What Does AFK Mean In Gaming? (Explained!)

AFK stands for “away from keyboard”. In gaming, this expression is used in a few different contexts, but the basic meaning is “I am not playing the game right now” even though you are in it. The person may have stood up to go for a break, so they are “away from keyboard”.

AFK is one of the most ubiquitous gaming terms out there, and it is a really practical one that most gamers will need on a day-to-day basis.

In team games, it’s really important to be able to quickly convey that you’ll be gone for a certain amount of time.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

Why do gamers say AFK?

Gamers say AFK for a couple of reasons, but as I said, its fundamental meaning is “away from keyboard”.

Abbreviations and initialisms of this kind are very common both in internet lingo and gaming.

It’s most commonly just a short, snappy way of saying “I just have to get up and do something for a minute”, such as take a bathroom break or get a drink of water.

It’s used in all sorts of games online.

“Can we wait a second? I’m just going AFK for five minutes,” for example might be how it’s used.

It’s very common in team games, and is a good and fast way to let your team know that you won’t be at your computer or console for a minute or two.

That is another important point to cover.

While “AFK” literally stands for “away from keyboard”, it is certainly not a term that is exclusively used in PC gaming.

You can say you are AFK even if you are using a console with a controller. It’s just a catch-all term to mean you aren’t playing.

Importantly, though, this isn’t its only sense.

It can also mean more generally things you can do in a game while you aren’t paying a great deal of attention.

Something you can do while “AFK”, only occasionally looking at the screen to click buttons or do something.

“This is a great AFK activity,” for example. It’s taking on a broader meaning than it first had.

In some ways, it’s supplanted the older “BRB”, meaning “be right back”.

This is definitely still in use, but in gaming people do tend to prefer AFK for one reason or another.

So, where does this term come from?

Where did AFK come from?

Unfortunately, like many internet acronyms and slang terms, we don’t really know when or where AFK first started being used.

Of course, it does seem like a very natural term to arise, but how it became standard is not known.

It has been in use since the 1990s, so it is in that sense it’s a pretty bedrock internet term.

It was most likely just used in internet chatrooms to indicate that you weren’t at your computer and might not respond for a little while, as it certainly seems to have predated the term “BRB” as I mentioned earlier.

That was a later addition to the internet lexicon.

It may also have originated in popular online games from the early period of the internet such as Counter-Strike.

The truth is we just don’t know for sure.

It has different meanings in the modern day depending on what game you’re playing, so let’s look at a few examples.

What does AFK mean in Roblox?

AFK is very commonly used in the popular game Roblox.

Roblox has a huge variety of playstyles since it is so filled with user content, so you could be playing fast-paced, time-limited team games or you could just be hanging out with your friends.

Naturally, the significance of it will be slightly different depending on what you’re doing.

Either way, though, it just means you’ll be back shortly—whether that means the games should continue without you for a moment or everything continues as it is.

What does AFK mean in COD?

Naturally, in a game like Call of Duty, being AFK means you can’t participate in the game.

Friends will often form lobbies together outside of the game lobbies, though, so you might tell your friends you’ll be AFK for the next game—so you won’t be playing.

As I said, this is very similar to how it would have been used in old-school games like Counter-Strike.

What does AFK mean in RuneScape?

RuneScape is a very popular online MMO, and AFK has a meaning entirely its own in this game.

Of course, many players do also use it to just mean they’re not at their computer.

However, it also is more specifically applied to certain activities in the game which you don’t need to be actively playing to do.

“Fishing is a good AFK skill,” for instance.

This refers to the fact that you only need to click the game every couple of minutes or so to keep playing, and you can do something else in the background while it is playing.

This applies to similar MMOs which have taken inspiration from RuneScape.

AFK can have more than one meaning, then, and certainly doesn’t always literally mean you are away from a keyboard, as such.

It’s just a broad, catch-all term meaning that you are not playing the game right now and usually that you’ll be back shortly.

However, it can also be a broader term still just to mean something that you can do in a game without paying much attention, such as “AFK skilling”.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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