diff --git a/packages/server-admin-ui/src/views/ServerConfig/Settings.js b/packages/server-admin-ui/src/views/ServerConfig/Settings.js
index 4c41aa22e..a533933d7 100644
--- a/packages/server-admin-ui/src/views/ServerConfig/Settings.js
+++ b/packages/server-admin-ui/src/views/ServerConfig/Settings.js
@@ -248,6 +248,26 @@ class ServerSettings extends Component {
                     </FormText>
                   </Col>
                 </FormGroup>
+                <FormGroup row>
+                  <Col md="2">
+                    <Label htmlFor="defaultTimeout">
+                      Default timeout for data (seconds)
+                    </Label>
+                  </Col>
+                  <Col xs="12" md={fieldColWidthMd}>
+                    <Input
+                      type="text"
+                      name="defaultTimeout"
+                      onChange={this.handleChange}
+                      value={this.state.defaultTimeout}
+                    />
+                    <FormText color="muted">
+                      Unless overridden in metadata for the path data older than
+                      this will be automatically set to null to clear outdated
+                      values. Zero value disables default timeout mechanism.
+                    </FormText>
+                  </Col>
+                </FormGroup>
                 <FormGroup row>
                   <Col md="2">
                     <Label htmlFor="loggingDirectory">
diff --git a/src/config/config.ts b/src/config/config.ts
index 0b9d587e4..972a7d60d 100644
--- a/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ export interface Config {
     proxy_port?: number
     hostname?: string
     pruneContextsMinutes?: number
+    defaultTimeout?: number
     mdns?: boolean
     sslport?: number
     port?: number
diff --git a/src/deltacache.ts b/src/deltacache.ts
index 44c66e863..09c20aaac 100644
--- a/src/deltacache.ts
+++ b/src/deltacache.ts
@@ -21,12 +21,28 @@ import { FullSignalK, getSourceId } from '@signalk/signalk-schema'
 import _, { isUndefined } from 'lodash'
 import { toDelta } from './streambundle'
 import { ContextMatcher, SignalKServer, StreamBundle } from './types'
-import { Context, NormalizedDelta, SourceRef } from '@signalk/server-api'
+import { Context, NormalizedDelta, Path, SourceRef } from '@signalk/server-api'
 
 interface StringKeyed {
   [key: string]: any
 }
 
+function sendNullsForOutdatedValues(
+  x: any,
+  oldestValidTs: number,
+  sendNullFor: (context: Context, path: Path, $source: SourceRef) => void
+) {
+  Object.values(x).forEach((v: any) => {
+    if (v.timestamp) {
+      if (v.timestamp > oldestValidTs && v.value !== null) {
+        sendNullFor(v.context, v.path as Path, v.$source as SourceRef)
+      }
+    } else {
+      sendNullsForOutdatedValues(v, oldestValidTs, sendNullFor)
+    }
+  })
+}
+
 export default class DeltaCache {
   cache: StringKeyed = {}
   lastModifieds: StringKeyed = {}
@@ -39,12 +55,44 @@ export default class DeltaCache {
     }
   } = {}
 
-  constructor(app: SignalKServer, streambundle: StreamBundle) {
+  constructor(
+    app: SignalKServer,
+    streambundle: StreamBundle,
+    defaultTimeout: number
+  ) {
     this.app = app
     streambundle.keys.onValue((key) => {
       streambundle.getBus(key).onValue(this.onValue.bind(this))
     })
 
+    const sendNullFor = (context: Context, path: Path, $source: SourceRef) => {
+      app.handleMessage('n/a', {
+        context,
+        updates: [
+          {
+            $source,
+            values: [
+              {
+                path,
+                value: null
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        ]
+      })
+    }
+
+    if (defaultTimeout) {
+      debug(`defaultTimeout set as ${defaultTimeout}, starting background task`)
+      setInterval(() => {
+        sendNullsForOutdatedValues(
+          this.cache,
+          Date.now() - defaultTimeout * 1000,
+          sendNullFor
+        )
+      }, defaultTimeout * 1000)
+    }
+
     // String.split() is heavy enough and called frequently enough
     // to warrant caching the result. Has a noticeable effect
     // on throughput of a server going full blast with the n2k
@@ -89,14 +137,17 @@ export default class DeltaCache {
       true
     )
 
+    const msgCopy = Object.assign({}, msg) as any
+    msgCopy.timestamp = Date.now()
+
     if (msg.path.length !== 0) {
-      leaf[sourceRef] = msg
+      leaf[sourceRef] = msgCopy
     } else if (msg.value) {
       _.keys(msg.value).forEach((key) => {
         if (!leaf[key]) {
           leaf[key] = {}
         }
-        leaf[key][sourceRef] = msg
+        leaf[key][sourceRef] = msgCopy
       })
     }
     this.lastModifieds[msg.context] = Date.now()
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 574a7d519..af8c573c9 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -321,7 +321,11 @@ class Server {
     )
     app.signalk.on('delta', app.streambundle.pushDelta.bind(app.streambundle))
     app.subscriptionmanager = new SubscriptionManager(app)
-    app.deltaCache = new DeltaCache(app, app.streambundle)
+    app.deltaCache = new DeltaCache(
+      app,
+      app.streambundle,
+      app.config.settings.defaultTimeout
+    )
 
     app.getHello = () => ({
       name: app.config.name,
diff --git a/src/serverroutes.ts b/src/serverroutes.ts
index ccc29592b..67a7f1833 100644
--- a/src/serverroutes.ts
+++ b/src/serverroutes.ts
@@ -473,6 +473,7 @@ module.exports = function (
       },
       loggingDirectory: app.config.settings.loggingDirectory,
       pruneContextsMinutes: app.config.settings.pruneContextsMinutes || 60,
+      defaultTimeout: app.config.settings.defaultTimeout || 0,
       keepMostRecentLogsOnly:
         isUndefined(app.config.settings.keepMostRecentLogsOnly) ||
         app.config.settings.keepMostRecentLogsOnly,
@@ -612,6 +613,10 @@ module.exports = function (
       )
     }
 
+    if (!isUndefined(settings.defaultTimeout)) {
+      app.config.settings.defaultTimeout = Number(settings.defaultTimeout)
+    }
+
     if (!isUndefined(settings.keepMostRecentLogsOnly)) {
       app.config.settings.keepMostRecentLogsOnly =
         settings.keepMostRecentLogsOnly