Creating an AFK timer with C#

Question

I am trying to create a timer where if the user has not put any keyboard input for 10 minutes, then a console message will appear saying that the user is AFK. I am very new to C# so I would gladly take any help from anyone.

My code: (Look at the bottom, that's where the issue occurs)

using System.Configuration.Assemblies;
using System;
using System.Timers;

public class PlayerStats {
    
    private Timer afkTimer;

    // Health-related stats
    public const int StartingHealth = 100;
    public const int DeathHealth = 0;
    public const int CurrentHealth = 100;

    // Player attributes
    public int Bonus { get; set; } = 0;
    public int InventorySpace { get; set; } = 9;
    public int JumpHeight { get; set; } = 100; // Approximately in centimeters
    public int Scaling { get; set; } = 1;

    // Status bars
    public const int MaxWaterBar = 100;
    public const int MaxFoodBar = 100;
    public const int MaxEnergyBar = 100;

    // Crouching
    public const int CrouchHeight = -50; // Approximately in centimeters

    // Oxygen limits
    public int MaxOxygenSmall { get; set; } = 3;
    public int MaxOxygenMedium { get; set; } = 2;
    public int MaxOxygenLarge { get; set; } = 1;

    // Player status flags
    public bool IsInventoryFull { get; set; } = false;
    public bool IsEnergyBarFull { get; set; } = false;
    public bool IsFoodBarFull { get; set; } = false;
    public bool IsWaterBarFull { get; set; } = false;
    public bool IsHealthBarFull { get; set; } = false;
    public bool IsWearingSpaceSuit { get; set; } = false;
    public bool IsAFK { get; set; } = false;

    // AFK handling
    public const int AfkTimeUntilKick = 10; // Minutes

    // Environment properties
    public int SurroundingGravity { get; set; } = 0;
    public int SurroundingNpcEntities { get; set; } = 0;
    public const int SurroundingNpcEntityCap = 25;

    public void CheckHealthStatus(){
            if (CurrentHealth <= 0){
                Console.WriteLine("Player Is Dead.");
    }
            if (CurrentHealth > 0){
                Console.WriteLine("Player is Alive!");
            }
    }

    public void CheckIfPlayerAFK(){
        if (AfkTimeUntilKick >= 10){
            Console.WriteLine("Player Is AFK!");
            afkTimer = new Timer(1000); // Timer interval in milliseconds (1000ms = 1 second)
            afkTimer.Elapsed += OnAfkTimerElapsed; // Attach event handler
            afkTimer.AutoReset = true; // Keep the timer running repeatedly
            afkTimer.Enabled = true; // Start the timer
        }
    }

}

I tried looking at another stack overflow questions relating to this, but it had nothing about mixing keyboard input and this. I am expecting this to write a message once every 10 minutes, if the player did not have any keyboard input during that 10 minutes. Feel free to ask any questions, Thanks!

After Cory Green Helped, This error popped up: Top Level Statements Must Preceed NameSpace and Type Declarations

Answer 1

I believe you would benefit by using some kind of Watchdog Timer that restarts whenever a key is pressed. This code snippet shows one that you could add using the NuGet Package Manager, but to be clear any such control would work. The key is that you're able to restart it within a certain time interval, and it doesn't "go off" until that interval has elapsed from the last restart.

---

Minimal Example using a Console Application

This is a PORTABLE approach that works on any UI platform. You just need to hook up any key event.

//<PackageReference Include="IVSoftware.Portable.WatchdogTimer" Version="1.2.1" />
using IVSoftware.Portable;

TimeSpan AFK_DELAY = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30);

WatchdogTimer _wdtAFK = new WatchdogTimer { Interval = AFK_DELAY};

// This subscribes to the event that occurs when the WDT
// expires, which happens AFK_DELAY after the last keystroke.
_wdtAFK.RanToCompletion += (sender, e) => 
    Console.WriteLine($@"{DateTime.Now:hh\:mm\:ss} Player has abandoned post.");

// Start the WDT. If there are no keystrokes at 
// all it will expire after the AFK_DELAY interval.
_wdtAFK.StartOrRestart();

Console.Title = "WDT Demo for AFK";
Console.WriteLine($@"{DateTime.Now:hh\:mm\:ss} WELCOME: You have {AFK_DELAY.TotalSeconds} seconds to hit a key.");

// This look is checking for new key presses.
while (true)
{
    if (Console.KeyAvailable)
    {
        // When a keystroke is detected, it restarts the WDT.
        _wdtAFK.StartOrRestart();
        ConsoleKeyInfo keyInfo = Console.ReadKey(intercept: true);

        Console.WriteLine($@"{DateTime.Now:hh\:mm\:ss} You pressed: {keyInfo.Key}");

        if (keyInfo.Key == ConsoleKey.Escape)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Exiting program...");
            break;
        }
    }
    else await Task.Delay(100); // Throttle loop to prevent CPU overuse
}

Answer 2

 public const int AfkTimeUntilKick = 10;

 public void CheckIfPlayerAFK(){
        if (AfkTimeUntilKick >= 10){
            Console.WriteLine("Player Is AFK!");
            afkTimer = new Timer(1000); // Timer interval in milliseconds (1000ms = 1 second)
            afkTimer.Elapsed += OnAfkTimerElapsed; // Attach event handler
            afkTimer.AutoReset = true; // Keep the timer running repeatedly
            afkTimer.Enabled = true; // Start the timer
        }
    }

Since AfkTimeUntilKick is 10, CheckIfPlayerAFK will always say the player is AFK every time the CheckIfPlayerAFK method is called because 10 is equal to 10.

An easier way to do this would be to create the timer in either the class constructor, or the start method of your game/app, and have it wait 10 minutes.

So something like:

public PlayerStats() //The classes constructor as an example
{
    InitializeAfkTimer(); //Lets start the timer
}

private void InitializeAfkTimer()
{
    afkTimer = new Timer(AfkTimeUntilKick * 60 * 1000); //10 Minutes
    afkTimer.Elapsed += OnAfkTimerElapsed;//Timer Event
    afkTimer.AutoReset = false; // Only trigger once
}

private void OnAfkTimerElapsed(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Player has been AFK for 10 minutes.");
        // We waited 10 minutes, and the timer has been elapsed.
    }

So we have a timer that is started, that waits 10 minutes and then says the player has been AFK for 10 minutes. But it doesn't reset if the player presses a key.

With the limited info provided I would assume this is a .NET app or similar game engine, here's an example on how you can reset the AFK timer

public void ResetAfkMonitor()
{
    if (afkTimer.Enabled)
    {
        afkTimer.Stop();
        afkTimer.Start();
        Console.WriteLine("AFK monitor reset.");
    }
}

So somewhere in your movement or input code, call this method whenever a key is pressed. It would be easier if you could directly implement that in the class that handles movement. It's odd to me that this is being called in the PlayerStats class, maybe in the player controller or some other behavioral script this may apply better.

If this helps and solves your problem, please mark it as correct!

Good luck. :)