diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/util/IntervalledCounter.java b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/util/IntervalledCounter.java
index 9b986dca..7e0bf4c8 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/util/IntervalledCounter.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/util/IntervalledCounter.java
@@ -30,40 +30,51 @@ package com.velocitypowered.proxy.util;
  * <p>This class is not thread-safe. If multiple threads access an instance concurrently,
  * external synchronization is required.</p>
  */
-@SuppressWarnings("checkstyle:WhitespaceAfter") // Not our class
 public final class IntervalledCounter {
 
   private static final int INITIAL_SIZE = 8;
 
+  /**
+   * Data points within this many nanoseconds of the newest one are merged into it, bounding the
+   * number of stored data points to roughly {@code interval / COALESCE_INTERVAL}.
+   */
+  private static final long COALESCE_INTERVAL = 1_000_000L; // 1ms
+
   /**
    * Ring buffer holding the timestamp (in nanoseconds) for each data point.
    */
-  protected long[] times;
+  private long[] times;
+
   /**
    * Ring buffer holding the count associated with each timestamp.
    */
-  protected long[] counts;
+  private long[] counts;
+
   /**
    * The sliding window size in nanoseconds. Only entries with time >= (currentTime - interval)
    * are considered part of the window.
    */
-  protected final long interval;
+  private final long interval;
+
   /**
    * Cached lower bound of the window (in nanoseconds) after the last update.
    */
-  protected long minTime;
+  private long minTime;
+
   /**
    * Running sum of all counts currently within the window.
    */
-  protected long sum;
+  private long sum;
+
   /**
    * Head index (inclusive) of the ring buffer.
    */
-  protected int head; // inclusive
+  private int head; // inclusive
+
   /**
    * Tail index (exclusive) of the ring buffer.
    */
-  protected int tail; // exclusive
+  private int tail; // exclusive
 
   /**
    * Creates a new counter with the specified interval.
@@ -131,6 +142,8 @@ public final class IntervalledCounter {
   /**
    * Adds {@code count} units at the specified timestamp, assuming the timestamp is within the
    * current window. If the timestamp is older than {@code minTime}, the value is ignored.
+   * If the timestamp is within {@link #COALESCE_INTERVAL} of the newest stored data point, the
+   * count is merged into that data point instead of creating a new one.
    * This method does not automatically advance the window; callers should invoke
    * {@link #updateCurrentTime()} or {@link #updateCurrentTime(long)} beforehand.
    *
@@ -142,6 +155,15 @@ public final class IntervalledCounter {
     if (currTime - this.minTime < 0) {
       return;
     }
+    if (this.head != this.tail) {
+      final int last = this.tail == 0 ? this.times.length - 1 : this.tail - 1;
+      // guard against overflow by using subtraction
+      if (currTime - this.times[last] < COALESCE_INTERVAL) {
+        this.counts[last] += count;
+        this.sum += count;
+        return;
+      }
+    }
     int nextTail = (this.tail + 1) % this.times.length;
     if (nextTail == this.head) {
       this.resize();
@@ -219,7 +241,7 @@ public final class IntervalledCounter {
    * @return the rate in units per second for the current window
    */
   public double getRate() {
-    return (double)this.sum / ((double)this.interval * 1.0E-9);
+    return (double) this.sum / ((double) this.interval * 1.0E-9);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/proxy/src/test/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/util/IntervalledCounterTest.java b/proxy/src/test/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/util/IntervalledCounterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f187ff2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proxy/src/test/java/com/velocitypowered/proxy/util/IntervalledCounterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2026 Velocity Contributors
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.velocitypowered.proxy.util;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+class IntervalledCounterTest {
+
+  private static final long INTERVAL = TimeUnit.SECONDS.toNanos(7);
+
+  @Test
+  void sumAndRateTrackAddedCounts() {
+    IntervalledCounter counter = new IntervalledCounter(INTERVAL);
+    long now = 0;
+
+    counter.updateAndAdd(700, now);
+    assertEquals(700, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(100.0, counter.getRate(), 1e-9);
+
+    now += TimeUnit.SECONDS.toNanos(1);
+    counter.updateAndAdd(1400, now);
+    assertEquals(2100, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(300.0, counter.getRate(), 1e-9);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void dataPointsOutsideTheWindowAreEvicted() {
+    IntervalledCounter counter = new IntervalledCounter(INTERVAL);
+    long now = 0;
+
+    counter.updateAndAdd(10, now);
+    now += TimeUnit.SECONDS.toNanos(3);
+    counter.updateAndAdd(20, now);
+    assertEquals(30, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(2, counter.totalDataPoints());
+
+    // 7.5s after the first point: only the second point remains
+    now = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(7500);
+    counter.updateCurrentTime(now);
+    assertEquals(20, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(1, counter.totalDataPoints());
+
+    // 10.5s: everything has expired
+    now = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(10500);
+    counter.updateCurrentTime(now);
+    assertEquals(0, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(0, counter.totalDataPoints());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void storedDataPointsAreBoundedByTimeNotByCallCount() {
+    IntervalledCounter counter = new IntervalledCounter(INTERVAL);
+
+    // Simulate a flood of tiny (even zero-sized) packets arriving far faster than one per
+    // millisecond for the whole window. Before coalescing was introduced, each call stored a
+    // separate data point, so an attacker could grow the ring buffer without bound while staying
+    // under a bytes-per-second limit.
+    final long stepNanos = 100;
+    final long calls = INTERVAL / stepNanos;
+    long now = 0;
+    for (long i = 0; i < calls; i++) {
+      counter.updateAndAdd(i % 2, now);
+      now += stepNanos;
+    }
+
+    long expectedSum = calls / 2;
+    assertEquals(expectedSum, counter.getSum());
+    // 7s window at 1ms coalescing granularity is ~7000 points; leave some slack.
+    assertTrue(counter.totalDataPoints() <= 7100,
+        "expected at most ~7000 data points, got " + counter.totalDataPoints());
+    assertTrue(counter.totalDataPoints() >= 7000,
+        "expected at least 7000 data points, got " + counter.totalDataPoints());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void coalescedDataPointsExpireTogether() {
+    IntervalledCounter counter = new IntervalledCounter(INTERVAL);
+
+    long now = 0;
+    counter.updateAndAdd(5, now);
+    // Within the same 1ms bucket: merged into the previous point
+    counter.updateAndAdd(7, now + 500_000L);
+    assertEquals(12, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(1, counter.totalDataPoints());
+
+    // A new bucket starts a new point
+    counter.updateAndAdd(1, now + 1_000_000L);
+    assertEquals(13, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(2, counter.totalDataPoints());
+
+    // The merged bucket carries the timestamp of its first point and expires with it
+    counter.updateCurrentTime(now + INTERVAL + 1);
+    assertEquals(1, counter.getSum());
+    assertEquals(1, counter.totalDataPoints());
+  }
+}