Make a command timeout

Hi so I was just wondering how you can make a command timeout after a specified amount of time. An example of what I mean is for most teleport plugins where after the request is sent, you have x amount of time to accept. This is what I've tried but it just doesn't work....

Code:

    private void startTime() {
 
        int i = 0;
 
        while (play) {
 
            try {
                Thread.sleep(1000);
                i++;
               
                if (i == this.getConfig().getInt("commandTimeOut")) {
 
                    chosen = null;
                    challenger = null;
                    play = false;
                }
            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
 
            }
        }
 
    }

 

When would it EVER be a good idea to sleep the thread on a per-player cooldown?

 

So then how do you suggest I do it?

 

http://forums.bukkit.org/threads/al...-cooldown-for-10-seconds.136657/#post-1600354

Read that ^

 

I know how to do cooldowns, but how would I implement them the opposite way? To make a command work for only a certain amount of time, and then be able to interrupt it