convtime()

convtime(<time string>[, <timezone>[, <precision>]])
convutctime(<time string>[, <precision>])

convtime() converts a time string to the number of seconds since 1 January 1970 UTC. The time string is written the way time() writes it:

Ddd MMM DD HH:MM:SS YYYY

Ddd is the day of the week, MMM the month, DD the day of the month, HH the hour on a 24-hour clock, MM the minutes, SS the seconds and YYYY the year. A string convtime() cannot read returns #-1 INVALID TIME.

<timezone>: the zone the time is in, such as America/New_York, with its summer time. utc reads it as UTC. With none, the server’s zone is used. convutctime() is convtime() with utc.
<precision>: s or seconds (the default) returns whole seconds, f or fractional seconds with a fraction, and ms or milliseconds milliseconds.
convtime formats: ISO dates, offsets, summer time gaps and dates before 1970
convtime examples: converting time() output and a dated time

Other date formats

convtime() also reads other ways of writing a date and time, such as 2026-10-30 20:00, in the same zone. A time that names its own offset, such as 2026-10-30T20:00:00Z or 2026-10-30T20:00:00+02:00, keeps it.

A time the zone skips when summer time starts, such as 2027-03-14 02:30 in America/New_York, returns #-1 INVALID TIME. Written in time()‘s format, it is moved on past the gap, as PennMUSH does: Sun Mar 14 02:30:00 2027 reads as 03:30.

Dates before 1970 return a negative number.

Examples

> think convtime(Wed Jun 24 10:22:54 1992,utc)
709381374
> think convtime(2026-10-30 20:00,America/New_York)
1793404800
> think convtime(2026-10-30T20:00:00.25Z,,f)
1793390400.25
> think convtime(Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 1960,utc)
-315619200

::: seealso