How to convert new Date().getTime() to EST?

Question

Hello I have this countdown timer code and it's picking up the users time in whatever time zone they are in. How can I convert var now = new Date().getTime(); to be in EST regardless of what time zone the user is in?

// Set the date we're counting down to
var countDownDate = new Date("May 11, 2021 11:00:00").getTime();
// Update the count down every 1 second
var x = setInterval(function() {
  // Get today's date and time
  var now = new Date().getTime();

  // Find the distance between now and the count down date
  var distance = countDownDate - now;

  // Time calculations for days, hours, minutes and seconds
  var days = Math.floor(distance / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));
  var hours = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)) / (1000 * 60 * 60));
  var minutes = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60 * 60)) / (1000 * 60));
  var seconds = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60)) / 1000);

  // Display the result in the element with id="demo"
  document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = days + "d " + hours + "h "
  + minutes + "m " + seconds + "s ";

  // If the count down is finished, write some text
  if (distance < 0) {
    clearInterval(x);
    document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = "EXPIRED";
  }
}, 1000);

`getTime()` returns a Unix timestamp in milliseconds. That stimestamp is *always* in UTC, it's **never** time zone aware. So, I don't really understand your question. What are you actually trying to solve? — VLAZ, May 10 '21 at 15:44
So I've updated my post with the full code. I've had a few people test and the hours are showing up different depending on what timezone they are in. I need the hours to be the same regardless of timezone. I was thinking it was this line that needs fixed, but I could be wrong `var now = new Date().getTime();` — user2052567, May 10 '21 at 18:14
`"May 11, 2021 11:00:00"` is **not** a standard date format for the `Date` constructor. You'd get implementation-dependent behaviour. Including possibly getting an invalid date. You should use a standard compliant string or just pass [the correct multiple arguments to make constructor](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/Date) to make sure the date is correct. With that said, there is not much of a reason to convert the end to a date, if you're just doing straight arithmetic. Compute the timestamp and use that. Saves the parsing hassle. — VLAZ, May 10 '21 at 18:21
I was able to accomplish this using the solution here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8805613/javascript-countdown-using-absolute-timezone — user2052567, May 10 '21 at 19:59

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered May 10 '21 at 16:09

The getTime() method returns the number of milliseconds* since the Unix Epoch.

(source: MDN webdocs)

If you want to get the hour of a variable, you can use .getHours() method.

var now = new Date().getHours()

Returns the hour of this moment.

var now = new Date().getMinutes();

Returns the minutes of this moment.

The methodes are the same for all Units of Time

cigol on · Answer 2 · 2021-05-10T16:30:53.160

Time displayed in specific timezone...

You could do this by getting new Date and getting the LocalTimeString by passing it some options.


const easternTime = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-US", {timeZone: 'America/New_York'});

console.log(easternTime) // -> "12:16:02 AM"

Time in ms displayed in specific timezone...

NOTE: the below code is utilizing toLocalString() instead of toLocalTimeString()

If you need your time output to be in ms like new Date.getTime() you could parse the output like so:

const easternTime = new Date().toLocaleString("en-US", {timeZone: 'America/New_York'});

const easternTimeInMS = Date.parse(easternTime)

console.log(easternTimeInMS) // -> 1620674863000

Other Time Zones.

// Other possible timezones which could also be passed in.
const world_timezones =
[
    'Europe/Andorra',
    'Asia/Dubai',
    'Asia/Kabul',
    'Europe/Tirane',
    'Asia/Yerevan',
    'Antarctica/Casey',
    'Antarctica/Davis',
    'Antarctica/DumontDUrville', 
    'Antarctica/Mawson',
    'Antarctica/Palmer',
    'Antarctica/Rothera',
    'Antarctica/Syowa',
    'Antarctica/Troll',
    'Antarctica/Vostok',
    'America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires',
    'America/Argentina/Cordoba',
    'America/Argentina/Salta',
    'America/Argentina/Jujuy',
    'America/Argentina/Tucuman',
    'America/Argentina/Catamarca',
    'America/Argentina/La_Rioja',
    'America/Argentina/San_Juan',
    'America/Argentina/Mendoza',
    'America/Argentina/San_Luis',
    'America/Argentina/Rio_Gallegos',
    'America/Argentina/Ushuaia',
    'Pacific/Pago_Pago',
    'Europe/Vienna',
    'Australia/Lord_Howe',
    'Antarctica/Macquarie',
    'Australia/Hobart',
    'Australia/Currie',
    'Australia/Melbourne',
    'Australia/Sydney',
    'Australia/Broken_Hill',
    'Australia/Brisbane',
    'Australia/Lindeman',
    'Australia/Adelaide',
    'Australia/Darwin',
    'Australia/Perth',
    'Australia/Eucla',
    'Asia/Baku',
    'America/Barbados',
    'Asia/Dhaka',
    'Europe/Brussels',
    'Europe/Sofia',
    'Atlantic/Bermuda',
    'Asia/Brunei',
    'America/La_Paz',
    'America/Noronha',
    'America/Belem',
    'America/Fortaleza',
    'America/Recife',
    'America/Araguaina',
    'America/Maceio',
    'America/Bahia',
    'America/Sao_Paulo',
    'America/Campo_Grande',
    'America/Cuiaba',
    'America/Santarem',
    'America/Porto_Velho',
    'America/Boa_Vista',
    'America/Manaus',
    'America/Eirunepe',
    'America/Rio_Branco',
    'America/Nassau',
    'Asia/Thimphu',
    'Europe/Minsk',
    'America/Belize',
    'America/St_Johns',
    'America/Halifax',
    'America/Glace_Bay',
    'America/Moncton',
    'America/Goose_Bay',
    'America/Blanc-Sablon',
    'America/Toronto',
    'America/Nipigon',
    'America/Thunder_Bay',
    'America/Iqaluit',
    'America/Pangnirtung',
    'America/Atikokan',
    'America/Winnipeg',
    'America/Rainy_River',
    'America/Resolute',
    'America/Rankin_Inlet',
    'America/Regina',
    'America/Swift_Current',
    'America/Edmonton',
    'America/Cambridge_Bay',
    'America/Yellowknife',
    'America/Inuvik',
    'America/Creston',
    'America/Dawson_Creek',
    'America/Fort_Nelson',
    'America/Vancouver',
    'America/Whitehorse',
    'America/Dawson',
    'Indian/Cocos',
    'Europe/Zurich',
    'Africa/Abidjan',
    'Pacific/Rarotonga',
    'America/Santiago',
    'America/Punta_Arenas',
    'Pacific/Easter',
    'Asia/Shanghai',
    'Asia/Urumqi',
    'America/Bogota',
    'America/Costa_Rica',
    'America/Havana',
    'Atlantic/Cape_Verde',
    'America/Curacao',
    'Indian/Christmas',
    'Asia/Nicosia',
    'Asia/Famagusta',
    'Europe/Prague',
    'Europe/Berlin',
    'Europe/Copenhagen',
    'America/Santo_Domingo',
    'Africa/Algiers',
    'America/Guayaquil',
    'Pacific/Galapagos',
    'Europe/Tallinn',
    'Africa/Cairo',
    'Africa/El_Aaiun',
    'Europe/Madrid',
    'Africa/Ceuta',
    'Atlantic/Canary',
    'Europe/Helsinki',
    'Pacific/Fiji',
    'Atlantic/Stanley',
    'Pacific/Chuuk',
    'Pacific/Pohnpei',
    'Pacific/Kosrae',
    'Atlantic/Faroe',
    'Europe/Paris',
    'Europe/London',
    'Asia/Tbilisi',
    'America/Cayenne',
    'Africa/Accra',
    'Europe/Gibraltar',
    'America/Godthab',
    'America/Danmarkshavn',
    'America/Scoresbysund',
    'America/Thule',
    'Europe/Athens',
    'Atlantic/South_Georgia',
    'America/Guatemala',
    'Pacific/Guam',
    'Africa/Bissau',
    'America/Guyana',
    'Asia/Hong_Kong',
    'America/Tegucigalpa',
    'America/Port-au-Prince',
    'Europe/Budapest',
    'Asia/Jakarta',
    'Asia/Pontianak',
    'Asia/Makassar',
    'Asia/Jayapura',
    'Europe/Dublin',
    'Asia/Jerusalem',
    'Asia/Kolkata',
    'Indian/Chagos',
    'Asia/Baghdad',
    'Asia/Tehran',
    'Atlantic/Reykjavik',
    'Europe/Rome',
    'America/Jamaica',
    'Asia/Amman',
    'Asia/Tokyo',
    'Africa/Nairobi',
    'Asia/Bishkek',
    'Pacific/Tarawa',
    'Pacific/Enderbury',
    'Pacific/Kiritimati',
    'Asia/Pyongyang',
    'Asia/Seoul',
    'Asia/Almaty',
    'Asia/Qyzylorda',
    'Asia/Qostanay', 
    'Asia/Aqtobe',
    'Asia/Aqtau',
    'Asia/Atyrau',
    'Asia/Oral',
    'Asia/Beirut',
    'Asia/Colombo',
    'Africa/Monrovia',
    'Europe/Vilnius',
    'Europe/Luxembourg',
    'Europe/Riga',
    'Africa/Tripoli',
    'Africa/Casablanca',
    'Europe/Monaco',
    'Europe/Chisinau',
    'Pacific/Majuro',
    'Pacific/Kwajalein',
    'Asia/Yangon',
    'Asia/Ulaanbaatar',
    'Asia/Hovd',
    'Asia/Choibalsan',
    'Asia/Macau',
    'America/Martinique',
    'Europe/Malta',
    'Indian/Mauritius',
    'Indian/Maldives',
    'America/Mexico_City',
    'America/Cancun',
    'America/Merida',
    'America/Monterrey',
    'America/Matamoros',
    'America/Mazatlan',
    'America/Chihuahua',
    'America/Ojinaga',
    'America/Hermosillo',
    'America/Tijuana',
    'America/Bahia_Banderas',
    'Asia/Kuala_Lumpur',
    'Asia/Kuching',
    'Africa/Maputo',
    'Africa/Windhoek',
    'Pacific/Noumea',
    'Pacific/Norfolk',
    'Africa/Lagos',
    'America/Managua',
    'Europe/Amsterdam',
    'Europe/Oslo',
    'Asia/Kathmandu',
    'Pacific/Nauru',
    'Pacific/Niue',
    'Pacific/Auckland',
    'Pacific/Chatham',
    'America/Panama',
    'America/Lima',
    'Pacific/Tahiti',
    'Pacific/Marquesas',
    'Pacific/Gambier',
    'Pacific/Port_Moresby',
    'Pacific/Bougainville',
    'Asia/Manila',
    'Asia/Karachi',
    'Europe/Warsaw',
    'America/Miquelon',
    'Pacific/Pitcairn',
    'America/Puerto_Rico',
    'Asia/Gaza',
    'Asia/Hebron',
    'Europe/Lisbon',
    'Atlantic/Madeira',
    'Atlantic/Azores',
    'Pacific/Palau',
    'America/Asuncion',
    'Asia/Qatar',
    'Indian/Reunion',
    'Europe/Bucharest',
    'Europe/Belgrade',
    'Europe/Kaliningrad',
    'Europe/Moscow',
    'Europe/Simferopol',
    'Europe/Kirov',
    'Europe/Astrakhan',
    'Europe/Volgograd',
    'Europe/Saratov',
    'Europe/Ulyanovsk',
    'Europe/Samara',
    'Asia/Yekaterinburg',
    'Asia/Omsk',
    'Asia/Novosibirsk',
    'Asia/Barnaul',
    'Asia/Tomsk',
    'Asia/Novokuznetsk',
    'Asia/Krasnoyarsk',
    'Asia/Irkutsk',
    'Asia/Chita',
    'Asia/Yakutsk',
    'Asia/Khandyga',
    'Asia/Vladivostok',
    'Asia/Ust-Nera',
    'Asia/Magadan',
    'Asia/Sakhalin',
    'Asia/Srednekolymsk',
    'Asia/Kamchatka',
    'Asia/Anadyr',
    'Asia/Riyadh',
    'Pacific/Guadalcanal',
    'Indian/Mahe',
    'Africa/Khartoum',
    'Europe/Stockholm',
    'Asia/Singapore',
    'America/Paramaribo',
    'Africa/Juba',
    'Africa/Sao_Tome',
    'America/El_Salvador',
    'Asia/Damascus',
    'America/Grand_Turk',
    'Africa/Ndjamena',
    'Indian/Kerguelen',
    'Asia/Bangkok',
    'Asia/Dushanbe',
    'Pacific/Fakaofo',
    'Asia/Dili',
    'Asia/Ashgabat',
    'Africa/Tunis',
    'Pacific/Tongatapu',
    'Europe/Istanbul',
    'America/Port_of_Spain',
    'Pacific/Funafuti',
    'Asia/Taipei',
    'Europe/Kiev',
    'Europe/Uzhgorod',
    'Europe/Zaporozhye',
    'Pacific/Wake',
    'America/New_York',
    'America/Detroit',
    'America/Kentucky/Louisville',
    'America/Kentucky/Monticello',
    'America/Indiana/Indianapolis',
    'America/Indiana/Vincennes',
    'America/Indiana/Winamac',
    'America/Indiana/Marengo',
    'America/Indiana/Petersburg',
    'America/Indiana/Vevay',
    'America/Chicago',
    'America/Indiana/Tell_City',
    'America/Indiana/Knox',
    'America/Menominee',
    'America/North_Dakota/Center',
    'America/North_Dakota/New_Salem',
    'America/North_Dakota/Beulah',
    'America/Denver',
    'America/Boise',
    'America/Phoenix',
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    'America/Anchorage',
    'America/Juneau',
    'America/Sitka',
    'America/Metlakatla',
    'America/Yakutat',
    'America/Nome',
    'America/Adak',
    'Pacific/Honolulu',
    'America/Montevideo',
    'Asia/Samarkand',
    'Asia/Tashkent',
    'America/Caracas',
    'Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh',
    'Pacific/Efate',
    'Pacific/Wallis',
    'Pacific/Apia',
    'Africa/Johannesburg'
];

I upvoted this, but... doesn't seem to work. Getting this error: Uncaught TypeError: easternTimeInMS.getSeconds is not a function at setDate (index.html:101) This is the line: `const seconds = easternTimeInMS.getSeconds();` — Monroe Mann, Nov 14 '21 at 23:06
`easternTimeInMS` gets you the time in ms so its a number output not a function just call it without the `.getSeconds` after it... if you want seconds. just take that number and divide it by 1000 `seconds = (easternTimeInMS/1000)` heres a fiddle https://jsfiddle.net/jadyo3ev/2/ — cigol on, Nov 16 '21 at 02:50
Here is the fiddle I created. The hands worked before when I had my original code. Now they are doing something funky now that I used your code from your fiddle. Any thoughts on what I am still missing: https://jsfiddle.net/monroemann/b8d5tuyo/4/ — Monroe Mann, Nov 22 '21 at 03:10
@MonroeMann here you go. https://jsfiddle.net/9yk4pwb6/1/ I tried to comment all changes so you can understand why i did it...the use case above is not best suited to your needs as it was outputting a number of ms since 1/1/1970 which is a number like 1637697542000 and its not useful for your needs, since its not the actual current time seconds for a clock value. — cigol on, Nov 23 '21 at 18:00
Thank you very much @cigol I am going to check that out now! — Monroe Mann, Nov 29 '21 at 23:18
Wow, fantastic. Your code revisions work perfectly. One last request, if you're up for it. Do you have any idea how to make the hour hand 3/4 the length of the others, and how to make the second hand 1/4 of the width of the minute hand? Right now, it's really hard to know which hand is which. I tried a few things, but all I did is move the originating location of the hand, rather than adjusting the length or width... FYI, this is just a WesBos JS30 exercise. I'm trying to improve my JS and CSS skills. You've been a great help, and I appreciate your time. — Monroe Mann, Nov 29 '21 at 23:21
@MonroeMann My CSS skills are lacking but I managed to do it https://jsfiddle.net/bmz35ntx/14/ I am sure it can be done better and honestly dont know if the route i took is correct but It seems to be functioning. essentially instead of setting the .hand values i did each one separately the hour hand had some more changes since the width was changing so compare them to the others to see. the second hand was just a matter of making the height smaller. — cigol on, Dec 01 '21 at 00:22

How to convert new Date().getTime() to EST?

2 Answers2

Time displayed in specific timezone...

Time in ms displayed in specific timezone...

Other Time Zones.