diff --git a/changelog.d/212.feature b/changelog.d/212.feature
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d615e171
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/212.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Prevent the push key from being rejected for temporary errors and oversized payloads, add TTL logging, and support events_only push data flag.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/applications.md b/docs/applications.md
index 3db22809..0e17012c 100644
--- a/docs/applications.md
+++ b/docs/applications.md
@@ -253,6 +253,12 @@ any properties set in it will be present in the push messages you receive,
 so it can be used to pass identifiers specific to your client
 (like which account the notification is for).
 
+##### events_only
+
+As of the time of writing, all webpush-supporting browsers require you to set `userVisibleOnly: true` when calling (`pushManager.subscribe`)[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/PushManager/subscribe], to (prevent abusing webpush to track users)[https://goo.gl/yqv4Q4] without their knowledge. With this (mandatory) flag, the browser will show a "site has been updated in the background" notification if no notifications are visible after your service worker processes a `push` event. This can easily happen when sygnal sends a push message to clear the unread count, which is not specific to an event. With `events_only: true` in the pusher data, sygnal won't forward any push message without a event id. This prevents your service worker being forced to show a notification to push messages that clear the unread count.
+
+##### Multiple pushers on one origin
+
 Also note that because you can only have one push subscription per service worker,
 and hence per origin, you might create pushers for different accounts with the same 
 p256dh push key. To prevent the server from removing other pushers with the same 
diff --git a/sygnal/webpushpushkin.py b/sygnal/webpushpushkin.py
index ea73d544..faa9e843 100644
--- a/sygnal/webpushpushkin.py
+++ b/sygnal/webpushpushkin.py
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@
 
 DEFAULT_MAX_CONNECTIONS = 20
 DEFAULT_TTL = 15 * 60  # in seconds
+# Max payload size is 4096
+MAX_BODY_LENGTH = 1000
+MAX_CIPHERTEXT_LENGTH = 2000
 
 
 class WebpushPushkin(ConcurrencyLimitedPushkin):
@@ -133,6 +136,11 @@ async def _dispatch_notification_unlimited(self, n, device, context):
             )
             return [device.pushkey]
 
+        # drop notifications without an event id if requested,
+        # see https://github.com/matrix-org/sygnal/issues/186
+        if device.data.get("events_only") is True and not n.event_id:
+            return []
+
         endpoint = device.data.get("endpoint")
         auth = device.data.get("auth")
         endpoint_domain = urlparse(endpoint).netloc
@@ -175,7 +183,6 @@ async def _dispatch_notification_unlimited(self, n, device, context):
         with QUEUE_TIME_HISTOGRAM.time():
             with PENDING_REQUESTS_GAUGE.track_inprogress():
                 await self.connection_semaphore.acquire()
-
         try:
             with SEND_TIME_HISTOGRAM.time():
                 with ACTIVE_REQUESTS_GAUGE.track_inprogress():
@@ -192,15 +199,10 @@ async def _dispatch_notification_unlimited(self, n, device, context):
         finally:
             self.connection_semaphore.release()
 
-        # assume 4xx is permanent and 5xx is temporary
-        if 400 <= response.code < 500:
-            logger.warn(
-                "Rejecting pushkey %s; gateway %s failed with %d: %s",
-                device.pushkey,
-                endpoint_domain,
-                response.code,
-                response_text,
-            )
+        reject_pushkey = self._handle_response(
+            response, response_text, device.pushkey, endpoint_domain
+        )
+        if reject_pushkey:
             return [device.pushkey]
         return []
 
@@ -233,7 +235,6 @@ def _build_payload(n, device):
             "sender_display_name",
             "user_is_target",
             "type",
-            "content",
         ]:
             value = getattr(n, attr, None)
             if value:
@@ -246,8 +247,72 @@ def _build_payload(n, device):
                 if count_value is not None:
                     payload[attr] = count_value
 
+        if n.content and isinstance(n.content, dict):
+            content = n.content.copy()
+            # we can't show formatted_body in a notification anyway on web
+            # so remove it
+            content.pop("formatted_body", None)
+            body = content.get("body")
+            # make some attempts to not go over the max payload length
+            if isinstance(body, str) and len(body) > MAX_BODY_LENGTH:
+                content["body"] = body[0 : MAX_BODY_LENGTH - 1] + "…"
+            ciphertext = content.get("ciphertext")
+            if isinstance(ciphertext, str) and len(ciphertext) > MAX_CIPHERTEXT_LENGTH:
+                content.pop("ciphertext", None)
+            payload["content"] = content
+
         return payload
 
+    def _handle_response(self, response, response_text, pushkey, endpoint_domain):
+        """
+        Logs and determines the outcome of the response
+
+        Returns:
+            Boolean whether the puskey should be rejected
+        """
+        ttl_response_headers = response.headers.getRawHeaders(b"TTL")
+        if ttl_response_headers:
+            try:
+                ttl_given = int(ttl_response_headers[0])
+                if ttl_given != self.ttl:
+                    logger.info(
+                        "requested TTL of %d to endpoint %s but got %d",
+                        self.ttl,
+                        endpoint_domain,
+                        ttl_given,
+                    )
+            except ValueError:
+                pass
+        # permanent errors
+        if response.code == 404 or response.code == 410:
+            logger.warn(
+                "Rejecting pushkey %s; subscription is invalid on %s: %d: %s",
+                pushkey,
+                endpoint_domain,
+                response.code,
+                response_text,
+            )
+            return True
+        # and temporary ones
+        if response.code >= 400:
+            logger.warn(
+                "webpush request failed for pushkey %s; %s responded with %d: %s",
+                pushkey,
+                endpoint_domain,
+                response.code,
+                response_text,
+            )
+        elif response.code != 201:
+            logger.info(
+                "webpush request for pushkey %s didn't respond with 201; "
+                + "%s responded with %d: %s",
+                pushkey,
+                endpoint_domain,
+                response.code,
+                response_text,
+            )
+        return False
+
 
 class HttpAgentWrapper:
     """