Gimkit fake players are the extra names in your lobby that do not belong to anyone in the room. Sometimes they are automated, sometimes they are a friend of a student in another class, and sometimes they are one of your own students who joined twice. Telling them apart in ten seconds is a genuinely useful classroom skill.
This page is the identification guide. For removal, see how to kick bots from a Gimkit game.
The Four Sources of Fake Players
1. Duplicate joins
The most common by far, and completely innocent. A student’s connection drops, they rejoin, and depending on the mode the old session lingers as a ghost player with zero activity.
Signal: one or two extras, names that closely resemble real students, often the same name twice.
Action: nothing. It resolves itself, or you kick the inactive duplicate.
2. A shared code
Signal: a handful of extras with real-looking or jokey names, arriving over a minute or two, and some of them actually answer questions.
Action: new code, and a word about sharing afterwards.
3. Automated joiners
Signal: dozens or hundreds arriving almost instantly, junk names, zero answers. Nothing else produces that curve.
Action: end and restart. See Gimkit bot flooders.
4. Name spammers
Signal: a small number of joins with deliberately provocative names.
Action: kick without comment, handle afterwards.
The Thirty-Second Triage
Three questions, in order:
- How far over your register are you? One or two is a duplicate. Five to ten is a shared code. Fifty is automation.
- How fast did they arrive? Over minutes is human. In one instant is a script.
- Are they answering anything? Real players — even gatecrashers — have some activity within thirty seconds. Fakes sit at zero.
Why Fake Players Matter Beyond the Annoyance
It is tempting to ignore a few extras. Two reasons not to:
- They corrupt your data. Class averages and per-question accuracy are the reason to use Gimkit as assessment rather than a filler. Ten zero-score phantoms make the report useless.
- They change the game balance. Team modes in particular distribute goals across players. Phantom teammates who never earn anything hand a real disadvantage to whichever team they landed on.
Spotting Fakes in the Report Afterwards
If you did not notice during the game, the report makes it obvious:
- Players with zero questions attempted are almost always fake.
- Players whose names do not match any student on your register.
- A total player count higher than your attendance for that lesson.
Excluding those before you read the class average is a thirty-second job that makes the numbers meaningful again. The reports panel is covered in the dashboard guide.
Prevention, Ranked
- Host through a class roster. No public code means no fake players, and reports carry real names. This solves every category above except duplicate joins.
- Set a display-name rule. First name plus last initial. Anything else is visibly wrong.
- Keep the code on screen for as short a time as possible.
- Start promptly. An open lobby is the window of opportunity.
- Never post a code where it persists.
A Note on Blaming the Class
Extra players are not automatically evidence that someone in the room did something. Codes travel between classes, siblings share them at home, and a duplicate join is nobody’s fault at all. Starting from “someone here did this” is usually both wrong and expensive in classroom goodwill. Change the code, move on, and check the logs afterwards if it was serious.
Frequently asked questions
What are fake players in Gimkit?
Extra names in the lobby that do not belong to students in the room — duplicate joins, people the code was shared with, automated joiners, or name spammers.
Why does my Gimkit game show more players than students?
Usually a duplicate join after a disconnect if it is one or two extra. Larger numbers mean the code has been shared or an automated joiner is using it.
How can I tell a bot from a real extra player?
Bots arrive in an instant, use junk names and never answer a question. Human gatecrashers trickle in and usually play at least a little.
Do fake players affect Gimkit results?
Yes. Zero-score phantoms drag down class averages and can unbalance team modes. Exclude them before reading the report.
Can I stop fake players joining Gimkit?
Host through a saved class roster instead of a public code. Without a code to type, there is nothing to join with.
Should I assume a student in my class caused it?
Not necessarily. Codes get shared between classes and even between schools, and duplicate joins are accidental. Change the code first and investigate later if needed.