diff --git a/pkg/router/policy/preset/preset_test.go b/pkg/router/policy/preset/preset_test.go
index eb927494ec..0b84240030 100644
--- a/pkg/router/policy/preset/preset_test.go
+++ b/pkg/router/policy/preset/preset_test.go
@@ -270,6 +270,53 @@ func TestEngine_OnTick_AdaptiveEvictsLowThroughputLeg(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestEngine_OnTick_AdaptiveCapsActiveUnderLoad asserts the active set is capped
+// at adaptCap even when the group reads SATURATED. During the uncap fill, legs
+// are born active and route-setup traffic keeps the group saturated — the park
+// must still cap active at adaptCap (parking the slowest excess) so the reorder
+// buffer never spans more than adaptCap legs; only born-active excess is shed,
+// never below adaptCap under load.
+func TestEngine_OnTick_AdaptiveCapsActiveUnderLoad(t *testing.T) {
+	e := seedSaturatedAdaptive(1)
+	const n = 20
+	legs := make([]LegInfo, n)
+	for i := range legs {
+		tid := string(rune('a' + i))
+		var recv uint64
+		if i == 0 {
+			tid = "t0"       // matches seedSaturatedAdaptive's prevRecv key
+			recv = 1_000_000 // fresh delta keeps the group saturated this tick
+		}
+		// distinct latencies: leg i = 20+i*10 ms, so higher index = slower.
+		legs[i] = LegInfo{Index: i, TransportID: tid, Kind: "stcpr", LatencyMs: 20 + i*10, Alive: true, RecvBytes: recv}
+	}
+	act := e.OnTick("adaptive", legs)
+	wantParked := n - adaptCap
+	if len(act.DemoteToStandby) != wantParked {
+		t.Fatalf("under load, active must be capped at adaptCap=%d: want %d parked, got %d: %+v",
+			adaptCap, wantParked, len(act.DemoteToStandby), act)
+	}
+	parked := map[int]bool{}
+	for _, idx := range act.DemoteToStandby {
+		if idx == 0 {
+			t.Fatalf("must never park leg 0; got %+v", act.DemoteToStandby)
+		}
+		parked[idx] = true
+	}
+	// The adaptCap kept-active legs are the fastest (leg 0 + legs 1..adaptCap-1);
+	// the n-adaptCap slowest (highest index) are parked.
+	for i := adaptCap; i < n; i++ {
+		if !parked[i] {
+			t.Errorf("slowest excess legs must be parked to cap active at adaptCap: leg %d (%dms) not parked", i, 20+i*10)
+		}
+	}
+	for i := 1; i < adaptCap; i++ {
+		if parked[i] {
+			t.Errorf("fastest legs must stay active under load: leg %d (%dms) was parked", i, 20+i*10)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDecide_TimeOfDay(t *testing.T) {
 	const h = int64(3600) * 1_000_000_000
 	if got := Decide("time-of-day", Context{NowUnixNano: 11 * h}, nil); got.Mux != 1 {
diff --git a/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go b/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go
index ef27082c0a..2b90f0311b 100644
--- a/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go
+++ b/pkg/router/policy/preset/tick.go
@@ -970,7 +970,26 @@ func (e *Engine) tickAdaptive(legs []LegInfo) RotationAction {
 	// Cooldown is set after a bulk park so the freshly-lean set settles before
 	// any optimization reshape; drop-recovery (1) and unhealthy-evict (2) still
 	// bypass it, so safety is preserved.
-	if !saturated && !fwdSaturated && aliveCount > desiredActive && standbyCount < adaptStandbyMax && newestAliveIdx > 0 {
+	//
+	// PARK FLOOR — the active width we converge DOWN to this tick:
+	//   - idle (not saturated): desiredActive, the lean steady target, so an
+	//     interactive/idle flow settles onto the fastest few legs.
+	//   - under load (saturated): adaptCap — the MAXIMUM the saturation-growth
+	//     rule (4) would ever build. This is the fix for the uncap fill: legs are
+	//     born ACTIVE (self-heal filling the 512-deep reserve), and while the pool
+	//     fills, the route-setup/keepalive traffic reads as "saturated" — so a
+	//     park gated on !saturated stayed suppressed and aliveCount ballooned to
+	//     dozens of active legs (HoL-stalling the no-skip reorder buffer) even
+	//     though rule 4 would never grow the active set beyond adaptCap. So the
+	//     park ALWAYS caps active at adaptCap, and only trims below it (to
+	//     desiredActive) when genuinely idle. Under a real bulk download active is
+	//     already at adaptCap, so this only sheds born-active excess, never the
+	//     legs the download is using.
+	parkFloor := desiredActive
+	if (saturated || fwdSaturated) && parkFloor < adaptCap {
+		parkFloor = adaptCap
+	}
+	if aliveCount > parkFloor && standbyCount < adaptStandbyMax && newestAliveIdx > 0 {
 		// Rank active non-leg-0 legs by smoothed latency, slowest first. Use the
 		// EWMA where we have it, else the raw sample; an unmeasured leg sorts as
 		// slowest (parked first) so unknowns don't linger in the active set.
@@ -993,7 +1012,7 @@ func (e *Engine) tickAdaptive(legs []LegInfo) RotationAction {
 			act = append(act, actLeg{l.Index, lat})
 		}
 		sort.Slice(act, func(i, j int) bool { return act[i].lat > act[j].lat })
-		surplus := aliveCount - desiredActive
+		surplus := aliveCount - parkFloor
 		if room := adaptStandbyMax - standbyCount; surplus > room {
 			surplus = room
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm b/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm
index 7f335c2fd6..5a2ffa7218 100644
Binary files a/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm and b/pkg/router/policy/wasm/presets/bundle.wasm differ