Jagex has not confirmed a rule that forcibly logs an actively played Old School RuneScape account out after six hours. Its official 4 June 2025 update documents a different mechanism: an inactivity timer in the Official Client. That timer can be set from five to 25 minutes in five-minute steps, defaults to five minutes, and is saved separately on each device. A mobile operating system can suspend a backgrounded game sooner than the selected timer.
Those facts explain idle logouts, not the length of an active session. The six-hour claim therefore remains unverified by the official material that describes the current timer.
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The direct answer: six hours is not an officially documented active-session limit
The question “Does OSRS kick you out after 6 hours?” combines two separate ideas that need to be tested separately:
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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →- Inactivity logout: the client ends an idle session after the AFK timer expires.
- Continuous-session cutoff: the game would end an account’s session after six hours even if the player remained active.
Jagex’s official update confirms the first mechanism. It does not state that the second mechanism exists. Because the update discusses idle time rather than a maximum duration for active play, it cannot be used as proof that a six-hour cutoff is real, and it cannot be used to disprove one either.
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If you are removed while you are away from the keyboard, the documented AFK timer is the relevant explanation to check first. If you are actively interacting with the game and are disconnected at a consistent six-hour mark, the reviewed official update offers no confirmed rule that explains that pattern.
What Jagex changed in the Official Client
Jagex’s update titled “Poll 84, AFK Timers & More”, published 4 June 2025, says the Official Client gained a “new customisable AFK logout timer.” The change applies to the Official Client on both desktop and mobile.
The documented choices are deliberately limited rather than an open-ended duration. You select a value in five-minute increments, beginning at five minutes and ending at 25 minutes. Five minutes remains the default, which Jagex describes as the previous behavior. The setting is stored per device, so changing it on one computer or phone does not automatically change the value on another device.
| Documented item | What Jagex states | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Feature | Customisable AFK logout timer in the Official Client | A six-hour maximum for an active session |
| Available values | Five-minute increments from 5 through 25 minutes | Any value longer than 25 minutes |
| Default | 5 minutes | That every logout occurs exactly five minutes after any kind of disconnect |
| Storage | Saved per device | One synchronized setting across all devices |
| Platforms | Official Client on desktop and mobile | Identical behavior when a phone suspends an app in the background |
How the AFK timer works
It measures inactivity, not total play time
The timer is described as an AFK, or away-from-keyboard, logout timer. In practical terms, it is concerned with whether the client detects activity during the selected idle interval. Jagex specifically says that activity such as moving the mouse over the game window resets the AFK timer.
That reset behavior is important. A player who has been in the same location for a long time but periodically generates recognized activity is not in the same situation as a player who leaves the client untouched. The timer is not presented as a stopwatch that starts when the account logs in and continues until a fixed session length is reached.
The range is five to 25 minutes
At the default, an untouched client reaches the five-minute idle threshold. You can choose a longer interval, but only in the documented five-minute steps: 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 minutes. The 25-minute option is the maximum described in the update.
These values are client settings, not statistics about how long players usually remain logged in. They also do not represent a guarantee that a device, network or operating system will keep a session alive for that long.
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Jagex says the setting is saved per device. If you use the Official Client on a desktop and a phone, treat them as separate configurations. A change made on the desktop should not be assumed to carry over to the mobile installation, and changing the mobile value should not be expected to alter the desktop value.
Why mobile can log you out sooner
The mobile version adds a condition that does not come from the timer value itself. Jagex warns that a phone or tablet may suspend a backgrounded app independently of the client’s AFK setting. If the operating system pauses or terminates the game while it is not in the foreground, the result can be a logout sooner than the selected five-to-25-minute interval.
This means a 25-minute selection is not a promise that a backgrounded mobile session will survive for 25 minutes. The timer governs the client’s configured idle behavior; the device’s own app-management decisions can intervene first.
For a fair comparison, keep the Official Client visible when testing the chosen interval on mobile. Putting the game behind another app, locking the screen or otherwise allowing the operating system to suspend it changes the conditions described by Jagex. A mobile logout under those circumstances should not be interpreted as evidence of a six-hour active-session cutoff.
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How to choose and verify the timer
Jagex’s update confirms the feature and its values but does not publish a click-by-click menu path in the material cited here. Menu labels can therefore differ between client builds. Use the following version-neutral procedure rather than assuming that a desktop setting controls every device:
- Open the Official Client on the device you plan to use.
- Open the client’s settings and look for the option labelled for the AFK or logout timer. The update identifies the feature by that description.
- Select one of the documented intervals: 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 minutes.
- Save or close the settings according to the client’s interface. Because the value is stored per device, repeat these steps on another device if you want the same interval there.
- Test while the game remains in the foreground. This avoids confusing mobile background suspension with the configured AFK timer.
- Generate recognized activity before the interval ends. Jagex gives moving the mouse over the game window as an example of activity that resets the timer.
If the client logs out while it is visibly in use, note whether the event occurred on desktop or mobile, whether the app was foregrounded, which interval was selected and whether activity had reset the timer. Those details separate an idle-timer event from a device or connection problem.
How to interpret common situations
You leave the game untouched
An untouched Official Client can reach the configured AFK threshold. With the default setting, that threshold is five minutes; with the longest documented setting, it is 25 minutes. This is the scenario the official update directly addresses.
You move the mouse over the game window
Jagex says this activity resets the AFK timer. The reset does not create a six-hour allowance; it simply starts a new inactivity interval under the selected setting.
You play actively for several hours
The AFK update does not say that active play must end after six hours. It also does not promise that an active session can continue indefinitely. The correct conclusion from the cited material is narrower: no six-hour continuous-session rule is confirmed there.
You switch away from the mobile app
The device may suspend the backgrounded app before the selected AFK interval expires. A resulting logout is consistent with the mobile caveat and is not, by itself, evidence of a six-hour rule.
You change devices
Because the setting is saved per device, the second device may still use its own previously selected value, including the five-minute default. Check each installation independently.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the six-hour rumor could and could not mean
People often use “kicked out after six hours” to describe any unexpected disconnection during a long play session. That wording is too imprecise to identify the cause. A six-hour observation might refer to an account that was idle for part of the period, a phone that suspended the app, a network interruption or another client event. None of those possibilities turns the observation into an official six-hour policy.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesTo establish a true continuous-session limit, an official source would need to state that active accounts are forcibly ended at six hours, ideally with the applicable client, platform and conditions. The Jagex update cited here contains no such statement. It only specifies the inactivity timer and its mobile warning.
Accordingly, treat reports of a six-hour kick as unverified anecdotes unless Jagex publishes a separate rule. Do not infer a maximum session length from the AFK setting: a five-minute idle threshold and a six-hour active cutoff are different kinds of limits.
Troubleshooting a logout
- Check whether the client was idle. Compare the time without recognized activity with the selected AFK value.
- Confirm the setting on the device that disconnected. The value is not a single account-wide preference.
- On mobile, check whether the app was backgrounded or suspended. The operating system can end the session sooner than the client timer.
- Record activity before the logout. Jagex identifies mouse movement over the game window as a timer-resetting action.
- Separate a one-off disconnect from a six-hour pattern. The official update does not provide a six-hour rule, so a single event cannot confirm one.
If all of those conditions point away from inactivity or mobile suspension, the cited update does not provide enough information to diagnose the event. Use the client’s current support channels for a platform-specific explanation rather than treating the six-hour claim as established.
Bottom line for long sessions
For the current Official Client, Jagex documents an AFK logout timer with five-minute choices from five to 25 minutes, a five-minute default and per-device storage. Activity resets that timer, while mobile app suspension can cause an earlier logout. Those are inactivity and device-behavior rules. The reviewed official material does not confirm that OSRS forcibly removes actively playing accounts after six hours, so the six-hour claim remains unresolved rather than proven.
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