Gnome – How to Turn Off Line Wrap in Gedit

In the help file for empathy it does say "If you do not use your computer for a while, or if the screensaver is on, the status will be automatically set to Away." (on the "change your status" page) You can edit the length of time before the whole computer is viewed as "idle" in the screensaver preferences. I've never noticed it before, but you can also choose the screensaver not to be activated when the computer is viewed as idle, the idle probably then just relates to the chat programs.

I would say that the chat status of "Away" is tied to when the computer is classed as "idle" but the screensaver may or may not be running at this time.