I just noticed that when I was AFK for a bit the server actually showed a message about it. This is the first time I have seen this and was curious to know if this has any affect on the spawning of mobs and such? I tend to AFK at grinders or breeders when I have to work on other things in RL and am hoping this will not have a negative affect on doing that.
This happened to me too. Also another thing i noticed is when someone pm's you it makes a little ding noise. This is what happens when aikar is bored i guess.
I was a bit confused too, but this thread explains most of it. http://empireminecraft.com/threads/mini-chat-update.32198/
Yea it was just added yesterday. its called /away and /dnd /away marks you as afk and when someone PM's u it tells them you are afk. it shouldn't affect spawning but idk /dnd marks you as DO NOT DISTURB so no one can PM you while this is on. Also when someone PM's you it makes a small ringing noise. pretty cool. its to get your attention when someone PM's u and your not looking at your screen (i do it all the time )