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We Changed One Timeout from 30 to 480 and Back to 30. In Between, It Stopped Meaning the Same Thing

Changing a session timeout back to its original number does not always restore the original behavior. Units, file precedence, cookie lifetime and SSO policies can all differ.
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Restoring a timeout to its original number does not guarantee the original behavior. A session setting means something only when you know its exact name, its unit, the file or policy where it lives, which value wins when two layers disagree, and whether a cookie or identity provider is enforcing a second clock. If any of those changed during the same edit window, the number can read 30 again while the behavior stays different.

No documentation describes this exact 30-to-480-to-30 sequence, and the title does not name a product. The closest documented analogue is Atlassian’s Jira Data Center session configuration, so the examples below use it. Read that as an inference about the pattern, not as a confirmed diagnosis of the system behind the title.

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Decide which timeout you mean before comparing numbers

The word timeout covers several mechanisms that people often treat as one. In Atlassian’s Jira Data Center support guide, the distinctions that matter are these:

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  • Idle session timeout. The period of inactivity after which the session is cleared.
  • Cookie max-age (cookie expiry). The lifetime of the session cookie. When the cookie expires, the user is logged out.
  • Remember Me cookie lifetime. The lifetime of a remembered login, configured separately in seraph-config.xml.

Asking which of these a number controls is the first step. A value of 30 in one of them and a value of 30 in another are not the same setting.

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What the Jira example actually sets

The guide’s example starts with session-timeout at 30 and changes it to 480. In the same configuration, cookie max-age is set to 28,800. The two values use different units, and the table shows what each one does.

Setting Unit Value in Atlassian’s example What it controls
session-timeout Minutes Starts at 30, changed to 480 Idle time before the session is cleared
Cookie max-age Seconds 28,800 Cookie lifetime; expiry forces logout

Both 480 minutes and 28,800 seconds equal eight hours, which makes them easy to read as the same setting. They are not. One governs how long an inactive session survives, and the other governs how long the cookie itself lasts. The guide also lists three configuration locations: the global Tomcat file at <jira-install>/conf/web.xml, the Jira application file at <jira-install>/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/web.xml, and the Remember Me settings in seraph-config.xml.

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Why restoring the number does not restore the setting

The application-level value takes precedence

According to Atlassian, a value in the Jira application configuration overrides the global Tomcat value. This creates two ways to end up with a restored number but an unrestored result:

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  • You change the global value back to 30, but the application file still carries a different value, which wins.
  • You edit the file you expect to be live, while the effective value comes from the other file.

Checking the value you typed is not enough. You need to know which file the running system reads.

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Idle timeout and cookie expiry run on separate clocks

Atlassian distinguishes idle expiry from cookie expiry. The session is cleared after the idle period, while the cookie’s expiry forces a logout on its own schedule. If the idle timeout went from 30 to 480 and back, but cookie max-age was changed during that window, the user-visible session length follows whichever mechanism ends first. Restoring 30 in one place does not reset the other.

Where the XML timeout does not reach

Atlassian cautions that Jira XML timeout changes do not apply to dashboard sessions. The same guide points to other possible sources of divergent behavior: analytics API calls, the Atlassian Bot Session Killer, third-party apps, and custom SSO configuration. The guide does not establish which of these, if any, applied to the scenario in the title. Treat them as things to check, not as findings.

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  • Dashboard sessions: may not follow the XML timeout at all.
  • Analytics API calls: can keep or refresh sessions in ways that change apparent idle time.
  • Atlassian Bot Session Killer: a session-management tool whose effect should be checked directly.
  • Third-party apps: may apply their own session handling.
  • Custom SSO configuration: may impose its own lifetimes on top of Jira’s.

The same number means different things in other products

The distinction between idle timeout and remembered-login lifetime is not unique to Jira. Atlassian’s Confluence documentation separates idle timeout from Remember Me cookie lifetime, and it states that its guide excludes Cloud and SSO-managed session behavior. Snowflake’s session policy separates idle timeout from maximum session lifespan, and its documentation includes a 480-minute maximum-lifespan example. Matching numbers across products therefore tell you nothing about which policy is in force.

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How to reconstruct what changed

  1. Record each timeout by exact setting name, file or policy location, unit, and value at three points: before the change, during it, and after you restored it.
  2. Compare both web.xml files and seraph-config.xml, not only the file you edited.
  3. Look for an application-level value that overrides the global value.
  4. Check cookie max-age alongside session-timeout. Confirm both units before comparing.
  5. Identify which session type is affected: an ordinary page, a dashboard, a Remember Me login, or an SSO-managed session.
  6. If SSO is involved, obtain the identity provider’s session policy and check its idle and maximum lifetimes.
  7. List every other change made in the same window, including analytics integrations, bot-management tools, third-party apps, and SSO configuration.

If the affected session is a dashboard session, the XML value may be the wrong thing to compare at all.

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Scope of this explanation

Atlassian’s Jira support guide is marked for Jira Software Data Center and was last updated September 25, 2025. Its file paths and precedence rules should not be assumed for Jira Cloud or for other products. Before changing any of these values, consult Atlassian’s Jira Data Center support guide and confirm which mechanism governs the session you are investigating.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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