Aside from all the server issues this morning, which is usually a harbinger of some incoming algorithm update, reddit also appears to have reset some user preferences.
When they first rolled out the user status feature, I went into my prefs and unchecked the box that says "allow other users to see your online status." When I logged on this morning, the green dot was back, so I went into my preferences and sure enough, the box was checked off again, as was the box that says "allow reddit to log your outgoing clicks", which I had also made sure was unchecked.
Mine were not reset again. Maybe it really was just a random accident resulting from server maintenance.
Could have been but I made a point yesterday of turning off both sections and my green dot was gone.
It came back by itself today so just keep an eye out for it.