wp_nonce_tick( string|int $action = -1 ): float
- Since
- 2.5.0, 6.1.0
- Source
wp-includes/pluggable.php:2339
Description
A nonce has a lifespan of two ticks. Nonces in their second tick may be updated, e.g. by autosave.
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 6.1.0
- PHP
- 7.4–8.6-dev
- 6.7.7
- 6.8.8
- 6.9.7
- 7.0.4
- 7.1.0
Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.
Parameters
$actionstring|intoptional- The nonce action. Default -1.Default:
-1
Return value
float- Float value rounded up to the next highest integer.
Performance profile
How much work a call to wp_nonce_tick() 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
- Trivial
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 16
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 2
Touches nothing outside its own arguments.
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5. The body compiles to 16.
Third-party callbacks on 'nonce_life' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
2 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly
What one call costs · 1 distinct outcome
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_nonce_tick() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 16 | apply_filters(), time(), ceil() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 16 instructions, 16 executed per call, 0 branches. The work does not change between versions.
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Hooks and filters fired · 1
One hook fires while wp_nonce_tick() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( nonce_life )filterline 2349 (+10 into the body)
Filters the lifespan of nonces in seconds.
Uses · 1
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
Used by · 2
- wp_create_nonce()Creates a cryptographic token tied to a specific action, user, user session, and window of time.
- wp_verify_nonce()Verifies that a correct security nonce was used with time limit.
Source code
function wp_nonce_tick( $action = -1 ) { /** * Filters the lifespan of nonces in seconds. * * @since 2.5.0 * @since 6.1.0 Added `$action` argument to allow for more targeted filters. * * @param int $lifespan Lifespan of nonces in seconds. Default 86,400 seconds, or one day. * @param string|int $action The nonce action, or -1 if none was provided. */ $nonce_life = apply_filters( 'nonce_life', DAY_IN_SECONDS, $action ); return ceil( time() / ( $nonce_life / 2 ) ); }Changelog
Introduced in 2.5.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
$action argument.from the docblockAbout this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.8.8 tag, from
src/wp-includes/pluggable.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it. - Corrections
- Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.