mqtt.mqtt5.message.publish.Mqtt5Publish;
 import com.hivemq.client.mqtt.mqtt5.message.publish.Mqtt5PublishResult;
 import com.hivemq.client.mqtt.mqtt5.message.publish.Mqtt5WillPublishBuilder;
+import io.moquette.broker.config.FluentConfig;
+import io.moquette.broker.config.IConfig;
 import io.moquette.testclient.Client;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.mqtt.*;
 import org.awaitility.Awaitility;
@@ -70,6 +72,35 @@ public void simpleConnect() {
         client.disconnect();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void givenServerKeepAliveConfiguredThenConnectAckMustRespectIt() throws IOException {
+        stopServer();
+        IConfig config = new FluentConfig()
+            .dataPath(dbPath)
+            .enablePersistence()
+            .port(1883)
+            .disableTelemetry()
+            .persistentQueueType(FluentConfig.PersistentQueueType.SEGMENTED)
+            .serverKeepAlive(Duration.ofSeconds(12))
+            .build();
+        startServer(config);
+
+        Mqtt5BlockingClient client = MqttClient.builder()
+            .useMqttVersion5()
+            .identifier("simple_connect_test")
+            .serverHost("localhost")
+            .serverPort(1883)
+            .buildBlocking();
+        final Mqtt5ConnAck connectAck = client.connect();
+        assertEquals(Mqtt5ConnAckReasonCode.SUCCESS, connectAck.getReasonCode(), "Accept plain connection");
+        assertTrue(connectAck.getServerKeepAlive().isPresent());
+        connectAck.getServerKeepAlive().ifPresent(serverKeepAlive -> {
+            assertEquals(12 ,serverKeepAlive);
+        });
+
+        client.disconnect();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void sendConnectOnDisconnectedConnection() throws InterruptedException {
         MqttConnAckMessage connAck = lowLevelClient.connectV5();
diff --git a/distribution/src/main/resources/moquette.conf b/distribution/src/main/resources/moquette.conf
index b863cced4..b13faad63 100644
--- a/distribution/src/main/resources/moquette.conf
+++ b/distribution/src/main/resources/moquette.conf
@@ -234,3 +234,12 @@ password_file config/password_file.conf
 # default: 0 (disabled)
 #*********************************************************************
 # topic_alias_maximum 16
+
+#*********************************************************************
+# Keep alive provided by server, only for MQTT5.
+#
+# server_keep_alive:
+#       Option used to configure a server preferred keep alive that the client must respect.
+# default: empty (disabled)
+#*********************************************************************
+# server_keep_alive 2s