Add 'x' number of hours to date

Question

I currently have php returning the current date/time like so:

$now = date("Y-m-d H:m:s");

What I'd like to do is have a new variable $new_time equal $now + $hours, where $hours is a number of hours ranging from 24 to 800.

Any suggestions?

I doubt if it is what you want. I want you to notice that "m" in "H:m:s" represents month on digit. I believe you wanted to write "H:i:s". Please crosscheck — Paullo, Aug 14 '14 at 14:59

score 141 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 19 '14 at 09:17

141

You may use something like the strtotime() function to add something to the current timestamp. $new_time = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime('+5 hours')).

If you need variables in the function, you must use double quotes then like strtotime("+{$hours} hours"), however better you use strtotime(sprintf("+%d hours", $hours)) then.

edited Mar 19 '14 at 09:17

Coderji

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answered Jul 08 '12 at 20:14

fdomig

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That works, but if i replace the '5' with a variable, it doesnt work properly. `strtotime('+$hours hours')` – Jonah Katz Jul 08 '12 at 20:30
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Don't you mean $new_time = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime('+5 hours')? m is month, i is minutes... – richard Aug 14 '13 at 07:54
For me, the use of `{$hours}` `strtotime("+{$hours} hours")` did not work. I replaced `{$hours}` with `'.$hours.'`. So instead of an {} I used ``. Hope this helps someone in need – Prince Michael Sep 08 '22 at 11:40

FAjir · Answer 2 · 2021-09-10T23:14:38.000

53

An other solution (object-oriented) is to use DateTime::add

Example:

<?php

$now = new DateTime(); //now
echo $now->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'); // 2021-09-11 01:01:55

$hours = 36; // hours amount (integer) you want to add
$modified = (clone $now)->add(new DateInterval("PT{$hours}H")); // use clone to avoid modification of $now object
echo "\n". $modified->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'); // 2021-09-12 13:01:55

Run script

edited Sep 10 '21 at 23:14

answered Apr 16 '14 at 08:23

FAjir

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Small tyop here, $date->format should probably be $now->format – Patrick Jan 11 '15 at 22:18
While I appreciate the link to PHP Documentation, it would be nice to describe what the parameters in your example do. You linked to the `DateTime::add` function, which takes the parameter of `DateInterval` whose doc then says to refer to the formats supported by the `DateTime` constructor which then points to "Date and Time Formats" which then links to "Time Formats", "Date Formats", "Compound Formats" and "Relative Formats". None of these seem to mention `P`, though I could very well have missed it in all those pages. I get that `T` means time, `H` hours, but `P`?.... – s.co.tt Apr 22 '21 at 23:55
@s.co.tt https://www.php.net/manual/en/dateinterval.construct.php The format starts with the letter P, for period. Each duration period is represented by an integer value followed by a period designator. If the duration contains time elements, that portion of the specification is preceded by the letter T. – FAjir Apr 24 '21 at 11:28
Thanks! I did figure it out, and please note I was irritated with the PHP docs, not the poster. But I'm glad your answer is here for posterity! – s.co.tt Jun 06 '21 at 16:44

Zar · Answer 3 · 2013-08-14T12:02:30.173

26

You can use strtotime() to achieve this:

$new_time = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime('+3 hours', $now)); // $now + 3 hours

edited Aug 14 '13 at 12:02

answered Jul 08 '12 at 20:14

Zar

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@RichardDesLonde Probably because everyone copied the OP's code example. :-) – Zar Aug 14 '13 at 12:01
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This did not work for me, Rodrigo Prazim's answer did. – Lucas May 25 '19 at 22:22
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A non well formed numeric value encountered - doesn't work – Apr 02 '20 at 00:36

score 15 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 18 '16 at 23:51

15

Correct

You can use strtotime() to achieve this:

$new_time = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime('+3 hours', strtotime($now))); // $now + 3 hours

answered Oct 18 '16 at 23:51

Rodrigo Prazim

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score 7 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 08 '12 at 20:16

7

You can also use the unix style time to calculate:

$newtime = time() + ($hours * 60 * 60); // hours; 60 mins; 60secs
echo 'Now:       '. date('Y-m-d') ."\n";
echo 'Next Week: '. date('Y-m-d', $newtime) ."\n";

answered Jul 08 '12 at 20:16

Ankit

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bad idea, issues with leap years, leap seconds, daylight savings time etc. – Jul 08 '12 at 20:17
1

@Dagon no, it will calculate properly. – casraf Jul 08 '12 at 20:19
Leap years are taken care of using this method, daylight saving can be set while using date again – Ankit Jul 08 '12 at 20:20

score 7 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 05 '19 at 10:33

I use this , its working cool.

//set timezone
date_default_timezone_set('GMT');

//set an date and time to work with
$start = '2014-06-01 14:00:00';

//display the converted time
echo date('Y-m-d H:i',strtotime('+1 hour +20 minutes',strtotime($start)));

vr_driver · Answer 7 · 2017-08-15T12:31:29.990

6

Um... your minutes should be corrected... 'i' is for minutes. Not months. :) (I had the same problem for something too.

$now = date("Y-m-d H:i:s");
$new_time = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime('+3 hours', $now)); // $now + 3 hours

edited Aug 15 '17 at 12:31

answered Jul 30 '13 at 08:42

vr_driver

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score 5 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 13 '20 at 14:42

5

for add 2 hours to "now"

$date = new DateTime('now +2 hours');

or

$date = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime('+2 hours', $now)); // as above in example

or

$now = new DateTime();

$now->add(new DateInterval('PT2H')); // as above in example

answered Jul 13 '20 at 14:42

toxab

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score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 09 '22 at 12:56

3

$to = date('Y-m-d H:i:s'); //"2022-01-09 12:55:46"

$from = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime("$to -3 hours")); // 2022-01-09 09:55:46

answered Jan 09 '22 at 12:56

Sampath Gunasekara

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While this code snippet may solve the problem, it doesn't explain why or how it answers the question. Please [include an explanation for your code](//meta.stackexchange.com/q/114762/269535), as that really helps to improve the quality of your post. Remember that you are answering the question for readers in the future, and those people might not know the reasons for your code suggestion. – Luca Kiebel Jan 09 '22 at 17:09

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 25 '15 at 06:22

2

You can try lib Ouzo goodies, and do this in fluent way:

echo Clock::now()->plusHours($hours)->format("Y-m-d H:m:s");

API's allow multiple operations.

answered Aug 25 '15 at 06:22

Piotr Olaszewski

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score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Jun 12 '20 at 09:16

For a given DateTime, you can add days, hours, minutes, etc. Here's some examples:

$now = new \DateTime();

$now->add(new DateInterval('PT24H')); // adds 24 hours

$now->add(new DateInterval('P2D')); // adds 2 days

PHP: DateTime::add - Manual https://www.php.net/manual/fr/datetime.add.php

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 11 '18 at 08:08

1

$date_to_be-added="2018-04-11 10:04:46";
$added_date=date("Y-m-d H:i:s",strtotime('+24 hours', strtotime($date_to_be)));

A combination of date() and strtotime() functions will do the trick.

answered Apr 11 '18 at 08:08

user7282

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Basil Baby · Answer 13 · 2018-06-12T11:01:21.060

-3

   $now = date("Y-m-d H:i:s");
   date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime("+1 hours $now"));

edited Jun 12 '18 at 11:01

answered Jun 12 '18 at 10:09

Basil Baby

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Add 'x' number of hours to date

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