max_execution_time - fpm setup with nginx

Hi, I have configured max_execution_time = 30 in php.ini. There is no place it is altered. We are running php-fpm with nginx. If request_terminate_timeout is NOT set in the php-fpm then the script does not stop!! Even though the browser times out with 504. If I set request_terminate_timeout the php process timesout at the specified time. I was assuming the php script will timeout at 30 seconds. Is this expected or anything wrong? -- Amod