Current Time API

Q: How do I get the current time in a timezone?

/api/time?tz=America/New_York — UTC instant, Unix seconds, local date and time, UTC offset and a live dst flag in one response.

REAL DATA

Current time in any IANA timezone — UTC instant, unix seconds, local date & time, UTC offset, ISO week, day of year and a live DST flag.

Authoritative reference data or standards computation

Base URL: /api/time
Category: Date & Time
Capabilities: 1 route
Last updated: July 29, 2026

Data source: IANA Time Zone Database (evaluated live per request)

GET /api/time The current time, in UTC or any IANA timezone Computed answer

Live: every call reads the server clock (iso/unix are the same instant for every tz). All local fields are derived from the zone's rules at that exact instant.

Route reference

Code, request parameters, response fields and verified examples 5 params · 12 fields · 3 examples

Code samples Ready-to-copy requests in 4 languages

curl JavaScript Python PHP

curl "https://randomapi.dev/api/time"

const res = await fetch("https://randomapi.dev/api/time");
const { data, meta } = await res.json();

import requests

data = requests.get("https://randomapi.dev/api/time").json()["data"]

$json = json_decode(file_get_contents(
  "https://randomapi.dev/api/time"
), true);
$data = $json["data"];

Parameters Route-specific request inputs 1

Parameter	Type	Default & allowed	Description
`tz`	string	default: UTC example: Europe/Copenhagen	IANA timezone id (e.g. Europe/Copenhagen, America/New_York), matched case-insensitively. Unknown ids return a 400 — browse valid ids at /api/timezones.

tz string

IANA timezone id (e.g. Europe/Copenhagen, America/New_York), matched case-insensitively. Unknown ids return a 400 — browse valid ids at /api/timezones.

default: UTC

example: tz=Europe/Copenhagen

Universal parameters Shared response and formatting options 4

Parameter	Type	Default & allowed	Description
`fields`	list	example: iso,unix	Return only these fields (comma-separated). Mutually exclusive with 'exclude'.
`exclude`	list	example: dst	Return all fields except these (comma-separated).
`pretty`	boolean	default: false example: true	Pretty-print the JSON response.
`unwrap`	boolean	default: false example: true	Drop the envelope: return the raw array/object without data/meta wrapper.

fields list

Return only these fields (comma-separated). Mutually exclusive with 'exclude'.

example: fields=iso,unix

exclude list

Return all fields except these (comma-separated).

example: exclude=dst

pretty boolean

Pretty-print the JSON response.

default: false

example: pretty=true

unwrap boolean

Drop the envelope: return the raw array/object without data/meta wrapper.

default: false

example: unwrap=true

Response schema Fields returned in each record 12

Field	Type	Description	Example
`iso`	string (ISO 8601)	The current instant in UTC, with milliseconds. Identical no matter which tz you ask for.	2026-06-11T14:30:45.123Z
`unix`	integer	Seconds since the Unix epoch (UTC, floored to the whole second).	1781188245
`timezone`	string	Canonical IANA id of the zone that was applied (case-corrected from your input).	Europe/Copenhagen
`localDate`	string (YYYY-MM-DD)	Wall-clock date in the requested zone.	2026-06-11
`localTime`	string (HH:MM:SS)	Wall-clock time in the requested zone, 24-hour clock.	16:30:45
`weekday`	string	English weekday name of the local date.	Thursday
`utcOffset`	string (±HH:MM)	The zone's UTC offset at this instant, DST-aware (e.g. +02:00, -04:00, +05:45).	+02:00
`offsetMinutes`	integer	The same offset in minutes — negative west of UTC (e.g. -300 for New York in winter).	120
`isoWeek`	integer	ISO 8601 week number (1–53) of the local date.	24
`isoWeekYear`	integer	ISO week-based year of the local date — can differ from the calendar year around New Year.	2026
`dayOfYear`	integer	Ordinal day of the local calendar year (1–366).	162
`dst`	boolean	Whether daylight saving time is in effect in the zone at this instant.	true

iso string (ISO 8601)

The current instant in UTC, with milliseconds. Identical no matter which tz you ask for.

example: 2026-06-11T14:30:45.123Z

unix integer

Seconds since the Unix epoch (UTC, floored to the whole second).

example: 1781188245

timezone string

Canonical IANA id of the zone that was applied (case-corrected from your input).

example: Europe/Copenhagen

localDate string (YYYY-MM-DD)

Wall-clock date in the requested zone.

example: 2026-06-11

localTime string (HH:MM:SS)

Wall-clock time in the requested zone, 24-hour clock.

example: 16:30:45

weekday string

English weekday name of the local date.

example: Thursday

utcOffset string (±HH:MM)

The zone's UTC offset at this instant, DST-aware (e.g. +02:00, -04:00, +05:45).

example: +02:00

offsetMinutes integer

The same offset in minutes — negative west of UTC (e.g. -300 for New York in winter).

example: 120

isoWeek integer

ISO 8601 week number (1–53) of the local date.

example: 24

isoWeekYear integer

ISO week-based year of the local date — can differ from the calendar year around New Year.

example: 2026

dayOfYear integer

Ordinal day of the local calendar year (1–366).

example: 162

dst boolean

Whether daylight saving time is in effect in the zone at this instant.

example: true

Documented examples

Build-generated requests and complete responses 3

Current time in UTC /api/time

GET /api/time

{
  "data": {
    "iso": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z",
    "unix": 1785312802,
    "timezone": "UTC",
    "localDate": "2026-07-29",
    "localTime": "08:13:22",
    "weekday": "Wednesday",
    "utcOffset": "+00:00",
    "offsetMinutes": 0,
    "isoWeek": 31,
    "isoWeekYear": 2026,
    "dayOfYear": 210,
    "dst": false
  },
  "meta": {
    "endpoint": "time",
    "params": {
      "tz": "UTC"
    },
    "generatedAt": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z"
  }
}

Local time in Copenhagen /api/time?tz=Europe/Copenhagen

GET /api/time?tz=Europe/Copenhagen

{
  "data": {
    "iso": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z",
    "unix": 1785312802,
    "timezone": "Europe/Copenhagen",
    "localDate": "2026-07-29",
    "localTime": "10:13:22",
    "weekday": "Wednesday",
    "utcOffset": "+02:00",
    "offsetMinutes": 120,
    "isoWeek": 31,
    "isoWeekYear": 2026,
    "dayOfYear": 210,
    "dst": true
  },
  "meta": {
    "endpoint": "time",
    "params": {
      "tz": "Europe/Copenhagen"
    },
    "generatedAt": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z"
  }
}

Tokyo clock, minimal payload /api/time?tz=Asia/Tokyo&fields=localDate,localTime,utcOffset

GET /api/time?tz=Asia/Tokyo&fields=localDate,localTime,utcOffset

{
  "data": {
    "localDate": "2026-07-29",
    "localTime": "17:13:22",
    "utcOffset": "+09:00"
  },
  "meta": {
    "endpoint": "time",
    "params": {
      "tz": "Asia/Tokyo"
    },
    "generatedAt": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z"
  }
}

About this API

Coverage, behavior and common use cases

Coverage & behavior

The live server clock, answered in any timezone. One call returns the UTC instant (iso, unix) plus the full local-calendar picture for the requested zone: wall-clock localDate/localTime, weekday, the current utcOffset (as ±HH:MM and as offsetMinutes), ISO isoWeek/isoWeekYear, dayOfYear, and whether daylight saving time is in effect right now (dst).

The details that are easy to get wrong are handled correctly:

tz is a real IANA id, matched case-insensitively (europe/copenhagen works) and echoed back in canonical form. An unknown id is a 400 pointing at /api/timezones for the full list — never a silent fallback to UTC.
Offsets are live, not static. utcOffset, offsetMinutes and dst reflect the zone's rules at this exact instant: Copenhagen flips between +01:00 and +02:00 at the EU DST transitions, southern-hemisphere zones report DST in January, and sub-hour zones like Asia/Kathmandu come out exact (+05:45, offsetMinutes: 345).
Calendar fields follow the local date, not the UTC date. Shortly after midnight in Tokyo, weekday, dayOfYear, isoWeek and isoWeekYear already belong to the new local day even though UTC is still on the previous one — and around New Year isoWeekYear can legitimately differ from the calendar year.

This is real, live data: two calls return two different times. For random fake dates and calendar facts about arbitrary dates, use the other date & time endpoints instead.

Use it for

Get a trustworthy server-side clock for clients whose local time can't be trusted
Show the current local time of a remote office or city without doing timezone math yourself
Branch scheduling/cron logic on the live UTC offset and DST state (offsetMinutes, dst)

Frequently asked questions

Practical answers about this endpoint 3

How do I get the current time in a timezone?

/api/time?tz=America/New_York — UTC instant, Unix seconds, local date and time, UTC offset and a live dst flag in one response.

Is the clock actually live?

Yes — this endpoint reads the real clock on every request. It's one of the platform's few non-seeded routes: "now" means now.

Which timezone names work?

Any IANA zone id (Europe/Copenhagen, Asia/Tokyo…). Unknown ids get an honest error, never a silent UTC fallback.

Standards & references

Primary sources behind the contract

ISO 8601 date and time format

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