What are Discord Timestamps and How Do You Use Them?

Discord is the best place to create global communities, but sometimes, timing issues may present themselves, and Discord Timestamps are here to help. Just like many other apps, Discord supports Unix timestamps.

Since Discord Timestamps are dynamic, they will change based on the viewer's local time zone. As such, timestamps are great for scheduling, planning, and any other time-related work, especially within communities with an international scope.

In this guide, you will learn what Discord Timestamps are, all the ways you can make them, and how to use them.

What are Discord Timestamps?

Discord Timestamps are dynamic dates (and times) that display the time information based on the user’s local time zone.

Like many other apps, Discord uses the Unix time scale for its timestamps. Unix time, also referred to as Unix epoch or simply epoch, is a time representation system. The way it calculates the time is by counting every single non-leap second starting from Thursday, January 1, 1970, at Midnight (UTC) until the present or the selected date and time. The starting date’s Unix time is 0, so if we add an hour in seconds, which would be 3600, the timestamp points to Thursday, January 1, 1970, at 1:00:00 AM.

You may already know that you can mention channels by typing #channel_name, but did you know that you can also mention them with <#channel_ID>? This is the same for tagging users like <@user_ID>. In a similar format, you can use timestamps with the <t:unix_time:style> formatting.

Sound complicated? Don’t worry; we’re going to take a detailed look at how you can use them later on.

Why Use Discord Timestamps?

Let’s say you’re in New York City and talking with a friend in Tokyo. If you create a timestamp for your local time, let’s say 9 PM, and send it to your friend, they will see it in their local timezone, which would be 10 AM. This is incredibly useful for all scheduling purposes in Discord.

Now, let's take a look at how to make Discord timestamps.

How to Make Discord Timestamps

There are three ways to create Discord timestamps, from least to most efficient: manually making them, using Discord bots, and using websites.

First, let’s look at how you would send a timestamp if you had the Unix time code ready.

A timestamp can be broken down into three parts: the timestamp determinant, Unix time, and the style:

• Timestamp determinant (red)
  There are many mention formats in Discord, and some of them are defined by their determinants. For example, “a” is the determinant for animated emojis, and server ID is the determinant for guild mentions. What you want to use for timestamps is “t,” the timestamp determinant.
• Unix time code (yellow)
  This is the Unix time code that will determine which date your timestamp refers to. Again, this number is basically a count of every single non-leap second that has passed since January 1, 1970, at Midnight (UTC).
• Style (green)
  This character will determine the style of your timestamp. There are seven styles in total like short date, long date, and relative. We will explain all styles in detail in the next section.

Discord Timestamp Styles

There are seven different timestamp styles in Discord, and they’re determined by the last character in the timestamp format. Let’s see what they are:

Manually Making Discord Timestamps

We mentioned how Unix time codes can be made - by counting every non-leap second that has passed since Thursday, January 1, 1970, at Midnight (UTC.) If you want to avoid using bots or external websites to automatically generate a timestamp, you can count the seconds and create a timestamp yourself. Just select the type you want and use the format <t:unix_time:style>.

Using Bots for Timestamps

The most popular bot for creating timestamps is the HammerTime Bot. The bot has 9 commands, and all of them are useful.

Here are the most common HammerTime bot commands and how you can use them:

• /at: As its name suggests, this command gives you 11 parameter options. If you use the command without any parameters, it will just send the timestamp of the current time, and all parameters have their own default arguments. Its parameters are:
  • Year: The year of your timestamp. Defaults to the current year.
  • Month: The month of your timestamp. Defaults to the current month.
  • Day: The day of your timestamp. Defaults to the current day.
  • Hour: The hour of your timestamp. Defaults to the current hour.
  • Minute: The minute of your timestamp. Defaults to the current minute.
  • Second: The second of your timestamp. Defaults to 00.
  • Timezone: The timezone which your timestamp will be based on. All GMT timezones are available and defaults to GMT.
  • Format: The format (style) of your timestamp. The options are short time, long time, short date, long date, short date and time, long date and time, and relative time. If none is selected, the bot will post all styles.
  • Header: Whether you want the message to have the date as non-timestamp regular text or not. The options are TRUE and FALSE. The default is TRUE.
  • Columns: You can select from three options: syntax only, preview only, and both syntax and preview. Respectively, they will post only the timestamp code that you can copy and paste, post the actual timestamp, and display both.
  • Ephemeral: Whether the message the bot will send should only be viewable to you or not. If you select FALSE, everyone will be able to see the bot’s message.

• /ago: This command allows you to deduct some time from your current time and get its timestamp. It shares all parameters with the /at command except the timezone, which is defaulted to your current timezone. Also, the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second parameters are deducted from your current time instead of determining it. So using the “2024” argument for the year parameter will deduct 2024 years from the current year.
• /in: This command is almost the same as the /ago command, but instead of deducting, it adds to your current time. So, if you use the “2024” argument for the year parameter, it will add 2024 years to the current year.

If you just want to get a timestamp for a certain date and use it in your own message, you can use the /at command and use the syntax only option for the columns parameter and the TRUE option for the ephemeral parameter. This will make the bot post the timestamp code you can copy and paste to your message, and the bot’s message will only be visible to you.

Using Websites for Timestamps

Using websites to create timestamps is the easiest way since bots don’t have the option to let you choose a date and time from a calendar window, so you have to manually fill out each parameter.

Unlike bots, websites allow you to easily pick a date and time from calendar windows and give you the timestamp you need. The website we will use for this guide is the HammerTime website - the website of the bot we took a look at earlier.

It’s one of the most popular websites to make Discord timestamps and lets you easily select a date and time to create all styles of timestamps. All you have to do is select a date under the “Date and time” section and change your timezone if needed. Then you can click the copy button of any style to copy it.

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