Blackshalo.com

This is simple...

You want to keep AFK players in the server to "seed" the player population so the server doesn't go empty and stay empty.

So this idea is very simple:

Flag all players as being either AFK or active.
When the server population reaches the max population, 16 players, pick 1 of the players that are AFK and kick them. If none of the players are AFK then do not kick anyone.

This allows AFKs to remain on the server to help "seed" the player count when the server has a reduced player count, but also ensures that player slots aren't being wasted by AFK players.

Very good idea but wont get past Blackfather. He likes to see all of these amazing stats on Gametracker that don't mean jack shit.

It wouldn't even ruin his stats. This concept would only kick a single AFK if the server is at 16/16. If the server reaches 16/16 then chances are extremely high that another player is going to join the game within a few seconds to replace the kicked AFK.