diff --git a/plugins/platforms/discord/adapter.py b/plugins/platforms/discord/adapter.py
index 37496746f4..6437a21015 100644
--- a/plugins/platforms/discord/adapter.py
+++ b/plugins/platforms/discord/adapter.py
@@ -1068,6 +1068,16 @@ class DiscordAdapter(DiscordMediaMixin, BasePlatformAdapter):
         self._max_latency_seconds = self._finite_positive_config_float(
             "websocket_max_latency_seconds", 30.0,
         )
+        # Dispatch-side dimension (#109521): ready/open/ACK/latency prove the transport, not
+        # that events are still being DISPATCHED. Last raw gateway frame (any frame —
+        # heartbeats, ACKs, presence — so a legitimately quiet server is not "dead") gives
+        # the probe an event-age bound; a socket that stays ESTAB and keeps ACKing while
+        # zero frames arrive is the connected-but-deaf fingerprint the old probe read healthy.
+        self._event_max_silence_seconds = self._finite_positive_config_float(
+            "websocket_event_max_silence_seconds", 300.0,
+        )
+        # perf_counter clock (same as _read_websocket_health's ack math); 0 = never saw a frame.
+        self._last_gateway_frame_at: float = 0.0
         self._liveness_task: Optional[asyncio.Task] = None
         self._liveness_notification_task: Optional[asyncio.Task] = None
         # True while disconnect() intentionally closes discord.py (done callback: shutdown vs crash).
@@ -1102,24 +1112,45 @@ class DiscordAdapter(DiscordMediaMixin, BasePlatformAdapter):
             value = _scoped_gate_env(env_key) or None
         return default if value is None or value == "" else value
 
+    def _warn_liveness_config_disabled(self, key: str, raw: Any) -> None:
+        """One-shot warning when a liveness knob resolves to a disabling value (#109521).
+
+        Unparsable config (`"15s"`, `nan`, `true`) silently mapped to 0 and turned the whole
+        watchdog off with no log line — indistinguishable from "the watchdog missed it".
+        Loud beats silent: the operator's mitigation (cron-restart on no-`[Discord]`-lines)
+        exists only because nothing in-process ever told them the probe was off.
+        """
+        logger.warning(
+            "[%s] Discord liveness knob %s=%r is not a usable positive number; "
+            "the websocket liveness probe may be disabled by this value",
+            self.name, key, raw,
+        )
+
     def _finite_positive_config_float(
         self, key: str, default: float, *, env_key: Optional[str] = None
     ) -> float:
-        """Resolve a finite positive liveness duration; invalid values disable it."""
+        """Resolve a finite positive liveness duration; invalid values disable it (with a warning)."""
+        raw = self._config_value(key, default, env_key=env_key)
         try:
-            value = float(self._config_value(key, default, env_key=env_key))
+            value = float(raw)
         except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            self._warn_liveness_config_disabled(key, raw)
             return 0.0
-        return value if math.isfinite(value) and value > 0 else 0.0
+        if math.isfinite(value) and value > 0:
+            return value
+        self._warn_liveness_config_disabled(key, raw)
+        return 0.0
 
     def _config_int(self, key: str, default: int, *, env_key: Optional[str] = None) -> int:
-        """Resolve a positive liveness count; invalid values disable it."""
-        value = self._config_value(key, default, env_key=env_key)
-        if isinstance(value, bool):
+        """Resolve a positive liveness count; invalid values disable it (with a warning)."""
+        raw = self._config_value(key, default, env_key=env_key)
+        if isinstance(raw, bool):
+            self._warn_liveness_config_disabled(key, raw)
             return 0
         try:
-            return int(value)
+            return int(raw)
         except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            self._warn_liveness_config_disabled(key, raw)
             return 0
 
     def _handle_bot_task_done(self, task: asyncio.Task) -> None:
@@ -1227,6 +1258,9 @@ class DiscordAdapter(DiscordMediaMixin, BasePlatformAdapter):
                 logger.info("[%s] Connected as %s", adapter_self.name, adapter_self._client.user)
                 await adapter_self._resolve_allowed_usernames()
                 adapter_self._ready_event.set()
+                # Fresh connection => no silence history: reset the dispatch-side stamp so a
+                # reconnect never inherits the pre-restart silence (#109521).
+                adapter_self._last_gateway_frame_at = time.perf_counter()
                 if adapter_self._post_connect_task and not adapter_self._post_connect_task.done():
                     adapter_self._post_connect_task.cancel()
                 adapter_self._post_connect_task = asyncio.create_task(
@@ -1235,6 +1269,17 @@ class DiscordAdapter(DiscordMediaMixin, BasePlatformAdapter):
                 if adapter_self._missed_message_backfill_enabled():
                     adapter_self._ensure_missed_message_backfill_task()
 
+            @self._client.event
+            async def on_socket_raw_receive(msg: str):
+                """Stamp every inbound gateway frame for the liveness probe's event-age check.
+
+                Fires for ALL frames — heartbeats, ACKs, presence — not just messages, so a
+                legitimately quiet server is not "dead", but a socket that stays ESTAB while
+                zero frames arrive (connected-but-deaf, #109521 incident 2) becomes visible.
+                Intentionally bare: parsing happens in discord.py; this hook only clocks.
+                """
+                adapter_self._last_gateway_frame_at = time.perf_counter()
+
             @self._client.event
             async def on_message(message: DiscordMessage):
                 await adapter_self._dispatch_discord_message(message)
@@ -1590,6 +1635,7 @@ class DiscordAdapter(DiscordMediaMixin, BasePlatformAdapter):
             or self._liveness_failure_threshold <= 0
             or self._heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds <= 0
             or self._max_latency_seconds <= 0
+            or self._event_max_silence_seconds <= 0
         ):
             return
         if self._liveness_task and not self._liveness_task.done():
@@ -1629,6 +1675,15 @@ class DiscordAdapter(DiscordMediaMixin, BasePlatformAdapter):
             return False, "latency_non_finite"
         if latency > self._max_latency_seconds:
             return False, "latency_exceeded"
+        # Dispatch-side dimension (#109521): every check above inspects the transport, and a
+        # socket that is ESTAB and still ACKing can deliver ZERO events for hours while
+        # reading healthy. The last raw gateway frame (any frame, including heartbeats) is
+        # the one signal that events are actually arriving. Never-seen-frame counts as
+        # silent — on_ready fires long before any gap could be legitimate.
+        if self._event_max_silence_seconds > 0:
+            frame_age = time.perf_counter() - self._last_gateway_frame_at
+            if self._last_gateway_frame_at <= 0 or frame_age > self._event_max_silence_seconds:
+                return False, "event_silence"
         return True, "healthy"
 
     async def _liveness_loop(self) -> None:
@@ -6923,6 +6978,7 @@ _YAML_WEBSOCKET_LIVENESS_KEYS = (
     ("websocket_liveness_failure_threshold", "liveness_failure_threshold", "HERMES_DISCORD_LIVENESS_FAILURE_THRESHOLD"),
     ("websocket_heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds", None, None),
     ("websocket_max_latency_seconds", None, None),
+    ("websocket_event_max_silence_seconds", None, None),
 )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_discord_liveness.py b/tests/gateway/test_discord_liveness.py
index 4cd87c6ddb..e91e72352a 100644
--- a/tests/gateway/test_discord_liveness.py
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_discord_liveness.py
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ def _make_adapter(
     threshold=1,
     max_ack_age=1.0,
     max_latency=1.0,
+    max_silence=300.0,
 ) -> DiscordAdapter:
     monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_DISCORD_LIVENESS_INTERVAL_SECONDS", str(interval))
     monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_DISCORD_LIVENESS_FAILURE_THRESHOLD", str(threshold))
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ def _make_adapter(
             extra={
                 "websocket_heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds": max_ack_age,
                 "websocket_max_latency_seconds": max_latency,
+                "websocket_event_max_silence_seconds": max_silence,
             },
         )
     )
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@ class _BrokenWebSocket:
         ("websocket_liveness_interval_seconds", "_liveness_interval_seconds", "nan"),
         ("websocket_heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds", "_heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds", "inf"),
         ("websocket_max_latency_seconds", "_max_latency_seconds", "-inf"),
+        ("websocket_event_max_silence_seconds", "_event_max_silence_seconds", "15s"),
     ],
 )
 def test_nonfinite_liveness_config_disables_that_probe_dimension(monkeypatch, key, attribute, raw):
@@ -132,6 +135,26 @@ def test_nonfinite_liveness_config_disables_that_probe_dimension(monkeypatch, ke
     assert getattr(adapter, attribute) == 0.0
 
 
+def test_unparsable_liveness_config_warns_instead_of_disabling_silently(monkeypatch, caplog):
+    """A knob value that can't parse must not disable the probe without a trace (#109521).
+
+    Pre-fix, ``websocket_liveness_interval_seconds: 15s`` mapped to 0.0 with no log line —
+    the watchdog was off and the only visible symptom was hours of Discord silence.
+    """
+    with caplog.at_level("WARNING", logger="plugins.platforms.discord.adapter"):
+        adapter = DiscordAdapter(
+            PlatformConfig(
+                enabled=True,
+                token="test-token",
+                extra={"websocket_liveness_interval_seconds": "15s"},
+            )
+        )
+
+    assert adapter._liveness_interval_seconds == 0.0
+    assert "websocket_liveness_interval_seconds" in caplog.text
+    assert "15s" in caplog.text
+
+
 def test_default_liveness_bounds_trigger_timed_recovery(monkeypatch):
     for key in (
         "HERMES_DISCORD_LIVENESS_INTERVAL_SECONDS",
@@ -145,6 +168,7 @@ def test_default_liveness_bounds_trigger_timed_recovery(monkeypatch):
     assert adapter._liveness_failure_threshold == 2
     assert adapter._heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds == 60.0
     assert adapter._max_latency_seconds == 30.0
+    assert adapter._event_max_silence_seconds == 300.0
 
 
 def test_platform_config_extra_overrides_process_liveness_bridge(monkeypatch):
@@ -299,3 +323,170 @@ async def test_disconnect_cancels_liveness_task(monkeypatch):
     await adapter.disconnect()
     assert task.done()
     assert adapter._liveness_task is None
+
+
+class _DeafHealthBot(_LiveBot):
+    """Incident-2 fingerprint from #109521: ESTAB socket, keep-alive ACKs, zero frames."""
+
+    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(**kwargs)
+        self.raw_receive_events = []
+
+    async def deliver_raw_frame(self, payload: str = "{}"):
+        """Feed a raw gateway frame through the adapter's registered hook."""
+        await self._events["on_socket_raw_receive"](payload)
+
+
+def _connect_deaf_bot(adapter, monkeypatch, bot_box):
+    def factory(**kwargs):
+        bot = _DeafHealthBot(
+            intents=kwargs["intents"],
+            allowed_mentions=kwargs.get("allowed_mentions"),
+        )
+        bot.fetch_user = AsyncMock()
+        bot_box.append(bot)
+        return bot
+
+    return _connect(adapter, monkeypatch, factory)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_connected_but_deaf_socket_is_unhealthy(monkeypatch):
+    """#109521 incident 2: a socket that stays open, ready, low-latency, and ACKing —
+    but through which no gateway frame has arrived since before the silence bound —
+    must read unhealthy, not healthy."""
+    adapter = _make_adapter(
+        monkeypatch, interval=60, threshold=1, max_ack_age=60.0, max_latency=30.0,
+        max_silence=10.0,
+    )
+    box = []
+    await _connect_deaf_bot(adapter, monkeypatch, box)
+    bot = box[0]
+
+    _set_websocket_health(bot, ready=True, socket_open=True, latency=0.05, ack_age=0.0)
+    # on_ready reset the stamp at connect; age it past the bound so the adapter is
+    # "connected, all transport dimensions green, and silent" — incident 2's fingerprint.
+    adapter._last_gateway_frame_at = time.perf_counter() - 60.0
+
+    healthy, reason = adapter._read_websocket_health(bot)
+    assert healthy is False
+    assert reason == "event_silence"
+
+    await adapter.disconnect()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_recent_raw_frame_keeps_deaf_fingerprint_socket_healthy(monkeypatch):
+    """Any raw gateway frame (heartbeat, ACK — not just messages) refreshes the dispatch
+    clock: a legitimately quiet server must not be flagged by the event-age bound."""
+    adapter = _make_adapter(
+        monkeypatch, interval=60, threshold=1, max_ack_age=60.0, max_latency=30.0,
+    )
+    box = []
+    await _connect_deaf_bot(adapter, monkeypatch, box)
+    bot = box[0]
+
+    _set_websocket_health(bot, ready=True, socket_open=True, latency=0.05, ack_age=0.0)
+    # on_ready resets the stamp (fresh connection); a non-message frame then advances it.
+    assert adapter._last_gateway_frame_at > 0
+    await bot.deliver_raw_frame('{"t":null,"op":11}')
+    frame_at = adapter._last_gateway_frame_at
+    assert frame_at > 0
+
+    healthy, reason = adapter._read_websocket_health(bot)
+    assert (healthy, reason) == (True, "healthy")
+
+    await adapter.disconnect()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_stale_frame_over_silence_bound_reads_unhealthy(monkeypatch):
+    """A frame that arrived, then a silence longer than the bound, while transport
+    dimensions still look healthy — the exact connected-but-deaf progression."""
+    adapter = _make_adapter(
+        monkeypatch, interval=60, threshold=1, max_ack_age=60.0, max_latency=30.0,
+        max_silence=10.0,
+    )
+    box = []
+    await _connect_deaf_bot(adapter, monkeypatch, box)
+    bot = box[0]
+
+    _set_websocket_health(bot, ready=True, socket_open=True, latency=0.05, ack_age=0.0)
+    await bot.deliver_raw_frame('{"t":null,"op":11}')
+    # Simulate the silence: age the last frame past every bound, keeping the transport green.
+    adapter._last_gateway_frame_at = time.perf_counter() - 60.0
+
+    healthy, reason = adapter._read_websocket_health(bot)
+    assert (healthy, reason) == (False, "event_silence")
+
+    await adapter.disconnect()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_event_silence_drives_liveness_loop_to_retryable_fatal(monkeypatch, caplog):
+    """End to end: a persistent deaf socket trips the probe's failure threshold and
+    surfaces as the retryable fatal the reconnect watcher already handles."""
+    import logging
+
+    caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="plugins.platforms.discord.adapter")
+    adapter = _make_adapter(
+        monkeypatch, interval=0.01, threshold=2, max_ack_age=60.0, max_latency=30.0,
+        max_silence=5.0,
+    )
+    handler = AsyncMock()
+    adapter.set_fatal_error_handler(handler)
+    box = []
+    await _connect_deaf_bot(adapter, monkeypatch, box)
+    bot = box[0]
+
+    # Transport dimensions stay green the whole time; frames never arrive.
+    _set_websocket_health(bot, ready=True, socket_open=True, latency=0.05, ack_age=0.0)
+    adapter._last_gateway_frame_at = time.perf_counter() - 60.0
+
+    await _wait_until(
+        lambda: adapter.fatal_error_code == "discord_websocket_health_stale",
+        "deaf socket never tripped the liveness probe",
+    )
+    assert "event_silence" in caplog.text
+    # The runner-facing handler fires from the notification task (post-close); give it a beat.
+    await _wait_until(
+        lambda: handler.await_count >= 1,
+        "fatal notification never reached the runner handler",
+    )
+
+    await adapter.disconnect()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_silence_knob_zero_disables_event_dimension_only(monkeypatch):
+    """Setting ``websocket_event_max_silence_seconds: 0`` must opt out of the dispatch
+    check alone; the transport dimensions (ack age, latency) still work."""
+    adapter = DiscordAdapter(
+        PlatformConfig(
+            enabled=True,
+            token="test-token",
+            extra={
+                "websocket_event_max_silence_seconds": 0,
+                "websocket_heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds": 60.0,
+                "websocket_max_latency_seconds": 30.0,
+            },
+        )
+    )
+    assert adapter._event_max_silence_seconds == 0.0
+
+    box = []
+    await _connect_deaf_bot(adapter, monkeypatch, box)
+    bot = box[0]
+    # Never delivered a frame and the stamp is at its connect-time value.
+    adapter._last_gateway_frame_at = 0.0
+
+    _set_websocket_health(bot, ready=True, socket_open=True, latency=0.05, ack_age=0.0)
+    healthy, reason = adapter._read_websocket_health(bot)
+    assert (healthy, reason) == (True, "healthy")
+
+    # While the transport dimensions still catch their own failure shape:
+    _set_websocket_health(bot, ready=True, socket_open=True, latency=0.05, ack_age=999.0)
+    healthy, reason = adapter._read_websocket_health(bot)
+    assert (healthy, reason) == (False, "ack_stale")
+
+    await adapter.disconnect()
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/messaging/discord.md b/website/docs/user-guide/messaging/discord.md
index dfad0cc25b..240bb41193 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/messaging/discord.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/messaging/discord.md
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ This guide walks you through the full setup process — from creating your bot o
 
 ### Gateway WebSocket health
 
-Discord REST and the Gateway WebSocket are separate transports. A successful REST response (including `fetch_user()` returning HTTP 200) does not prove that the bot can still receive Gateway events. Hermes therefore combines the ready state, client/socket closure state, socket openness, heartbeat ACK age, and finite heartbeat latency.
+Discord REST and the Gateway WebSocket are separate transports. A successful REST response (including `fetch_user()` returning HTTP 200) does not prove that the bot can still receive Gateway events. Hermes therefore combines the ready state, client/socket closure state, socket openness, heartbeat ACK age, finite heartbeat latency, and **frame recency** — the time since the last raw Gateway frame of any kind (heartbeats and ACKs count, so a legitimately quiet server is not flagged).
 
 After the configured number of consecutive unhealthy samples, the adapter emits one retryable fatal event. The existing gateway reconnect watcher creates a fresh adapter; the Discord adapter does not start a second unbounded reconnect loop.
 
@@ -96,10 +96,13 @@ discord:
   websocket_liveness_failure_threshold: 2
   websocket_heartbeat_ack_max_age_seconds: 60
   websocket_max_latency_seconds: 30
+  websocket_event_max_silence_seconds: 300
 ```
 
 The old `liveness_interval_seconds` and `liveness_failure_threshold` names remain compatibility aliases only; they no longer mean REST probing.
 
+Values that fail to parse as a positive number (e.g. `15s`, `nan`, `true`) disable the corresponding knob and log one warning at adapter startup — check `gateway.log` if the probe seems inactive.
+
 ## Step 1: Create a Discord Application
 
 1. Go to the [Discord Developer Portal](https://discord.com/developers/applications) and sign in with your Discord account.