diff --git a/src/connectors/onchain_events/mod.rs b/src/connectors/onchain_events/mod.rs
index 4dd8de54..7036acc4 100644
--- a/src/connectors/onchain_events/mod.rs
+++ b/src/connectors/onchain_events/mod.rs
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ const RETRY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: u64 = 10;
 
 const BASE_BLOCK_PAGE_SIZE: u64 = 8000; // Alchemy max is 10K
 
+// Number of blocks to go back from the latest block when starting live sync by default
+const LIVE_SYNC_BLOCK_OFFSET: u64 = 500;
+
 #[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct Config {
     pub rpc_url: String,
@@ -490,6 +493,26 @@ impl Subscriber {
         }
     }
 
+    // Picks where to start live-sync when no explicit start_block is configured.
+    //
+    // - If the DB already has a checkpoint, resume there: jumping forward would
+    //   silently skip onchain events between the checkpoint and the chain tip.
+    // - Otherwise (fresh node), start at `tip - LIVE_SYNC_BLOCK_OFFSET`, floored
+    //   at `first_block` so we never query before the contracts existed.
+    fn live_sync_start_block(
+        latest_block_on_chain: u64,
+        latest_block_in_db: u64,
+        first_block: u64,
+    ) -> u64 {
+        if latest_block_in_db > 0 {
+            latest_block_in_db
+        } else {
+            latest_block_on_chain
+                .saturating_sub(LIVE_SYNC_BLOCK_OFFSET)
+                .max(first_block)
+        }
+    }
+
     fn chain_id(chain: node_local_state::Chain) -> u32 {
         match chain {
             node_local_state::Chain::Optimism => OP_MAINNET_CHAIN_ID,
@@ -1267,8 +1290,11 @@ impl Subscriber {
         let live_sync_block;
         match self.start_block_number {
             None => {
-                // By default, start from the first block or the latest block in the db. Whichever is higher
-                live_sync_block = Some(Self::first_block(self.chain).max(latest_block_in_db));
+                live_sync_block = Some(Self::live_sync_start_block(
+                    latest_block_on_chain,
+                    latest_block_in_db,
+                    Self::first_block(self.chain),
+                ));
             }
             Some(start_block_number) => {
                 let historical_sync_start_block = latest_block_in_db.max(start_block_number);
@@ -1392,4 +1418,51 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(result, Some(9152));
     }
+
+    mod live_sync_start_block {
+        use super::*;
+
+        const FIRST_BLOCK: u64 = 100_000_000;
+        const TIP: u64 = 110_000_000;
+
+        #[test]
+        fn empty_db_starts_at_tip_minus_offset() {
+            let start = Subscriber::live_sync_start_block(TIP, 0, FIRST_BLOCK);
+            assert_eq!(start, TIP - LIVE_SYNC_BLOCK_OFFSET);
+        }
+
+        #[test]
+        fn empty_db_clamps_to_first_block_when_tip_is_close_to_genesis() {
+            // Tip is below first_block + offset, so the offset would underflow past
+            // contract deployment. Must clamp to first_block.
+            let tip = FIRST_BLOCK + 100;
+            let start = Subscriber::live_sync_start_block(tip, 0, FIRST_BLOCK);
+            assert_eq!(start, FIRST_BLOCK);
+        }
+
+        #[test]
+        fn empty_db_clamps_to_first_block_when_tip_is_below_offset() {
+            // Pathological: tip < LIVE_SYNC_BLOCK_OFFSET. saturating_sub returns 0,
+            // which must still be clamped up to first_block.
+            let start = Subscriber::live_sync_start_block(50, 0, FIRST_BLOCK);
+            assert_eq!(start, FIRST_BLOCK);
+        }
+
+        #[test]
+        fn db_ahead_of_default_resumes_from_db() {
+            let db = TIP - 10;
+            let start = Subscriber::live_sync_start_block(TIP, db, FIRST_BLOCK);
+            assert_eq!(start, db);
+        }
+
+        #[test]
+        fn db_behind_default_still_resumes_from_db() {
+            // Regression guard: if the DB checkpoint is far behind tip - offset
+            // (long downtime, stale snapshot), we MUST resume at the checkpoint —
+            // jumping to tip - offset would silently skip onchain events in the gap.
+            let db = TIP - LIVE_SYNC_BLOCK_OFFSET - 10_000;
+            let start = Subscriber::live_sync_start_block(TIP, db, FIRST_BLOCK);
+            assert_eq!(start, db);
+        }
+    }
 }