With lighttpd 1.4.10 and server.max-connections=256 specified in lighttpd config, lighttpd ceased serving new connections (including server status page hits) when max connections was reached.
strace output of running process:
19:27:14.366461 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:15.366260 time(NULL) = 1142134035
19:27:15.366405 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:16.366213 time(NULL) = 1142134036
19:27:16.366365 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:17.366153 time(NULL) = 1142134037
19:27:17.366290 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:18.366251 time(NULL) = 1142134038
19:27:18.366433 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:19.366057 time(NULL) = 1142134039
19:27:19.366226 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:20.365993 time(NULL) = 1142134040
19:27:20.366137 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:21.366942 time(NULL) = 1142134041
19:27:21.367084 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
19:27:22.367893 time(NULL) = 1142134042
19:27:22.368064 epoll_wait(16, {}, 4087, 1000) = 0
error log data:
2006-03-11 19:14:02: (server.c.1218) [note] sockets disabled, connection limit reached
2006-03-11 19:17:03: (server.c.1126) NOTE: a request for [omitted] timed out after writing 18824 bytes. We waited 360 seconds. If this a problem increase server.max-write-idle
2006-03-11 19:17:36: (server.c.1126) NOTE: a request for [omitted] timed out after writing 8305 bytes. We waited 360 seconds. If this a problem increase server.max-write-idle
Server is still listening on ports and telnet to port succeeds, but no change in activity is shown in strace output. Commands entered via telnet ("GET /") receive no response from server.