Does Helldivers 2 have an AFK Timer?

Due to overcrowding of the Helldivers 2 servers, the developer introduced an AFK Timer to allow more players to enjoy the game, but things are not as they seem.

Helldivers 2 is one of 2024’s most unexpected success stories and wowed everyone, so much so that major server capacity issues plagued the shooter at launch. As a result, measures have had to be taken to make the title more accessible and stop people from queueing—essentially locking them out of the game.

Arrowhead Game Studios has significantly upped the server cap courtesy of the 1.000.12 update. But other updates have also had a big bearing on Helldivers 2 and how idleness is treated—sort of.

Is there an AFK Timer in Helldivers 2?

Helldivers 2 has an AFK Timer, introduced alongside the 1.000.11 update.

This is what Arrowhead Game Studios had to say via the update’s official post on the Helldivers 2 Discord: “Implemented a functionality that will kick players who remain idle for 15 minutes back to the title screen.”

In theory, if you do not move your character for 15 minutes in Helldivers 2, you will be kicked from the server and have to log back in. But players have noticed that not everything is as should be.

Is the Helldivers 2 AFK Timer working?

As of Feb. 27, it appears the AFK Timer for Helldivers 2 is not working as it should, with players claiming they are no longer being kicked for being AFK.

Countless users have reported they are being idle for longer than the allotted time and are not being kicked. While the developer has yet to comment on this, the consensus is that two main reasons could be the solution.

Server cap increase

With update 1.000.12 greatly increasing the server cap and allowing a lot more room for players to play Helldivers 2 and not queue anymore, it’s believed that the AFK Timer may have been removed as it’s no longer needed.

After all, the timer was introduced to allow players to play a game they otherwise couldn’t because of limited server space. If the servers now have far more room and there’s no need for anyone to queue, you don’t need an AFK Timer.

Infinite strategem glitch

Another strong theory is that the infinite strategem glitch could be linked to the AFK Timer’s sudden inactivity—ironically. When the AFK Timer was active, if you kept getting kicked, a strange bug would eventually occur that would cause you to spawn in with infinite strategems.

This means you could have countless Orbital Lasers protecting your position and making you an all-powerful, dominant machine. Again, this would be a perfectly logical explanation as to why the AFK Timer isn’t working as intended.

We’ll keep you updated with the AFK Timer issues. There are also explanations for other key mysteries in Helldivers 2, such as a potential Sample glitch.