http://support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/ ... spx?id=378
Session change timer
Session change mechanics
Every time your character location is modified, you will experience what is named a "session change". Session changes prevent you from switching to another location again for thirty seconds and your request will be delayed when such situation occurs.
A character location may be anything linked to his/her physical state and not simply a geographical change. For instance, docking, ejecting, changing ships, being pod-killed, losing your vessel, jump cloning, jumping through a gate, joining/leaving a gang and/or changing roles within a gang, are all actions that trigger the timer. Warping, destroying objects, throttling in space, activating a module or being shot at are however not session changes as your character attributes stay the same.
Such a mechanism was put in place to prevent your character from becoming stuck when changing locations. When that happens, you will unfortunately have to wait until the timer has expired to proceed with the intended action.
Please note that when the character movement is completed and the location changed, you will activate another session change again, so you better know and plan your actions if you don't want to be stuck for several minutes.
Session changes remain normal game mechanics and as such, aren't eligible for any reimbursements at all. Upon encountering a timer at a gate, a wise pilot will warp away to a celestial body to avoid being a sitting duck while the timer elapses.
The session changes countdown may be displayed on screen by going into the "General settings" and selecting the "show session-change timer" option. It should then appear in the upper-left corner on your screen, on top of the system name with the seconds remaining if the mouse is hovered on it.
Examples of session change timer messages:
- "Just a moment while I finish gathering my senses.I'm pretty sure I can do it within 16 seconds."
- "You're halfway onboard already. Please wait.Estimated time left for getting the other half aboard is 28 seconds."
- "Can't do that while undocking.You should be squeezed out in 20 seconds."
- "Please wait while ship is entering hangar.Scotty, the docking manager estimates 23 seconds left."