Get & Set Timezone In PHP (Very Simple Examples)

Welcome to a tutorial on how to get and set the timezone in PHP. So you are working on an international project, and have to deal with timezones?

That covers the quick basics, but let us walk through more examples in this guide – Read on!

 

 

TLDR – QUICK SLIDES

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

PART 1) SYSTEM DEFAULT TIMEZONE

<?php
// (A) SET SYSTEM TIMEZONE WITH DATE.TIMEZONE DIRECTIVE IN PHP.INI
// https://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php
 
// (B) GET SYSTEM DEFAULT TIMEZONE
$tz = date_default_timezone_get();
echo "System timezone: $tz<br>";
 
// (C) CHANGE SYSTEM TIMEZONE
date_default_timezone_set("Antarctica/McMurdo");
$tz = date_default_timezone_get();
echo "System timezone: $tz<br>";

To solve the mystery of timezones in PHP:

1. One has to first understand that the system’s default timezone is set with date.timezone in php.ini. This is usually UTC+0 on most international servers.
2. To get the server’s default timezone in PHP scripts, simply use date_default_timezone_get().
3. We can change the system default timezone in the scripts using date_default_timezone_set().

P.S. For the full list of supported timezones, see the links in the extras section below.

 

 

PART 2) TIMEZONE OF DATE-TIME OBJECTS

<?php
// (A) DATE-TIME OBJECT WITH DEFAULT SYSTEM TIMEZONE
$dt = new DateTime("2019-08-07 06:05:04");
$tz = $dt->getTimezone()->getName();
echo "Object Timezone : $tz<br>";
echo $dt->format("d/M/Y H:i:s O") . "<br>";
 
// (B) SET TIMEZONE WHILE CREATING DATE-TIME OBJECT
$dt = new DateTime("2019-08-07 06:05:04", new DateTimeZone("Asia/Tokyo"));
$tz = $dt->getTimezone()->getName();
echo "Object Timezone : $tz<br>";
echo $dt->format("d/M/Y H:i:s O") . "<br>";
 
// (C) CHANGE TIMEZONE OF DATE-TIME OBJECT
// NOTE : DATE TIME WILL ALSO BE ADJUSTED
$dt->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone("Antarctica/Troll"));
$tz = $dt->getTimezone()->getName();
echo "Object Timezone : $tz<br>";
echo $dt->format("d/M/Y H:i:s O") . "<br>";

• When a new DateTime() object is created, it will default to the system timezone.
• To specify a different timezone, use new DateTime(DATE, new DateTimeZone(TIMEZONE)) instead.
• To check the timezone of a DateTime object, use $DATETIME->getTimeZone()->getName().
• Lastly, to adjust the timezone, use $DATETIME->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone(TIMEZONE)).

 

 

PART 3) TIMEZONES WITH UNIX TIMESTAMPS

<?php
// (A) UNIX TIMESTAMP - DEFAULTS TO UTC
$unix = strtotime("2011-02-03 04:05:06");
echo date("d/M/Y H:i:s O", $unix) . "<br>";
 
// (B) UNIX TIMESTAMP DOES NOT SUPPORT TIMEZONE
// MANUAL ADD SECONDS TO SIMULATE TIMEZONE
$utc8 = $unix + 28800; // 8 hrs = 28800 secs
echo date("d/M/Y H:i:s", $utc8) . "<br>";

As a small extra for you guys who are working with Unix Timestamps – They are simply the number of seconds that have elapsed since 1 Jan 1970 UTC+0. To “change the timezone” of a Unix Timestamp, we can only simulate by adding or subtracting a number of seconds from the timestamp.

 

 

 

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EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here for the source code on GitHub gist, just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• List of Supported Timezones – PHP
• Get System Default Timezone – PHP
• Set System Default Timezone – PHP
• Get Timezone – PHP
• Set Timezone – PHP
• Date Time Zone Class – PHP

 

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