diff --git a/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/initialization/XnatWebAppInitializer.java b/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/initialization/XnatWebAppInitializer.java
index 78901edce38b3d386a852d55685259b049e30b93..66eac2b498d7715368d0184403ee8515fc12fe62 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/initialization/XnatWebAppInitializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/initialization/XnatWebAppInitializer.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.support.PropertiesLoaderUtils;
-import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
 import org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy;
 import org.springframework.web.servlet.support.AbstractAnnotationConfigDispatcherServletInitializer;
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/security/XnatSessionEventPublisher.java b/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/security/XnatSessionEventPublisher.java
index 19ccdfc73c6697c8febcfabf450391473484302e..437c17d7a9d91ea4d370f246514e258231d3acbb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/security/XnatSessionEventPublisher.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/nrg/xnat/security/XnatSessionEventPublisher.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  */
 package org.nrg.xnat.security;
 
+import org.nrg.xdat.XDAT;
 import org.nrg.xft.security.UserI;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ public class XnatSessionEventPublisher implements HttpSessionListener, ServletCo
         }
 
         session.setAttribute("XNAT_CSRF", UUID.randomUUID().toString());
-
+        session.setMaxInactiveInterval(XDAT.getSiteConfigPreferences().getSessionTimeout()*60);//Preference is in minutes and setMaxInactiveInterval wants seconds.
         getContext(session.getServletContext()).publishEvent(e);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml b/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml
index 26b66ad2430bbdc7b0712dce6bda200ab5e8c860..d0530e4c6d9df80ab6385087bfaf8f06acdbd1d2 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml
+++ b/src/main/resources/META-INF/xnat/spawner/site-admin-elements.yaml
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ userLoginsSessionControls:
             id: sessionTimeout
             name: sessionTimeout
             label: Session Timeout
-            description: "Interval for timing out alias tokens"
+            description: "Number of minutes of inactivity before users are locked out of the site. This will not affect users that are currently logged in."
         aliasTokenTimeout:
             kind: panel.input.text
             id: aliasTokenTimeout
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/page/admin/data/config/site-admin.json b/src/main/webapp/page/admin/data/config/site-admin.json
index 47ea35fd9d52c7c4b969244c1a1541e1c3d32ae0..889d9ee18bb27dba71d05e9da0fdeca0bfe884ed 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/page/admin/data/config/site-admin.json
+++ b/src/main/webapp/page/admin/data/config/site-admin.json
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@
                             "attr": {
                                 "size": "3"
                             },
-                            "description": "Interval for timing out alias tokens. Uses PostgreSQL interval notation: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/functions-datetime.html"
+                            "description": "Number of minutes of inactivity before users are locked out of the site. This will not affect users that are currently logged in."
                         },
                         {
                             "kind": "textarea",
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/page/admin/fake.jsp b/src/main/webapp/page/admin/fake.jsp
index 5d63f24f09323bea4e3e452802c48e86fb0c9e6d..18e16850573a3bd3d634a89b2f828ecfac2c7261 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/page/admin/fake.jsp
+++ b/src/main/webapp/page/admin/fake.jsp
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@
                                     <label class="element-label" for="session-timeout-input">Session Timeout</label>
                                     <div class="element-wrapper">
                                         <input name="sessionTimeout" id="session-timeout-input" type="text" size="3" title="Session Timeout">
-                                        <div class="description">Interval for timing out alias tokens. Uses PostgreSQL interval notation: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/functions-datetime.html</div>
+                                        <div class="description">Number of minutes of inactivity before users are locked out of the site. This will not affect users that are currently logged in.</div>
                                     </div>
                                 </div>
                                 <div class="panel-element" data-name="sessionTimeoutMessage">