The /time command is one of the most useful cheats in Minecraft. It lets you change the time of day, check how old your world is, and advance time without waiting around. If you’re tired of waiting for sunrise or want to set up eternal daytime, this command does it all.
Requirements
You need to turn cheats on in your world before you can use any commands. When you create a new world, you can enable cheats in the world settings. If your world was already created without cheats, you can still turn them on by pausing the game and going to settings.
Time Command Syntax
Adding Time
Add time to your world to increase its age. This is useful if you want to skip ahead without changing what time of day it is.
/time add <time>
Replace <time> with the number of game ticks you want to add. One day in Minecraft is 24,000 ticks, so /time add 24000 skips ahead one full day.
Querying Time
Check the current time or world age with the query function.
/time query <day|daytime|gametime>
- day – Shows how many full days have passed (24,000 ticks per day)
- daytime – Shows the current time of day in ticks
- gametime – Shows the total age of the world in ticks
Setting Time
Jump to a specific time of day instantly.
/time set <setValue>
You can set the time to named values or specific tick numbers:
| Value | What It Does |
|---|---|
| day | Sets time to day (1000 ticks) |
| noon | Sets time to noon (6000 ticks) – Java 1.13+ |
| night | Sets time to night (13000 ticks) |
| midnight | Sets time to midnight (18000 ticks) – Java 1.13+ |
| 0-23999 | Set any specific time you want (0 is dawn) |
How to Use the Command
Step 1: Open Chat
Press the T key on your keyboard to open the chat window. You’ll see the text input box at the bottom left of your screen.
Step 2: Type Your Command
Type your /time command exactly as you want it. For example:
/time set day
Step 3: Run It
Press Enter to execute the command. The game will immediately apply the change and show you a confirmation message in the chat.
Examples
Set the Time to Day
/time set day
The sky turns bright and you’ll see the message “Set the time to 1000” in chat.
Set the Time to Night
/time set night
The sky darkens and monsters start spawning if you’re in survival mode.
Check Your World Age
/time query gametime
This tells you how many ticks old your world is. Divide by 20 to get seconds, or by 1,728,000 to get days.
Fast Forward a Day
/time add 24000
Skips ahead exactly one full day without changing the current time of day.
Version Compatibility
The /time command works in Java Edition on PC and Mac. The command has been available since early versions of Minecraft, though some features like /time set noon and /time set midnight were added in version 1.13. Always check your version to see which options are available.
Related Commands
Once you master /time, you might also want to check out these related commands:
- /alwaysday – Toggles eternal daytime
- /daylock – Locks the time at the current value
- /gamerule doDaylightCycle false – Stops time from changing naturally