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How do I get the current date and time in PHP?

Which PHP function can return the current date/time?

Answer*

The time would go by your server time. An easy workaround for this is to manually set the timezone by using [`date_default_timezone_set`][1] before the [`date()`][2] or [`time()`][3] functions are called to.

I'm in Melbourne, [Australia](http://php.net/manual/en/timezones.australia.php) so I have something like this:

date_default_timezone_set('Australia/Melbourne');
Or another example is LA - [US](http://php.net/manual/en/timezones.america.php):

date_default_timezone_set('America/Los_Angeles');

You can also see what timezone the server is currently in via:

date_default_timezone_get();
So something like:

$timezone = date_default_timezone_get();
    echo "The current server timezone is: " . $timezone;

So the short answer for your question would be:

// Change the line below to your timezone!
    date_default_timezone_set('Australia/Melbourne');
    $date = date('m/d/Y h:i:s a', time());

Then all the times would be to the timezone you just set :)

[1]: http://php.net/manual/en/function.date-default-timezone-set.php
  [2]: http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.date.php
  [3]: http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.time.php

Edit Summary*

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121

The call to time() is redundant, date() will automatically use the current time.
– too much php
Commented Jan 23, 2009 at 0:26
15

OP never asked about timezone. A simpler and more correct answer would simply show server time.
– Andrew Magill
Commented Feb 21, 2014 at 16:38
54

@AyexeM I actually appreciated the additional timezone information. It saved me a second search.
– M -
Commented Oct 8, 2014 at 19:11
7

You can get all the time zone from here Time Zone
– Yousef Altaf
Commented Jan 5, 2015 at 12:17
18

@AyexeM A simpler and more correct answer would not be to omit potentially important and related information, but instead to answer the question, as you suggest, but then provide additional information on timezones beneath it. There's no need to omit potentially crucial information just because it wasn't asked for.
– Jamie
Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 9:08

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How do I get the current date and time in PHP?

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