diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/AbstractTerminalBlockEntity.kt b/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/AbstractTerminalBlockEntity.kt
index 57fcbf7..6a1cfcb 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/AbstractTerminalBlockEntity.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/AbstractTerminalBlockEntity.kt
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ abstract class AbstractTerminalBlockEntity(type: BlockEntityType<*>, pos: BlockP
 		// the locate/insertion timeouts are only 1 tick because that's long enough to hear from every device on the network
 		// in a degraded state (when there's latency in the network), not handling interface priorities correctly is acceptable
 		val LOCATE_REQUEST_TIMEOUT: Long = 1 // ticks
-		val INSERTION_TIMEOUT: Long = 1
+		val INSERTION_TIMEOUT: Long = 1 // ticks
+		val REQUEST_INVENTORY_TIMEOUT: Long = 1 // ticks
 	}
 
 	protected val inventoryCache = mutableMapOf<IPAddress, GroupedItemInvView>()
@@ -48,8 +49,8 @@ abstract class AbstractTerminalBlockEntity(type: BlockEntityType<*>, pos: BlockP
 	override val pendingInsertions = mutableListOf<PendingInsertion>()
 	override val dispatchStackTimeout = INSERTION_TIMEOUT
 
-	private var observers = 0
 	val cachedNetItems = ItemStackCollections.intMap()
+	private var requestInventoryTimestamp: Long? = null
 
 	// todo: multiple players could have the terminal open simultaneously
 	var netItemObserver: WeakReference<NetItemObserver>? = null
@@ -164,14 +165,26 @@ abstract class AbstractTerminalBlockEntity(type: BlockEntityType<*>, pos: BlockP
 		if (!world!!.isClient) {
 			finishPendingRequests()
 			finishTimedOutPendingInsertions()
-		}
 
-		if (counter % 20 == 0L && !world!!.isClient) {
-			beginInsertions()
+			if (counter % 20 == 0L) {
+				beginInsertions()
+			}
+
+			if (requestInventoryTimestamp != null && (counter - requestInventoryTimestamp!!) >= REQUEST_INVENTORY_TIMEOUT) {
+				updateAndSync()
+				requestInventoryTimestamp = null
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
 	open fun onActivate(player: PlayerEntity) {
+		if (!world!!.isClient) {
+			updateAndSync()
+
+			inventoryCache.clear()
+			sendPacket(RequestInventoryPacket(RequestInventoryPacket.Kind.GROUPED, ipAddress))
+			requestInventoryTimestamp = counter
+		}
 	}
 
 	fun requestItem(stack: ItemStack, amount: Int = stack.count) {
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/CraftingTerminalBlockEntity.kt b/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/CraftingTerminalBlockEntity.kt
index 5852a34..058861e 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/CraftingTerminalBlockEntity.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/CraftingTerminalBlockEntity.kt
@@ -33,11 +33,9 @@ class CraftingTerminalBlockEntity(pos: BlockPos, state: BlockState): AbstractTer
 	private val completedCraftingStackRequests = LinkedList<CraftingStackLocateRequest>()
 
 	override fun onActivate(player: PlayerEntity) {
-		if (!world!!.isClient) {
-			updateAndSync()
+		super.onActivate(player)
 
-			inventoryCache.clear()
-			sendPacket(RequestInventoryPacket(RequestInventoryPacket.Kind.GROUPED, ipAddress))
+		if (!world!!.isClient) {
 			val factory = object: ExtendedScreenHandlerFactory {
 				override fun createMenu(syncId: Int, playerInv: PlayerInventory, player: PlayerEntity): ScreenHandler? {
 					return CraftingTerminalScreenHandler(syncId, playerInv, this@CraftingTerminalBlockEntity)
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/TerminalBlockEntity.kt b/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/TerminalBlockEntity.kt
index a9a3285..0f31038 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/TerminalBlockEntity.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/net/shadowfacts/phycon/block/terminal/TerminalBlockEntity.kt
@@ -18,11 +18,9 @@ import net.shadowfacts.phycon.packet.RequestInventoryPacket
 class TerminalBlockEntity(pos: BlockPos, state: BlockState): AbstractTerminalBlockEntity(PhyBlockEntities.TERMINAL, pos, state) {
 
 	override fun onActivate(player: PlayerEntity) {
-		if (!world!!.isClient) {
-			updateAndSync()
+		super.onActivate(player)
 
-			inventoryCache.clear()
-			sendPacket(RequestInventoryPacket(RequestInventoryPacket.Kind.GROUPED, ipAddress))
+		if (!world!!.isClient) {
 			val factory = object: ExtendedScreenHandlerFactory {
 				override fun createMenu(syncId: Int, playerInv: PlayerInventory, player: PlayerEntity): ScreenHandler {
 					return TerminalScreenHandler(syncId, playerInv, this@TerminalBlockEntity)