diff --git a/code/idle.js b/code/idle.js
index 39a4ab83..3c54c78c 100644
--- a/code/idle.js
+++ b/code/idle.js
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
 // IDLE HANDLING /////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-window.idleTime = 0; // in minutes
+window.idleTime = 0; // in seconds
+
+var IDLE_POLL_TIME = 10;
+
+var idlePoll = function() {
+  window.idleTime += IDLE_POLL_TIME;
+}
+
+setInterval(idlePoll, IDLE_POLL_TIME*1000);
 
-setInterval('window.idleTime += 1', 60*1000);
 var idleReset = function () {
   // update immediately when the user comes back
   if(isIdle()) {
@@ -13,7 +20,24 @@ var idleReset = function () {
   }
   window.idleTime = 0;
 };
-$('body').mousemove(idleReset).keypress(idleReset);
+
+// only reset idle on mouse move where the coordinates are actually different.
+// some browsers send the event when not moving!
+var _lastMouseX=-1, _lastMouseY=-1;
+var idleMouseMove = function(e) {
+  var dX = _lastMouseX-e.clientX;
+  var dY = _lastMouseY-e.clientY;
+  var deltaSquared = dX*dX + dY*dY;
+  // only treat movements over 3 pixels as enough to reset us
+  if (deltaSquared > 3*3) {
+    _lastMouseX = e.clientX;
+    _lastMouseY = e.clientY;
+    idleReset();
+  }
+}
+
+$('body').keypress(idleReset);
+$('body').mousemove(idleMouseMove);
 
 window.isIdle = function() {
   return window.idleTime >= MAX_IDLE_TIME;
diff --git a/main.js b/main.js
index 4db68a51..f3ee42e1 100644
--- a/main.js
+++ b/main.js
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ window.ZOOM_LEVEL_ADJ = 5; // add 5 seconds per zoom level
 window.ON_MOVE_REFRESH = 1.25;  //refresh time to use after a movement event
 window.MINIMUM_OVERRIDE_REFRESH = 5; //limit on refresh time since previous refresh, limiting repeated move refresh rate
 window.REFRESH_GAME_SCORE = 15*60; // refresh game score every 15 minutes
-window.MAX_IDLE_TIME = 4; // stop updating map after 4min idling
+window.MAX_IDLE_TIME = 4*60; // stop updating map after 4min idling
 window.PRECACHE_PLAYER_NAMES_ZOOM = 17; // zoom level to start pre-resolving player names
 window.HIDDEN_SCROLLBAR_ASSUMED_WIDTH = 20;
 window.SIDEBAR_WIDTH = 300;