Do PHP sessions timeout by default - ie without any coding on my part would a user eventually be "logged out" after some time of inactivity?
It depends on the server configuration or the relevant directives session.gc_maxlifetime in php.ini.
Typically the default is 24 minutes (1440 seconds), but your webhost may have altered the default to something else.
You can change it in you php-configuration on your webserver.
Search in php.ini for
session.gc_maxlifetime()
The value is set in Seconds.
Yes, that's usually happens after 1440s (24 minutes)
http://php.net/session.gc-maxlifetime
session.gc_maxlifetime = 1440
(1440 seconds = 24 minutes)
You can set the session time out in php.ini. The default value is 1440 seconds
session.gc_maxlifetime = 1440
; NOTE: If you are using the subdirectory option for storing session files
; (see session.save_path above), then garbage collection does *not*
; happen automatically. You will need to do your own garbage
; collection through a shell script, cron entry, or some other method.
; For example, the following script would is the equivalent of
; setting session.gc_maxlifetime to 1440 (1440 seconds = 24 minutes):
; find /path/to/sessions -cmin +24 -type f | xargs rm
Yes typically, a session will end after 20 minutes in PHP.
