diff --git a/server/dist/OOCSI_server.jar b/server/dist/OOCSI_server.jar
index a1c0230..ff5ef2a 100644
Binary files a/server/dist/OOCSI_server.jar and b/server/dist/OOCSI_server.jar differ
diff --git a/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/OOCSIServer.java b/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/OOCSIServer.java
index bc05ebf..80c0fd7 100644
--- a/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/OOCSIServer.java
+++ b/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/OOCSIServer.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 public class OOCSIServer extends Server {
 
 	// constants
-	public static final String VERSION = "1.21";
+	public static final String VERSION = "1.22";
 
 	// defaults for different services
 	private int maxClients = 100;
diff --git a/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/model/Channel.java b/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/model/Channel.java
index f60bf83..4e36b36 100644
--- a/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/model/Channel.java
+++ b/server/src/nl/tue/id/oocsi/server/model/Channel.java
@@ -110,9 +110,13 @@ public void send(Message message) {
 		if (message.data.containsKey(RETAIN_MESSAGE)) {
 			Object retainTimeoutRaw = message.data.getOrDefault(RETAIN_MESSAGE, "0");
 			try {
+				// retrieve timeout and restrict timeout to 2 days
 				long timeout = Long.parseLong(retainTimeoutRaw.toString());
-				message.validUntil = new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + timeout);
+				timeout = Math.min(3600 * 24 * 2, timeout);
+				// set timeout and store retained message
+				message.validUntil = new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + timeout * 1000);
 				retainedMessage = message;
+				OOCSIServer.log("Retained message stored for channel '" + this.token + "' for " + timeout + "secs.");
 			} catch (Exception e) {
 				// do nothing
 			}
@@ -232,7 +236,8 @@ protected void closeEmptyChannels() {
 			}
 
 			// it is empty now, remove sub channel
-			if (!(subChannel instanceof Client) && subChannel.subChannels.size() == 0) {
+			if (!(subChannel instanceof Client) && subChannel.subChannels.size() == 0
+			        && (subChannel.retainedMessage == null || !subChannel.retainedMessage.isValid())) {
 				subChannels.remove(subChannel.getName());
 				if (!subChannel.isPrivate()) {
 					OOCSIServer.logConnection(getName(), subChannel.getName(), "closed empty channel", new Date());