Day-night cycle

A full day/night cycle in time lapse.

"Time" redirects here. For the command, see Commands/time.

The day-night cycle is a 20 minute long lapse between two main light settings.

Conversions

A chart showing the approximations of Minecraft time to real time.

In Minecraft, time is exactly 72 times faster than normal time. This can be easily calculated as the proportion ¹⁴⁴⁰⁄₂₀ = 72, since there are 1440 minutes in a real day (60min × 24hr) and 20 minutes in a full Minecraft day. A collection of time unit conversions is listed below:

Minecraft time to real time

Minecraft time	Minecraft ticks	Real time
1 second	0.27	0.0138 seconds
1 minute	16.6	0.83 seconds
1 hour	1,000	50 seconds
1 day	24,000	20 minutes
1 week (7 days)	168,000	2.3 hours
1 month (30 days)	720,000	10 hours
1 year (365.25 days)	8,766,000	121.75 hours (5.072916 days)

Real time to Minecraft time

The approximation of real time to Minecraft time:

Real time	Minecraft time
1 tick	3.6 Minecraft seconds
1 second	1 minute and 12 seconds. (72 seconds)
10 seconds	12 minutes (720 seconds)
50 seconds	1 hour (60 minutes, 3600 seconds)
1 minute (60 seconds)	1 hour and 12 minutes (72 minutes, 4320 seconds).
1 hour	3 days.
1 day	2.4 months, = 72 days.
1 week	≈ 1.385 years, ≈ 17 months, = 72 weeks, = 504 days.
1 month	6 years, = 72 months, ≈ 308.5 weeks, = 2,160 days.
1 year	72 years, ≈ 876.5 months, ≈ 3,757 weeks, ≈ 26,297.5 days.

24-hour Minecraft day

Minecraft time of day	Minecraft ticks	Real time (minutes)	Event
06:00:00.0	0 (24000)	0:00 (20:00)	Beginning of the Minecraft day. Villagers awaken and rise from their beds.
06:27:00.0	450	0:22.5	Sunrise ends. The horizon no longer changes color.
07:00:00.0	1000	0:50	Time when using the /time set day command.
08:00:00.0	2000	1:40	Villagers begin their workday.
10:17:00.0	4283.3	3:34.16	Light level reaches 15, the maximum.
12:00:00.0	6000	5:00	Noon; the sun is at its peak.
			Time when using /time set noon.
13:42:00.0 (1:42:00.0 PM)	7700	6:25	Light level begins to decrease.
15:00:00.0 (3:00:00.0 PM)	9000	7:30	Villagers end their workday and begin socializing.
17:37:00.0 (5:37:00.0 PM)	11616.6	9:40.83	Sunset begins. The horizon starts to darken.
18:00:00.0 (6:00:00.0 PM)	12000	10:00	Time when using the /time set sunset command. ‌[Bedrock Edition only] Villagers go to their beds and sleep.
18:00:36.0 (6:00:36.0 PM)	12010	10:00.5	In rainy weather, beds can be used at this point and undead mobs no longer burn
18:32:31.2 (6:32:31.2 PM)	12542	10:27.1	In clear weather, beds can be used at this point and undead mobs no longer burn.
18:34:00.0 (6:34:00.0 PM)	12566.6	10:28.3	The moon appears on the horizon.
18:46:08.4 (6:46:08.4 PM)	12769	10:38.4	First tick when monsters spawn outdoors in rainy weather.
19:00:00.0 (7:00:00.0 PM)	13000	10:50	Time when using the /time set night command.
19:03:00.0 (7:03:00.0 PM)	13050	10:52.5	The sun completely disappears behind the horizon.
19:11:16.8 (7:11:16.8 PM)	13188	10:59.4	First tick when monsters spawn outdoors in clear weather.
19:48:00.0 (7:48:00.0 PM)	13800	11:30	Sunset ends. The horizon no longer changes color.
00:00:00.0	18000	15:00	Midnight; the moon is at its peak.
			Time when using /time set midnight
04:33:00.0	22550	18:47.5	Sunrise begins. The horizon starts to brighten.
04:48:43.2	22812	19:00.6	Last tick when monsters spawn outdoors in clear weather.
04:55:00.0	22916.6	19:05.83	The sun appears on the horizon.
05:00:00.0	23000	19:10	Time when using the /time set sunrise command. ‌[Bedrock Edition only]
05:01:51.6	23031	19:11.6	Last tick when monsters spawn outdoors in rainy weather.
05:27:00.0	23450	19:32.5	The moon completely disappears behind the horizon.
05:27:36.0	23460	19:33	In clear weather, beds can no longer be used and undead mobs begin to burn, though not necessarily immediately.
05:59:31.2	23992	19:59.6	In rainy weather, beds can no longer be used and undead mobs begin to burn, though not necessarily immediately.

Daytime

This is the start of a new day.

Daytime is the longest section of the cycle, lasting 10 minutes.

When a player first spawns in singleplayer, the day-night cycle will always start at the beginning of the daytime (0:00). Most multiplayer servers also start at the beginning of daytime, but the day-night cycle continues regardless of any new players joining.

During the daytime, the Sun rises up to its peak in a light blue sky. The exact color of the sky depends on the current biome; for example desert skies are a lighter shade of blue than plains skies.

At approximately noon, all blocks that are in direct vertical view of the sky receive sunlight at light level 15, which is the maximum. Sunlight provides ample light for the growth of saplings, grass blocks and crops. Most undead mobs (including zombies and skeletons) exposed to direct sunlight (and are not in shade, in water, or wearing helmets) will be set on fire. Additionally, sunlight will render spiders neutral, unless they are currently chasing the player, and any endermen exposed to sunlight will teleport randomly when near the player and become neutral if already aggressive.

During the day, daylight sensors have the highest output level.

Sunset/dusk

Example sunset seen from a high spot on the map.

Sunset is the period between daytime and nighttime, and always lasts 1 ¹⁄₂ minutes.

During sunset, the Sun descends on the western horizon, and the Moon rises on the eastern horizon. The sky near the setting Sun glows a vibrant orange-red. The Sun will also grow visibly larger as it sets.

The light level of all blocks that are in direct vertical view of the sky, and are not lit by other light sources, decreases by 1 every 10 seconds.

Between dusk and dawn, players may sleep in a bed. In singleplayer mode, doing so will advance the day-night cycle to dawn and set the weather to clear. This will also occur in multiplayer, so long as every player online is in a bed simultaneously. Time does not pass with regards to other aspects of the world, however; for example, crops will not grow faster, and furnaces will not cook food faster.

Nighttime

A Tundra biome during the night; various mobs can be seen.

Nighttime lasts 7 minutes.

During the night, the Moon rises to its peak in a dark blue sky dotted with small white stars. The stars appear to move with the Moon, and can be first seen towards the end of the sunset.

During nighttime, the world is covered in darkness; the light level falls to a minimum of 4, which allows hostile mobs to spawn on the surface. The exact duration for which hostile mobs are able to spawn in exposed areas is 9625 ticks. Regardless of the low light level, crops will continue to grow during the night.

Sunrise/dawn

Example of the Sun rising in the horizon.

Sunrise is the period between nighttime and daytime, and always lasts 1 ¹⁄₂ minutes.

During sunrise, the Moon sets on the western horizon and the Sun rises on the eastern horizon. The sky near the rising Sun will glow a vibrant orange. The sun will also appear visibly larger as it rises, but will slowly shrink to its 8x8 pixel size while rising.

All blocks that are in direct vertical view of the sky will grow 1 light level brighter every 10 seconds. Eventually, the effects of sunlight will return, dissipating the threat of most hostile mobs.

Morning twilight begins after 22009 ticks, which is the equivalent of 4:00:32 in real time. The exact last time hostile mobs can spawn in exposed areas is 22812 (04:48:43) on clear mornings and 23031 (05:01:08) on rainy mornings.

Clocks

Main article: Clock

Clocks allow players to determine Minecraft time. They are useful underground where the current day/night cycle is not visible. They help the player avoid mistakenly surfacing at night and falling prey to night-spawned mobs on the surface.

Clocks will spin uselessly in the Nether and the End, since there is no day-night cycle in those dimensions.

Commands

If commands are enabled, then it is possible to change the current time with the /time commands, as detailed below. To enable or disable the day-night cycle, use the following command: /gamerule doDaylightCycle true|false

Set time

Specific times can be set with the /time set command.

Syntax: /time set <number|day|noon|sunset|night|midnight|sunrise>

Examples:

/time set 0 – Sets the time to dawn/sunrise.

/time set day – Sets the time to 1000.

/time set 12000 – Sets the time to dusk/sunset.

/time set sunrise - Sets the time to 23000.

Moon phases

Each day that progresses adds 24000 ticks to the time counter. While each day looks the same, the Moon will go through one of its 8 different phases each night. Although there is no explicit command to change the Moon's phase, using /time add 24000 will advance the Moon to its next phase. Furthermore, any of the phases can be accessed with the use of one of the following commands:

/time set 14000 – Full moon

/time set 38000 – Waning gibbous

/time set 62000 – Last quarter

/time set 86000 – Waning crescent

/time set 110000 – New moon

/time set 134000 – Waxing crescent

/time set 158000 – First quarter

/time set 182000 – Waxing gibbous

Achievements

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Availability				Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
				Xbox	PS	Bedrock	Nintendo
	Passing the Time	Play for 100 days.	Play for 100 Minecraft days, which is equivalent to 33 hours in real time.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Wii U, Switch	20G	Bronze

History

Java Edition Indev
February 12, 2010, 1					Added the day-night cycle.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			In the leaked 1.8 pre-release version, the player can manipulate the time by pressing F6 to reverse time and F7 to advance time.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Notch mentioned on his Twitter that the Sun actually rose in the north in Minecraft. This was a bug and was fixed in Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4, so the Sun and Moon now both rise in the east; this also changed the South-West rule to the South-East rule.
					Added lunar phases.
1.3.1		12w21a			The stars that appear at night were updated to be more realistic (slightly smaller and brighter).
1.5		13w01a			Daylight sensors determine what time of day it is by outputting a redstone signal.
1.6.1		13w24a			/gamerule doDaylightCycle added, which turns the day-night cycle on or off.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.2.0					Added the day-night cycle.
0.4.0					The day is now longer.
0.5.0					The Nether reactor core sets the time to night.
0.7.3					Added sunrises, sunsets, the Sun, the Moon, and stars.
0.10.0		build 1			Added the day-night cycle to creative mode.
					The time of day is now more accurately synced in multiplayer.
0.11.0		build 1			Added option to disable day-night cycle, in creative mode only.
Pocket Edition
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			The sun and moon now rise in the east and set in the west. (Previously they rose in the north and set in the south.)

Trivia

• The sun and moon rotate around the player, not the center of the map.
  • They will always remain in the same position relative to the stars, and to each other.
    • Due to this fact, solar eclipses in Minecraft are currently impossible.
    • Also due to this fact, technically lunar eclipses (also known as blood moons) would happen every night.
• Day and night do not proceed when a singleplayer game is paused. This does not apply when a GUI window (such as the inventory) is opened.
  • In multiplayer, this is not the case; time proceeds normally as long as the server is on.
• The sun and moon will both be visible when standing or flying at a height above the terrain at approximately 1.4× the set render distance.
• The day-night cycle will continue while the player is in the Nether or the End, although the world itself will not change until the Overworld is loaded again.
  • This can be observed if the player creates a village in another dimension, since the schedule will progress as normal.
• Background game music is triggered at specific times of the day-night cycle.
• The highest value of time that can be set with the /time set command is 2147483647 (2³¹−1; the 32-bit integer limit).
  • This is equivalent to: 89478 days, or 11483 ticks. Real-time equivalent (counting from January 1, 1 CE): December 24, 0244 CE at 11:28:58.8. Without leap years it would be January 1, 0245 CE at 17:28:58.8. Elapsed real-life time: approximately 345 days and 5 hours.
  • Using NBT editors, the largest time value that can be set is 9223372036854775807 (2⁶³−1; the 64-bit integer limit). After this point, the day/night cycle cannot progress. At this time, 384307168202282 real-life days would have elapsed, or roughly 1.05 trillion years.

References

Environment

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