The current disconnection timer fails to distinguish between these two very different scenarios.
I should not have to wait 5min for someone who is still connected to OGS and has therefor chosen to leave the game screen.
Report such use without hesitation to mods and while it might not be fixed instantly, there is a good chance that the user will adjust their use of the site after a polite explanation from the mod team.
Correct, it does not distinguish, Iām saying thatās what you have to do to check for yourself.
My point is that when you do check for yourself, the vast majority of the time you will find that the person was not ādisconnectedā, they just left.
I report it every single time it happens. However when I was a new player, I did not know about or understand the report functionality. And again, this is an issue that effects new players the most.
My question is this: why do we have to have all these extra things, reporting people, taking up Mod time to explain to them etiquette, checking their profile, etc. when we could just reduce the clock and still have it work fine for 99% of cases? Why not just have a 1 minute clock? Or 2 minutes?
I am not trying to say there shouldnāt be a disconnect clock. I am saying that 5 minutes is too long.
Fwiw my indicator is usually green because I leave tabs open on my laptop, but I usually play on my phone. My indicator is safe and green at home and Iām in the subway.
Iām not sure you understand how different in nature are these three things:
The fact that they are the same to you tells me how you approach the whole subject.
there still seems to be a misunderstanding here. as @Kosh has already said, in case of a disconnect the game clock keeps running alongside the disconnect timer. if either clock expires, the game is lost. the disconnect timer can therefore never prolong a game past the timesettings the players chose (how i would define āabuseā). it can only shorten the waiting time and cannot actually be abused at all.
this is not a feature protecting escapers, nor is it meant to punish them. it is meant to keep the waiting time in a somewhat tolerable range, while still allowing for genuine connection issues (for whatever reason) to go unpunished.
personally i dont think 5mins is excessive as a maximum cap for waiting time, but since i play correspondence almost exclusively my opinion is probably rightfully dismissedā¦ stillā¦ i do feel that 1min is way too short. if some common ground can be found inbetween, all the better 
.
[unrelated question to our code-fluent members: is it possible to treat the disconnect timer individually for each user? and, say, shorten the timer each instance it depletes? ofc there would also have to be a way to regain the full amount.
im not sure at all how useful this would be, or if the complications would be worth it. it might even do more harm than goodā¦]
Thank you , @kickaha. You have stated it more clearly than I did in my first comment. So let me reiterate, in my observational experience, at least half of the disconnections in 9x9 games are ended by the game clock, not by the disconnect clock, and I would estimate that is in about 2 minutes.
This is not true. The disconnection clock not only intended to fix a problem, it did fix the problem. But you have to know what the problem was: escapers who left, for example, 15 or 20 minutes of main time on the clock. Today, the longest wait is 5 minutes, not 10, or 15, or 20 minutes.
The trouble with this thread is that it is rehashing an argument that played out more than two years ago, in what I called the ā2-minute controversy.ā
BTW, persistent escapers do get banned, usually on a three-strikes standard (i.e., two warnings and a ban). I never feel my time is wasted on escapers, because persistent escapers often misbehave in other ways too (score cheating, verbal abuse, etc).
2 minutes would be ok too, I guess, but itās not really up to me to decide 
. I just wanted too say that not every DDK is being mean or an escaper but Iām aware that there are bad mannered people here on OGS. Some of the bad manners can be the result of ignorance or lack of knowledge (even though some of it should be common knowledge).
[unrelated to your question @DS138 ]:
This tread along with some other treads that I donāt remember right now have made me think of when I joined OGS. I donāt remember if I ever saw the rules of OGS or the game when I joined (The game rules part might be more accessible now).
Making the rules of OGS more accessible might be a small solution? If I remember correct the rules are on another website, along with a bit of information of the OGS website and itās features? Itās not very intuitive and I still donāt know where to find it. Maybe have the rules on the website or at least a link to it on the OGS website?
Side note: I stumbled upon it once when someone linked it but I donāt remember the site and forgot to bookmark it
I know it probably wonāt stop those that practice bad manners on purpose but it might prevent those who do it because of lack on knowledge/ignorance.
5 minutes is about right. If your computer hangs it takes a little while to realise it has hanged, then you have to reboot - can take a couple of minutes - then reconnect to the internet - and log back in. Not everybody boots off an SSD and has a broadband connection to the internet.
If your opponent disconnects, look at the chat or the news or something until he/she comes back. If you cannot occupy yourself for 5 minutes, itās not OGS that needs to change, itās you.
You would be surprised at the diversity on OGS.
We have many many users in places where ācomputers never crash and internet will never have more then a couple second hangā is not an accurate depiction.
I can tell you from experience when I have been in China for example, connections to foreign servers hanging for a couple minutes at a time was not strange. One time when checking outlook online the connection to Microsoft serves took 10 minutes to go through.
Also, as pointed out, if the playerās game time runs out, they lose. When you start a game, you agree it to give the player that time. Doesnāt matter if they use it to do headstands, then blitz like hell just before time out, use it all on one move, use it to make a phone call to their stylistā¦ That is their time.
We SHOULD error on annoyance, because honestly, trying to tell any player that they lost on time because they did not make a move soon enough WHEN THEY STILL HAVE TIME ON THE CLOCK is not accurate. I understand ābut I know they are not coming back so letās not waste timeā, but the fact is you donāt know that and by the rules of the game their time is their time, if their eyes are closed, if they are on the balcony smoking, if they are taking a drink OR closing their browser. I agree it is an annoying experience, but it is the same as players using all their time in corrā¦ Yeah that is their right. Set a time you are ok with.