Skip to main content

​
Description

Returns the current server time as a tuple of Unix timestamp and microseconds.

​
Method Signature

time(): Promise<[number, number]>

​
Parameters

This command takes no parameters.

​
Return Value

​
result
[number, number]
A tuple containing:
  1. Unix timestamp - Current server time in seconds since Unix epoch
  2. Microseconds - Microseconds component of the current time

​
Examples

​
Get server time

const [seconds, microseconds] = await redis.time();
console.log(`Seconds: ${seconds}`);
console.log(`Microseconds: ${microseconds}`);

​
Convert to JavaScript Date

const [seconds, microseconds] = await redis.time();
const milliseconds = seconds * 1000 + Math.floor(microseconds / 1000);
const date = new Date(milliseconds);

console.log(date.toISOString());

​
Calculate timestamp with microsecond precision

const [seconds, microseconds] = await redis.time();
const timestamp = seconds + microseconds / 1_000_000;
console.log(`Timestamp: ${timestamp}`);

​
Measure server time difference

const [sec1, micro1] = await redis.time();

// Do some operations...
await redis.set("key", "value");
await redis.get("key");

const [sec2, micro2] = await redis.time();

const elapsed = (sec2 - sec1) * 1_000_000 + (micro2 - micro1);
console.log(`Elapsed: ${elapsed} microseconds`);
console.log(`Elapsed: ${elapsed / 1000} milliseconds`);

​
Compare server time with client time

const clientTime = Date.now();
const [seconds, microseconds] = await redis.time();
const serverTime = seconds * 1000 + Math.floor(microseconds / 1000);

const drift = Math.abs(serverTime - clientTime);
console.log(`Time drift: ${drift}ms`);

if (drift > 1000) {
  console.warn("Server and client clocks differ by more than 1 second");
}

​
Use for unique IDs

const [seconds, microseconds] = await redis.time();
const uniqueId = `${seconds}${microseconds.toString().padStart(6, '0')}`;
console.log(uniqueId); // e.g., "1709472123456789"

​
Use Cases

  • Clock synchronization - Compare server and client times
  • Distributed timestamps - Get consistent time across multiple clients
  • Benchmarking - Measure operation duration with microsecond precision
  • Unique ID generation - Create time-based unique identifiers

​
See Also

  • ping - Test server connection