diff --git a/src/conftest.py b/src/conftest.py
index d36f7ba..37eda7e 100644
--- a/src/conftest.py
+++ b/src/conftest.py
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@ class PortTracker(object):
     SEARCH_COORDINATOR_PORT_OFFSET = 20294
     MIN_PORT = 5000
     MAX_PORT = 32768  # this is the lower ephemeral port range
-    MAX_BASE_PORT = MAX_PORT - max(CLUSTER_BUS_PORT_OFFSET, SEARCH_COORDINATOR_PORT_OFFSET) - MIN_PORT
+    MAX_BASE_PORT = (
+        MAX_PORT
+        - max(CLUSTER_BUS_PORT_OFFSET, SEARCH_COORDINATOR_PORT_OFFSET)
+        - MIN_PORT
+    )
     MAX_RETRIES = 100
     LOCKS_DIR = os.path.join(tempfile.gettempdir(), "port_tracker")
 
@@ -88,7 +92,9 @@ def get_unused_port(self):
             if not self._try_lock_port(port + PortTracker.CLUSTER_BUS_PORT_OFFSET):
                 self._unlock_port(port)
                 continue
-            if not self._try_lock_port(port + PortTracker.SEARCH_COORDINATOR_PORT_OFFSET):
+            if not self._try_lock_port(
+                port + PortTracker.SEARCH_COORDINATOR_PORT_OFFSET
+            ):
                 self._unlock_port(port)
                 continue
             return port
diff --git a/src/valkey_test_case.py b/src/valkey_test_case.py
index 8ffdbb3..90a3470 100644
--- a/src/valkey_test_case.py
+++ b/src/valkey_test_case.py
@@ -291,14 +291,14 @@ def restart(self, remove_rdb=True, remove_nodes_conf=True, connect_client=True):
 
     def is_alive(self):
         return self._is_alive(self.client)
-    
+
     def _is_alive(self, c):
         try:
             c.ping()
             return True
         except:
             return False
-    
+
     def connection_is_alive(self, c):
         try:
             c.ping()
@@ -535,6 +535,8 @@ def create_server(
         skip_teardown=False,
         conf_file=None,
         external_server=False,
+        wait_for_ping=True,
+        connect_client=True,
     ):
 
         if external_server:
@@ -573,7 +575,9 @@ def create_server(
             self.server_list.append(valkey_server)
         valkey_server.conf_file = conf_file
         valkey_server.args.update(args)
-        valkey_cli = valkey_server.start()
+        valkey_cli = valkey_server.start(
+            wait_for_ping=wait_for_ping, connect_client=connect_client
+        )
         return valkey_server, valkey_cli
 
     def wait_for_all_replicas_online(self, n):