current_time() │ WP 1.0.0

Returns the current site time, taking into account the site's timezone setting (timezone). The format in which to return the result can be specified arbitrarily. mysql: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, unix: 1335820033, arbitrary format: d. M. Y.

You can use the second parameter to get the time in GMT/UTC instead of as the site's local time.

Local time will be obtained according to the established global site settings about the timezone (option gmt_offset).

Use current_time('timestamp') instead of time(), when you need to get the site time considering the timezone.

Starting from version 5.3, it works based on PHP classes: DateTime{} and DateTimeZone{}.

The default server time is set in the ini option date.timezone, and can also be set by the function date_default_timezone_set(), which has a higher priority over the ini option.

WP sets the default server timezone to UTC at a very early stage of core loading in the file wp-settings.php:

date_default_timezone_set( 'UTC' );

To find out the current server timezone, you can use date_default_timezone_get():

echo date_default_timezone_get(); // Europe/Moscow

Also read: Date/Time in WordPress.

1 time — 0.000011 sec (very fast) | 50000 times — 0.03 sec (speed of light) | PHP 7.1.2, WP 4.7.3

No Hooks.

Returns

Int|String. A string of time in the specified format.

Usage

current_time( $type, $gmt );
$type(string) (required)
The format in which the function will return the time. Can be: mysql, timestamp or arbitrary format like: Y-m-d H:i:s. All format options.
$gmt(number)

The timezone (GMT, local) of the returned time. Can be:

  • 1 - the time will be returned in GMT zone.
  • 0 - will return the site's time set in the main settings.

Default: 0 (site time)

Examples

1

#1 New in WordPress 5.3

The Date/Time component will be updated in WordPress 5.3, and there are some things that people should be aware of:

https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/09/23/date-time-improvements-wp-5-3/

Not recommended

  • Don’t retrieve time as WP timestamp:

    current_time( 'timestamp' )
get_post_time( 'U' )

  • Don’t localize time based on WP timestamp:

    date_i18n( DATE_RFC3339, $timestamp + $offset )
  • Don’t store WP timestamps persistently;
  • Don’t compare WP timestamps.
Recommended

  • Retrieve time as Unix timestamp or DateTimeImmutable object:

    time()
current_datetime()
get_post_datetime()
get_post_timestamp()

  • Localize time based on Unix timestamp:

    wp_date( DATE_RFC3339, $timestamp )
  • Store Unix timestamps or formats that are precise moment in time, such as DATE_RFC3339;
  • Compare Unix timestamps, DateTimeInterface objects, or string–comparable dates in same time zone.
0

#2 Get the current time and break it down into its components (days, hours, minutes): 

$blogtime = current_time('mysql'); // return: 2005-08-05 10:41:13
list( $year, $month, $day, $hour, $minute, $second ) = preg_split( '([^0-9])', $blogtime );

// Now we have variables:
// $year is the current year
// $month is the current month
// etc.
0

#3 Demo

If we use this code somewhere in our code:

echo current_time( 'mysql' );     // 2012-04-30 21:48:07 - server time (SQL format).

echo current_time( 'mysql', 1 );  // 2012-04-30 17:48:07 - time in GMT/UTC zone (SQL format).

echo current_time( 'timestamp' );        // 1335822487 - server time (Unix format).

echo current_time( 'timestamp', 1 );     // 1335808087 - time in GMT/UTC zone (Unix format).

var_dump( current_time( 'timestamp' ) ); // int(1625452800)

If the site's time differs from UTC, then the "timestamp" will return the time stamp + the time zone offset set in the settings. That is, the result will differ from what the time() function returns:

var_dump( current_time( 'timestamp' ) ); //> int(1711046478)
var_dump( time() );                      //> int(1711028478)
0

#4 Display the current date and time of the site in the desired format 

echo current_time('d m Y H:i'); 
//> 17 07 2016 15:51 (taking into account the site time zone)
0

#5 Note about timestamp

Since version 5.3, the code below is discouraged as it will not return a Unix (UTC) timestamp.

current_time( 'timestamp' );

Here’s the alternative solution:

$local_time  = current_datetime();
$current_time = $local_time->getTimestamp() + $local_time->getOffset();

Changelog

Since 1.0.0 Introduced.
Since 5.3.0 Now returns an integer if $type is 'U'. Previously a string was returned.

current_time() code WP 6.8.1

wp-includes/functions.php 
function current_time( $type, $gmt = 0 ) {
	// Don't use non-GMT timestamp, unless you know the difference and really need to.
	if ( 'timestamp' === $type || 'U' === $type ) {
		return $gmt ? time() : time() + (int) ( (float) get_option( 'gmt_offset' ) * HOUR_IN_SECONDS );
	}

	if ( 'mysql' === $type ) {
		$type = 'Y-m-d H:i:s';
	}

	$timezone = $gmt ? new DateTimeZone( 'UTC' ) : wp_timezone();
	$datetime = new DateTime( 'now', $timezone );

	return $datetime->format( $type );
}

date time