diff --git a/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyClientProperties.java b/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyClientProperties.java
index 3ee79d7..17e55a9 100644
--- a/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyClientProperties.java
+++ b/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyClientProperties.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2020, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  *
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
  * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -29,12 +29,20 @@
     /**
      * <p>
      *    This property determines the maximum number of idle connections that will be simultaneously kept alive
-     *    in total, rather than per destination. The default is 60.
+     *    in total, rather than per destination. The default is 60. Specify 0 to disable.
      * </p>
      */
     public static final String MAX_CONNECTIONS_TOTAL = "jersey.config.client.maxTotalConnections";
 
     /**
+     * <p>
+     *    This property determines the number of seconds the idle connections are kept in the pool before pruned.
+     *    The default is 60. Specify 0 to disable.
+     *  </p>
+     */
+    public static final String IDLE_CONNECTION_PRUNE_TIMEOUT = "jersey.config.client.idleConnectionPruneTimeout";
+
+    /**
      *  <p>
      *    This property determines the maximum number of idle connections that will be simultaneously kept alive, per destination.
      *    The default is 5.
diff --git a/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyConnector.java b/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyConnector.java
index c2fdf41..f941e66 100644
--- a/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyConnector.java
+++ b/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/NettyConnector.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2016, 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2016, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  *
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
  * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -94,9 +94,12 @@
     // http.maxConnections (default: 5)
     private static final int DEFAULT_MAX_POOL_SIZE = 5;
     private static final int MAX_POOL_SIZE = Integer.getInteger("http.maxConnections", DEFAULT_MAX_POOL_SIZE);
-    private static final int MAX_POOL_IDLE = 60;
+    private static final int DEFAULT_MAX_POOL_IDLE = 60; // seconds
+    private static final int DEFAULT_MAX_POOL_SIZE_TOTAL = 60; // connections
+
 
     private final Integer maxPoolSize; // either from system property, or from Jersey config, or default
+    private final Integer maxPoolSizeTotal; //either from Jersey config, or default
     private final Integer maxPoolIdle; // either from Jersey config, or default
 
     private static final String INACTIVE_POOLED_CONNECTION_HANDLER = "inactive_pooled_connection_handler";
@@ -119,20 +122,22 @@
 
         this.client = client;
 
-        final Object maxPoolIdleProperty = properties.get(NettyClientProperties.MAX_CONNECTIONS_TOTAL);
+        final Object maxPoolSizeTotalProperty = properties.get(NettyClientProperties.MAX_CONNECTIONS_TOTAL);
+        final Object maxPoolIdleProperty = properties.get(NettyClientProperties.IDLE_CONNECTION_PRUNE_TIMEOUT);
         final Object maxPoolSizeProperty = properties.get(NettyClientProperties.MAX_CONNECTIONS);
 
-        maxPoolIdle = maxPoolIdleProperty != null ? (Integer) maxPoolIdleProperty : MAX_POOL_IDLE;
+        maxPoolSizeTotal = maxPoolSizeTotalProperty != null ? (Integer) maxPoolSizeTotalProperty : DEFAULT_MAX_POOL_SIZE_TOTAL;
+        maxPoolIdle = maxPoolIdleProperty != null ? (Integer) maxPoolIdleProperty : DEFAULT_MAX_POOL_IDLE;
         maxPoolSize = maxPoolSizeProperty != null
                 ? (Integer) maxPoolSizeProperty
                 : (HTTP_KEEPALIVE ? MAX_POOL_SIZE : DEFAULT_MAX_POOL_SIZE);
 
-        if (maxPoolIdle == null || maxPoolIdle < 0) {
-            throw new ProcessingException(LocalizationMessages.WRONG_MAX_POOL_IDLE(maxPoolIdle));
+        if (maxPoolSizeTotal < 0) {
+            throw new ProcessingException(LocalizationMessages.WRONG_MAX_POOL_TOTAL(maxPoolSizeTotal));
         }
 
-        if (maxPoolSize == null || maxPoolSize < 0) {
-            throw new ProcessingException(LocalizationMessages.WRONG_MAX_POOL_SIZE(maxPoolIdle));
+        if (maxPoolSize < 0) {
+            throw new ProcessingException(LocalizationMessages.WRONG_MAX_POOL_SIZE(maxPoolSize));
         }
     }
 
@@ -270,7 +275,7 @@
                         connections.put(key, conns1);
                      } else {
                         synchronized (conns1) {
-                           if (conns1.size() < maxPoolSize) {
+                           if ((maxPoolSizeTotal == 0 || connections.size() < maxPoolSizeTotal) && conns1.size() < maxPoolSize) {
                               conns1.add(ch);
                            } else { // else do not add the Channel to the idle pool
                               added = false;
diff --git a/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/resources/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/localization.properties b/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/resources/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/localization.properties
index 8f9bf8f..bf12db6 100644
--- a/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/resources/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/localization.properties
+++ b/connectors/netty-connector/src/main/resources/org/glassfish/jersey/netty/connector/localization.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2016, 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2016, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 #
 # This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
 # terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -17,5 +17,6 @@
 wrong.proxy.uri.type=The proxy URI ("{0}") property MUST be an instance of String or URI.
 wrong.read.timeout=Unexpected ("{0}") READ_TIMEOUT.
 wrong.max.pool.size=Unexpected ("{0}") maximum number of connections per destination.
-wrong.max.pool.idle=Unexpected ("{0}") maximum number of connections total.
+wrong.max.pool.total=Unexpected ("{0}") maximum number of connections total.
+wrong.max.pool.idle=Unexpected ("{0}") maximum number of idle seconds.