I am using a Scala compilation server. This is probably not related to my IDE IntelliJ IDEA, but I will just inform you that I start the Scala compilation server through a special run configuration in that IDE.
After some time that goes by without compiling anything, the compilation server terminates, without any message. Usually, I only notice this when I try to compile something and compilation fails. Then, I need to start the compilation server again, and of course the next compilation takes a long time, because it's once more the first compilation since starting the compilation server.
How do I turn off that timeout? I looked at the manpage for scalac, and there seems to be no option for it. I can add VM options for that run configuration.
Pass -max-idle 0 as parameter. It will work on a very (very!) recent nightly, and it should be available on Scala 2.9.0 when it comes out. However, there's no guarantee the name won't change until then.