Discord timestamp generator

How the Discord timestamp format works

A Discord timestamp is <t:UNIX:STYLE>: a unix timestamp in seconds, then one style letter that sets the time format. Discord's message formatting docs say timestamps display “in the user's timezone and locale”, so every reader gets the same moment written their own way. Leave the letter out, as in <t:1790540430>, and Discord uses f.

These are the nine styles the docs list as of September 2026, with what Discord's web app shows a US English reader in New York for 1790540430 (September 27, 2026, 4:20:30 PM Eastern):

The letters are case-sensitive, so d and D are different styles. A letter that isn't in the table stops the code from rendering, and readers see the raw text instead. Readers with another app language get that language's date format, which is why the tool has a preview language switch.

Time zones and daylight saving

The generator reads your date and time as local time in the zone you pick and converts it with your browser's time zone data, so daylight saving is handled per date: 4:20 PM in New York is UTC−04:00 in September and UTC−05:00 in January. Pick the zone where the event happens, not where you live. A 7 PM start in Los Angeles is America/Los_Angeles even if you post from London.

In zones with daylight saving, two nights a year need a decision, and the tool flags both:

• When clocks jump forward, a time like 2:30 AM never happens. The tool moves it forward by the gap, to 3:30 AM.
• When clocks go back, 1:30 AM happens twice. The tool uses the first one unless you tick the box for the second.

Countdowns with the relative style

R shows “in 2 hours” or “3 days ago” and keeps updating while the message is on screen, which makes it the style for event starts, giveaway ends and check-in deadlines. In Discord's web app (checked September 27, 2026) it counts seconds for the first minute, then minutes, hours, days, months and years, rounding as it goes. It never shows the exact time, so pair it with F when that matters: <t:1790540430:F> (<t:1790540430:R>).

Using Discord timestamps in bot code

Bots send the same codes. discord.js exports a time() helper and a TimestampStyles object with a name for each letter. The handler below is tested with discord.js 14.27.0 on Node 24 and a stand-in interaction; it replies Check-in opens <t:1791050400:R>, on <t:1791050400:f>.

const { time, TimestampStyles } = require('discord.js');

async function execute(interaction) {
  const start = new Date('2026-10-03T18:00:00Z');
  await interaction.reply(
    `Check-in opens ${time(start, TimestampStyles.RelativeTime)}, on ${time(start, TimestampStyles.LongDateShortTime)}.`,
  );
}

module.exports = { execute };

time() takes a Date or a number of seconds. Passing Date.now() is a common bug: that is milliseconds, so the message shows a date tens of thousands of years away. In discord.py the helper is discord.utils.format_dt(dt, "R"). Give it a timezone-aware datetime, because a naive one is read as the local time of the machine the bot runs on.

Reminders, check-in windows and schedules pulled from a calendar or a league's API are the kind of thing I build into slash commands, for example in league and tournament bots. If the dates live in another system, see Discord integrations. Setting up a new bot first? The permissions calculator builds its invite link.