diff --git a/awx/settings/defaults.py b/awx/settings/defaults.py
index b381548668..89d1727188 100644
--- a/awx/settings/defaults.py
+++ b/awx/settings/defaults.py
@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ STDOUT_MAX_BYTES_DISPLAY = 1048576
 # on how many events to display before truncating/hiding
 MAX_UI_JOB_EVENTS = 4000
 
+# Returned in index.html, tells the UI if it should make requests
+# to update job data in response to status changes websocket events
+UI_LIVE_UPDATES_ENABLED = True
+
 # The maximum size of the ansible callback event's res data structure
 # beyond this limit and the value will be removed
 MAX_EVENT_RES_DATA = 700000
diff --git a/awx/ui/client/src/app.js b/awx/ui/client/src/app.js
index 529e5d7abe..fc79e6a015 100644
--- a/awx/ui/client/src/app.js
+++ b/awx/ui/client/src/app.js
@@ -146,7 +146,11 @@ var awApp = angular.module('awApp', [
     .constant('AngularScheduler.showUTCField', true)
     .constant('$timezones.definitions.location', urlPrefix + 'lib/angular-tz-extensions/tz/data')
     .config(['$logProvider', function($logProvider) {
-        $logProvider.debugEnabled($ENV['ng-debug'] || false);
+        window.debug = function(){
+            $logProvider.debugEnabled(!$logProvider.debugEnabled());
+            return $logProvider.debugEnabled();
+        };
+        window.debug(false);
     }])
     .config(['ngToastProvider', function(ngToastProvider) {
         ngToastProvider.configure({
diff --git a/awx/ui/client/src/shared/socket/socket.service.js b/awx/ui/client/src/shared/socket/socket.service.js
index f520fbcbe9..7c51298a72 100644
--- a/awx/ui/client/src/shared/socket/socket.service.js
+++ b/awx/ui/client/src/shared/socket/socket.service.js
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ export default
 ['$rootScope', '$location', '$log','$state', '$q', 'i18n',
     function ($rootScope, $location, $log, $state, $q, i18n) {
         var needsResubscribing = false,
-        socketPromise = $q.defer();
+        socketPromise = $q.defer(),
+        needsRefreshAfterBlur;
         return {
             init: function() {
                 var self = this,
@@ -24,6 +25,26 @@ export default
                 }
                 url = `${protocol}://${host}/websocket/`;
 
+                // only toggle background tabbed sockets if the
+                // UI_LIVE_UPDATES_ENABLED flag is true in the settings file
+                if(window.liveUpdates){
+                    document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', function() {
+                        $log.debug(document.visibilityState);
+                        if(document.visibilityState === 'hidden'){
+                            window.liveUpdates = false;
+                        }
+                        else if(document.visibilityState === 'visible'){
+                            window.liveUpdates = true;
+                            if(needsRefreshAfterBlur){
+                                $state.go('.', null, {reload: true});
+                                needsRefreshAfterBlur = false;
+                            }
+
+                        }
+                    });
+                }
+
+
                 if (!$rootScope.sessionTimer || ($rootScope.sessionTimer && !$rootScope.sessionTimer.isExpired())) {
 
                     $log.debug('Socket connecting to: ' + url);
@@ -75,6 +96,13 @@ export default
                 $log.debug('Received From Server: ' + e.data);
 
                 var data = JSON.parse(e.data), str = "";
+
+                if(!window.liveUpdates && data.group_name !== "control" && $state.current.name !== "jobResult"){
+                    $log.debug('Message from server dropped: ' + e.data);
+                    needsRefreshAfterBlur = true;
+                    return;
+                }
+
                 if(data.group_name==="jobs" && !('status' in data)){
                     // we know that this must have been a
                     // summary complete message b/c status is missing.
diff --git a/awx/ui/conf.py b/awx/ui/conf.py
index 0d626c28f0..df88890faf 100644
--- a/awx/ui/conf.py
+++ b/awx/ui/conf.py
@@ -63,3 +63,13 @@ register(
     category=_('UI'),
     category_slug='ui',
 )
+
+register(
+    'UI_LIVE_UPDATES_ENABLED',
+    field_class=fields.BooleanField,
+    label=_('Enable Live Updates in the UI'),
+    help_text=_('If disabled, the page will not refresh when events are received. '
+                'Reloading the page will be required to get the latest details.'),
+    category=_('UI'),
+    category_slug='ui',
+)
diff --git a/awx/ui/templates/ui/index.html b/awx/ui/templates/ui/index.html
index 38bbad9de3..3dae008dc7 100644
--- a/awx/ui/templates/ui/index.html
+++ b/awx/ui/templates/ui/index.html
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     <link rel="shortcut icon" href="{{ STATIC_URL }}assets/favicon.ico?v={{version}}" />
     <script>
     var $basePath = "{{ STATIC_URL }}";
+    window.liveUpdates = "{{ UI_LIVE_UPDATES_ENABLED }}" === "False" ? false : true;
     </script>
     <script src="{{ STATIC_URL }}app.vendor.js?v={{version}}"></script>
     <script src="{{ STATIC_URL }}app.js?v={{version}}"></script>
diff --git a/awx/ui/views.py b/awx/ui/views.py
index 0a47154615..994da49732 100644
--- a/awx/ui/views.py
+++ b/awx/ui/views.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # All Rights Reserved.
 
 from django.views.generic.base import TemplateView, RedirectView
+from django.conf import settings
 
 class IndexView(TemplateView):
 
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ class IndexView(TemplateView):
 
     def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
         context = super(IndexView, self).get_context_data(**kwargs)
+        context['UI_LIVE_UPDATES_ENABLED'] = settings.UI_LIVE_UPDATES_ENABLED
         # Add any additional context info here.
         return context