Board Game Arena

I'm a new player and just signed up as premium member. Want to set up a game to just play with friends and so others can't join in. How can this be done? Tried to set up a table yesterday and invited a friend, but then someone else joined in as well.

Also, is there a way to turn off the timer in a game with friends - e.g. if doing 7 wonders and want to let people go say 10 minutes, etc. ?

you can turn off timer by playing in training mode. If you want your games Elo rated you need to leave the timer on, but the timer doesn't really do anything. It doesn't make the person automatically lose, it would only let your friends kick you out...so hopefully you trust them not to do that.

If you want only friends change the number of players at the table to the number you want to invite. Then invite all your friends before you open the table up.

A slight correction to what sprokitz said; there is a minor effect to one's reputation for running out of time. If you finish a game without running out of time, you get a +1 boost to reputation. Running out of time will prevent this boost.
What I tend to do in friendly games that we still want the ELO calculated is switch to turn-based games. 1 hour per move tends to be enough...

Also, when you set up the table, you have the option that only friends are allowed to join the table.