This value is set to 30 by default, however the code which uses it (sendto_kdc.c) does an exponential backoff: for (timeout = krb5_skdc_timeout_1; timeout < krb5_max_skdc_timeout; timeout <<= krb5_skdc_timeout_shift) { The actual max value is 16s. Setting it to 30 is misleading. I'd say change this to 16, but an alternative is 32. thx /fc