diff --git a/clientapi/routing/presence.go b/clientapi/routing/presence.go
index 80314bfef..63fbb75ef 100644
--- a/clientapi/routing/presence.go
+++ b/clientapi/routing/presence.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func SetPresence(
 	producer *producers.SyncAPIProducer,
 	userID string,
 ) util.JSONResponse {
-	if !cfg.Matrix.Presence.EnableInbound {
+	if !cfg.Matrix.Presence.EnableOutbound {
 		return util.JSONResponse{
 			Code: http.StatusOK,
 			JSON: struct{}{},
diff --git a/setup/config/config_global.go b/setup/config/config_global.go
index 870d1e6bd..c1650f077 100644
--- a/setup/config/config_global.go
+++ b/setup/config/config_global.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ type Global struct {
 	// to other servers and the federation API will not be exposed.
 	DisableFederation bool `yaml:"disable_federation"`
 
-	// Disable presence. Dendrite will not handle presence events.
+	// Configures the handling of presence events.
 	Presence PresenceOptions `yaml:"presence"`
 
 	// List of domains that the server will trust as identity servers to
@@ -229,7 +229,10 @@ func (c *DNSCacheOptions) Verify(configErrs *ConfigErrors, isMonolith bool) {
 	checkPositive(configErrs, "cache_lifetime", int64(c.CacheLifetime))
 }
 
+// PresenceOptions defines possible configurations for presence events.
 type PresenceOptions struct {
-	EnableInbound  bool `yaml:"enable_inbound"`
+	// Whether inbound presence events are allowed
+	EnableInbound bool `yaml:"enable_inbound"`
+	// Whether outbound presence events are allowed
 	EnableOutbound bool `yaml:"enable_outbound"`
 }
diff --git a/syncapi/streams/stream_presence.go b/syncapi/streams/stream_presence.go
index 032a2ce5a..a24edad59 100644
--- a/syncapi/streams/stream_presence.go
+++ b/syncapi/streams/stream_presence.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func (p *PresenceStreamProvider) IncrementalSync(
 	}
 
 	// get all joined users
-	// TODO: SharedUsers might get out of syncf
+	// TODO: SharedUsers might get out of sync
 	sharedUsers := p.notifier.SharedUsers(req.Device.UserID)
 
 	sharedUsersMap := map[string]bool{
diff --git a/syncapi/sync/requestpool.go b/syncapi/sync/requestpool.go
index 7af685506..cf667337d 100644
--- a/syncapi/sync/requestpool.go
+++ b/syncapi/sync/requestpool.go
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@ func NewRequestPool(
 		producer: producer,
 	}
 	go rp.cleanLastSeen()
-
 	go rp.cleanPresence(db, time.Minute*5)
 	return rp
 }
@@ -96,6 +95,9 @@ func (rp *RequestPool) cleanLastSeen() {
 }
 
 func (rp *RequestPool) cleanPresence(db storage.Presence, cleanupTime time.Duration) {
+	if !rp.cfg.Matrix.Presence.EnableOutbound {
+		return
+	}
 	for {
 		rp.presence.Range(func(key interface{}, v interface{}) bool {
 			p := v.(types.PresenceInternal)
@@ -111,7 +113,7 @@ func (rp *RequestPool) cleanPresence(db storage.Presence, cleanupTime time.Durat
 
 // updatePresence sends presence updates to the SyncAPI and FederationAPI
 func (rp *RequestPool) updatePresence(db storage.Presence, presence string, userID string) {
-	if !rp.cfg.Matrix.Presence.EnableInbound {
+	if !rp.cfg.Matrix.Presence.EnableOutbound {
 		return
 	}
 	if presence == "" {