diff --git a/src/CNProtocol.cpp b/src/CNProtocol.cpp
index 0c7b0ea..eb97818 100644
--- a/src/CNProtocol.cpp
+++ b/src/CNProtocol.cpp
@@ -313,13 +313,11 @@ void CNServer::start() {
         int n = poll(fds.data(), fds.size(), 50);
         if (SOCKETERROR(n)) {
             std::cout << "[FATAL] poll() returned error" << std::endl;
-            terminate(0);
+            terminate();
         }
 
         oldnfds = fds.size();
 
-        activeCrit.lock();
-
         for (int i = 0; i < oldnfds && n > 0; i++) {
             if (fds[i].revents == 0)
                 continue; // nothing in this one; don't decrement n
@@ -331,8 +329,7 @@ void CNServer::start() {
                 // any sort of error on the listener
                 if (fds[i].revents & ~POLLIN) {
                     std::cout << "[FATAL] Error on listener socket" << std::endl;
-                    activeCrit.unlock(); // must unlock before calling terminate()
-                    terminate(0);
+                    terminate();
                 }
 
                 SOCKET newConnectionSocket = accept(sock, (struct sockaddr *)&address, (socklen_t*)&addressSize);
@@ -355,6 +352,8 @@ void CNServer::start() {
                 // no-op. handled in checkExtraSockets().
 
             } else {
+                std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(activeCrit); // protect operations on connections
+
                 // player sockets
                 if (connections.find(fds[i].fd) == connections.end()) {
                     std::cout << "[WARN] Event on non-existant socket?" << std::endl;
@@ -380,7 +379,6 @@ void CNServer::start() {
         }
 
         onStep();
-        activeCrit.unlock();
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/CNStructs.hpp b/src/CNStructs.hpp
index 7f8eb85..c3eb1fc 100644
--- a/src/CNStructs.hpp
+++ b/src/CNStructs.hpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ std::string U16toU8(char16_t* src);
 size_t U8toU16(std::string src, char16_t* des, size_t max); // returns number of char16_t that was written at des
 time_t getTime();
 time_t getTimestamp();
-void terminate(int);
+void terminate(int unused=0);
 
 // The PROTOCOL_VERSION definition is defined by the build system.
 #if !defined(PROTOCOL_VERSION)
diff --git a/src/Monitor.cpp b/src/Monitor.cpp
index 941fc7a..f9e4e52 100644
--- a/src/Monitor.cpp
+++ b/src/Monitor.cpp
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ bool Monitor::acceptConnection(SOCKET fd, uint16_t revents) {
 
     if (revents & ~POLLIN) {
         std::cout << "[FATAL] Error on monitor listener?" << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 
     int sock = accept(listener, (struct sockaddr*)&address, &len);
diff --git a/src/TableData.cpp b/src/TableData.cpp
index 263fb8f..f58c0cf 100644
--- a/src/TableData.cpp
+++ b/src/TableData.cpp
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ void TableData::init() {
     }
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
         std::cerr << "[FATAL] Malformed NPCs.json file! Reason:" << err.what() << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 
     // load everything else from xdttable
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ void TableData::init() {
     }
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
         std::cerr << "[FATAL] Malformed xdt.json file! Reason:" << err.what() << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 
     // load temporary mob dump
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ void TableData::init() {
     }
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
         std::cerr << "[FATAL] Malformed mobs.json file! Reason:" << err.what() << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 
     loadDrops();
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ void TableData::loadPaths(int* nextId) {
                     if (firstPoint["iX"] != pair.second->spawnX || firstPoint["iY"] != pair.second->spawnY) {
                         std::cout << "[FATAL] The first point of the route for mob " << pair.first <<
                             " (type " << pair.second->appearanceData.iNPCType << ") does not correspond with its spawn point." << std::endl;
-                        terminate(0);
+                        terminate();
                     }
 
                     constructPathNPC(npcPath, pair.first);
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ void TableData::loadPaths(int* nextId) {
     }
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
         std::cerr << "[FATAL] Malformed paths.json file! Reason:" << err.what() << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 }
 
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ void TableData::loadDrops() {
     }
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
         std::cerr << "[FATAL] Malformed drops.json file! Reason:" << err.what() << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 }
 
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ void TableData::loadEggs(int32_t* nextId) {
     }
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
         std::cerr << "[FATAL] Malformed eggs.json file! Reason:" << err.what() << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 }
 
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ void TableData::loadGruntwork(int32_t *nextId) {
     }
     catch (const std::exception& err) {
         std::cerr << "[FATAL] Malformed gruntwork.json file! Reason:" << err.what() << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index df7cd59..35bc13b 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ void startShard(CNShardServer* server) {
     server->start();
 }
 
-// terminate gracefully on SIGINT (for gprof)
+// terminate gracefully on SIGINT (for gprof & DB saving)
 void terminate(int arg) {
     std::cout << "OpenFusion: terminating." << std::endl;
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ int main() {
     case 3: std::cout << "[INFO] Event active. Have a very hoppy Easter!" << std::endl; break;
     default:
         std::cout << "[FATAL] Unknown event set in config file." << std::endl;
-        terminate(0);
+        terminate();
         /* not reached */
     }