Php Session Variables Destroyed Without Instruction For This - php

Question

I just use Session Variables in my code. I do not start any activity with cookies. I just do session_start() and do the manipulation of the variables.
But at the end of some time (about 30 minutes) the session goes down. If I do print_r ($ _ SESSION) the session is in void.
I've tried set session.gc_maxlifetime to 7200 (2 hours), but the session is destroyed in less than 30 minutes again.
How can I resolve this? It's normal? Should the session not only be destroyed if I close the browser or give the statement/instruction to session_destroy?

Answer 1

The default timeout is 24 minutes.
Other than php.ini, you can change it in code. You could try this:
// server should keep session data for AT LEAST 1 hour
ini_set('session.gc_maxlifetime', 3600);
// each client should remember their session id for EXACTLY 1 hour
session_set_cookie_params(3600);
session_start(); // ready to go!
from this answer: How to change the session timeout in PHP?
An article on it:
https://bytes.com/topic/php/insights/889606-setting-timeout-php-sessions
which gives code that I've adapted to 2 hours.
session_start();
$timeout = 7200; // Number of seconds until it times out.
// Check if the timeout field exists.
if(isset($_SESSION['timeout'])) {
// See if the number of seconds since the last
// visit is larger than the timeout period.
$duration = time() - (int)$_SESSION['timeout'];
if($duration > $timeout) {
// Destroy the session and restart it.
session_destroy();
session_start();
}
}
// Update the timout field with the current time.
$_SESSION['timeout'] = time();
php.net page on it:
http://php.net/manual/en/function.session-set-cookie-params.php
Other stack answers verify this (some highly rated):
PHP sessions default timeout
How do I expire a PHP session after 30 minutes?

Answer 2

Session variables are meant to hold information until the browser is closed. I am not quite sure what you want to achieve in your project, since you have not posted any code.
Something simple like not putting session_write_close(); at the end of your php script or session_start() at the very beginning, before any html tags could be messing your code.