Discord timestamp generator
Pick a moment, read how each format will look to someone else, copy the code.
Lost time is never found again. — Benjamin Franklin
Each format renders differently in each reader's own timezone. The preview under every code is how it will read for you.
The previews above use your own timezone. Everyone who reads the message sees it in theirs, which is the entire point of the feature. If you need one fixed wall-clock time for everybody, write it out as plain text instead.
How the Discord timestamp generator builds a code
Discord timestamps are a Unix epoch second wrapped in angle brackets with a format letter after a colon. The picker converts the date and time you choose into that epoch second using your browser's own clock and timezone offset, then previews all seven format letters against it. Discord stores only the number, and each reader's client renders it in that reader's local timezone.
What it cannot do
- The timestamp is built from the timezone your browser is set to. If your machine's clock or timezone is wrong, the code will be wrong in exactly the same way.
- Timestamps render as plain text in a message preview, a push notification and a search result, so they are unreliable anywhere the full message is not being displayed.
This tool converts a date, not a sentence, so the line sits here as a caption about time rather than as input text.
The default line is Benjamin Franklin. Public domain, like every sample on this site.
Questions people actually ask
- Why does my timestamp show a different time to other people?
- That is the whole point of the feature. Discord stores the moment as a Unix timestamp and every client renders it in the reader's own timezone. If you need everyone to see the same wall clock time, write it out as plain text and name the zone.
- What does the R format do?
- It renders as a relative time, reading as in 3 hours or 2 days ago, and it keeps updating on its own. That makes it useful for an event announcement that has to stay accurate as the date approaches.
- Can I use a timestamp in a channel name or a server event?
- No. Timestamp codes only render inside message content and embeds. Paste one into a channel name, a topic or an event description and readers see the raw angle brackets.
