diff --git a/doc/XMLreference.rst b/doc/XMLreference.rst
index 407d43d1..801cee92 100644
--- a/doc/XMLreference.rst
+++ b/doc/XMLreference.rst
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ adjust it properly through the XML.
 
 .. _option-sleep_tolerance:
 
-:at:`sleep_tolerance`: :at-val:`real, "1e-4"`
+:at:`sleep_tolerance`: :at-val:`real, "1e-3"`
    Velocity tolerance below which :ref:`sleeping<Sleeping>` is allowed.
 
 .. _option-sdf_iterations:
diff --git a/doc/changelog.rst b/doc/changelog.rst
index 60698f21..c2ffe06d 100644
--- a/doc/changelog.rst
+++ b/doc/changelog.rst
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ General
      exclusively in the compressed sparse row (CSR) format ``mjData.M``.
    - :ref:`mju_round` now breaks ties away from zero rather than towards :math:`+\infty`. This only affects
      negative half-integers, e.g. ``mju_round(-2.5)`` now returns -3 rather than -2.
+   - Changed the default value of :ref:`sleep_tolerance<option-sleep_tolerance>` from 1e-4 to 1e-3 (1mm/sec in SI
+     units).
 
 Version 3.10.0 (June 22, 2026)
 ------------------------------
diff --git a/doc/mjwarp/index.rst b/doc/mjwarp/index.rst
index add25fb3..0e3d4877 100644
--- a/doc/mjwarp/index.rst
+++ b/doc/mjwarp/index.rst
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ high-performance tensor/matrix operations optimized for fixed tile sizes.
 
 .. note::
    Consider increasing the sleep tolerance setting (e.g., ``sleep_tolerance="0.01"`` in XML options or
-   ``spec.option.sleep_tolerance = 0.01`` in Python) from its default value (0.0001) to more quickly
+   ``spec.option.sleep_tolerance = 0.01`` in Python) from its default value (0.001) to more quickly
    sleep objects.
 
 .. _mjwBatch:
diff --git a/sample/testspeed.cc b/sample/testspeed.cc
index 4dc3e623..4dc86dbf 100644
--- a/sample/testspeed.cc
+++ b/sample/testspeed.cc
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
       "  --integrator=I         Euler     Euler, RK4, Implicit, ImplicitFast\n"
       "  --iterations=N         100       solver iterations limit\n"
       "  --tolerance=X          1e-8      solver tolerance\n"
-      "  --sleep_tolerance=X    1e-4      sleep tolerance\n"
+      "  --sleep_tolerance=X    1e-3      sleep tolerance\n"
       "  --noslip_iterations=N  0         noslip solver iterations limit\n"
       "  --help (or no arguments)         print this help message\n"
       "\n"
diff --git a/src/engine/engine_init.c b/src/engine/engine_init.c
index 2d6855f6..2232473b 100644
--- a/src/engine/engine_init.c
+++ b/src/engine/engine_init.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ void mj_defaultOption(mjOption* opt) {
   opt->ccd_tolerance      = 1e-6;
 
   // sleep settings
-  opt->sleep_tolerance    = 1e-4;
+  opt->sleep_tolerance    = 1e-3;
 
   // physical constants
   opt->gravity[0]         = 0;