View source for Os.time

{{DISPLAYTITLE:os.time}}
'''Available since update 0.1.4, BUILD126.''' Available in both client and server resource scripts with the corresponding updated binary. The current public release is 0.1.4 / Protocol 36.

Returns the current host's wall-clock time as Unix seconds. This is a deliberately restricted function, not access to Lua's full operating-system library.

== Syntax ==
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
local timestamp = os.time()
</syntaxhighlight>

== Parameters and return value ==
No parameters are accepted. Returns an integer-valued Lua number: seconds since the Unix epoch (1970-01-01 UTC). Passing any argument, including <code>nil</code> or a date table, raises a Lua error. Standard Lua's <code>os.time(table)</code> overload is not supported.

== Example: ordinary random choices ==
Seed once when the resource starts, not before every random draw:
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
math.randomseed(os.time())
local roll = math.random(1, 100)
outputDebugString("Roll: " .. roll)
</syntaxhighlight>
This is not cryptographically secure randomness. Resources seeded in the same second may produce the same sequence. Do not use it for passwords, authentication tokens or security-sensitive identifiers.

== Sandbox and clock behaviour ==
* The host creates a fresh resource-local <code>os</code> table containing only <code>time</code>; it never opens the native OS library.
* <code>os.execute</code>, <code>os.exit</code>, <code>os.getenv</code>, <code>os.remove</code>, <code>os.rename</code>, <code>os.tmpname</code>, <code>os.setlocale</code> and all other OS-library functions remain unavailable.
* Filesystem, process execution, native module loading and Lua bytecode restrictions remain in place. See [[Scripting limits]].
* This is not the in-game time. The client reads its own computer clock; the server reads its own host clock. Client timestamps are not authoritative or automatically synchronized.
* Wall-clock adjustments can move this value forwards or backwards. Use [[getTickCount]] for elapsed-time measurement.
* Public 0.1.3 and earlier development builds do not expose this function; an updated script alone does not enable it.

[[Category:Lua Functions]]
[[Category:Shared Functions]]
[[Category:Utility Functions]]
[[Category:Timer Functions]]