current_time( string $type, bool $gmt = false ): int|string

Description

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$typestring

Type of time to retrieve. Accepts 'mysql', 'timestamp', 'U', or PHP date format string (e.g. 'Y-m-d').

$gmtbooloptional

Whether to use GMT timezone. Default false.Default: false

Return value

int|string

Integer if $type is 'timestamp' or 'U', string otherwise.

Code examples

Every example is editable and runs in a real WordPress booted in your browser by WordPress Playground. Press Run, then edit the code: clicking away re-runs it. Nothing is sent anywhere until you do.

$checked_at = current_time( 'mysql' );
update_post_meta( 2, 'price_checked_at', $checked_at );

printf(
	'Price %s was checked at %s (site time).',
	esc_html( get_post_meta( 2, 'price', true ) ),
	esc_html( get_post_meta( 2, 'price_checked_at', true ) )
);

$site_time = current_time( 'mysql' );
$gmt_time  = current_time( 'mysql', true );

printf(
	'Site time: %s | GMT time: %s',
	esc_html( $site_time ),
	esc_html( $gmt_time )
);

Common problems and fixes · 3

• Why doesn't current_time('timestamp') match time()?
• Why is current_time('Y-m-d') showing UTC dates instead of my site's local date?
• Can I pass any PHP date() format string to current_time()?

Alternatives and related functions

date_i18n

When you need a translated or locale-formatted date string for on-screen display rather than a raw value for storage.

wp_date

When you want a timezone-aware and locale-aware formatted date without going through current_time()'s mysql/timestamp special cases.

time

When you need an actual Unix/UTC timestamp for comparisons or math, since current_time('timestamp') is offset by the site's GMT setting unless $gmt is true.

wp_timezone

When you need the site's DateTimeZone object directly to build your own DateTime calculations instead of a formatted string.

Performance profile

How much work a call to current_time() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Moderate

Reads stored settings via get_option(), cached per request but not free on a cold cache.

Scaling

Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions

8–25

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 43.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

36

36 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• optionoption read or writeget_option()called directly
• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()one call below current_time()
• cacheobject cachewp_cache_get()one call below current_time()
• serializeserialisationmaybe_unserialize()one call below current_time()

Further down the call graph this can also reach query and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 4 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost current_time() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Uses · 4

• get_option()Retrieves an option value based on an option name.
• wp_timezone()Retrieves the timezone of the site as a `DateTimeZone` object.
• DateTimeZone::__construct()
• DateTime::__construct()

Used by · 36

• WP_Customize_Manager::customize_pane_settings()Prints JavaScript settings for parent window.
• WP_Customize_Manager::save_changeset_post()Saves the post for the loaded changeset.
• WP_Date_Query::build_mysql_datetime()Builds a MySQL format date/time based on some query parameters.
• WP_Query::get_posts()Retrieves an array of posts based on query variables.
• WP_REST_Comments_Controller::create_item()Creates a comment.
• _wp_upload_dir()A non-filtered, non-cached version of wp_upload_dir() that doesn't check the path.
• bulk_edit_posts()Processes the post data for the bulk editing of posts.
• date_i18n()Retrieves the date in localized format, based on a sum of Unix timestamp and timezone offset in seconds.
• get_calendar()Displays calendar with days that have posts as links.
• get_day_link()Retrieves the permalink for the day archives with year and month.
• get_month_link()Retrieves the permalink for the month archives with year.
• get_year_link()Retrieves the permalink for the year archives.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

78function current_time( $type, $gmt = false ) {79	// Don't use non-GMT timestamp, unless you know the difference and really need to.80	if ( 'timestamp' === $type || 'U' === $type ) {81		return $gmt ? time() : time() + (int) ( (float) get_option( 'gmt_offset' ) * HOUR_IN_SECONDS );82	}83 84	if ( 'mysql' === $type ) {85		$type = 'Y-m-d H:i:s';86	}87 88	$timezone = $gmt ? new DateTimeZone( 'UTC' ) : wp_timezone();89	$datetime = new DateTime( 'now', $timezone );90 91	return $datetime->format( $type );92}

Changelog

Introduced in 1.0.0. One change between 6.7.7 and 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.9.7 tag, from src/wp-includes/functions.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

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