Techniques within a network device to execute periodic packet management (PPM) used to determine the health of a network. The inline mode of periodic packet management may be more efficient than other modes of periodic packet management such as centralized mode or distributed mode. The number of inline entries for a given hardware table may be limited, which means that once the number of inline entries in the table has reached the size limit, then any new entries must be managed in the distributed mode or the centralized mode. The techniques of this disclosure may improve the efficiency of a network device by replacing inline entries handled at a lower frequency in the hardware table with entries for periodic packets that are handled with a higher frequency (shorter periodic interval). In this manner, the entries with shorter periodic intervals may be managed using the more efficient inline mode.