Ask in any developer or community-management server how to make one of those auto-converting Discord timestamps, and someone will link you to HammerTime within minutes. It has earned that reputation. HammerTime is one of the oldest and most polished tools in the Discord timestamp space, and this guide covers what it actually offers, how to use both the website and the companion bot, and how it stacks up against the alternatives, including our own our timestamp generator.
Full disclosure: we run discordtimestamp.com, a direct alternative. We'll flag exactly where HammerTime is the better pick, because it sometimes is, and pretending otherwise wouldn't help you.
What Is HammerTime?
HammerTime (hammertime.cyou) is a free, open-source web tool that generates Discord dynamic timestamp codes: the <t:1784194890:F> snippets that render in every viewer's own timezone and language. It was created by the developer WentTheFox, and the source code is public on GitHub.
It comes in two parts:
- The website, where you pick a date and time and copy a ready-made code for any of Discord's timestamp styles.
- A companion Discord app (bot) that generates the same codes via slash commands, without leaving Discord at all.
Both produce standard Discord timestamp syntax, which means nothing about the output is proprietary. A code generated by HammerTime, by us, or by hand all render identically in Discord. The tools differ purely in workflow, so that's how we'll compare them.
Using the HammerTime Website
The core flow is simple: open the site, set your date and time, and every timestamp format appears below with a live text preview and a copy button next to each one. Copy the row you want and paste it into Discord.
Beyond the basics, the site has accumulated some genuinely thoughtful options:
- Custom date and time inputs that replace the browser defaults, with an option for separate date and time fields. Mobile users benefit most from this.
- A 12-hour or 24-hour toggle for the input side.
- A natural-language input where you can type things like "in 5 hours" and have it parsed into a timestamp, though its language support is more limited than the interface itself.
- Timezone controls, so you can build a timestamp for a moment defined in someone else's timezone.
- Heavy localization. The interface is translated into dozens of languages, which matters if your mod team isn't working in English.
- Clock synchronization against a server, which keeps the "current time" defaults accurate even if your device clock drifts slightly.
It's a mature, well-maintained tool, and the breadth of little quality-of-life settings shows years of iteration.
The HammerTime Discord App
The bot is where HammerTime really differentiates itself. Once added to your server (or to your account), it can generate timestamp codes entirely inside Discord. Per its official app page, the slash commands include:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/at | Build a timestamp from explicit date/time parts, with timezone |
/at12 | Same as /at, using a 12-hour clock |
/in | Future timestamp relative to now ("in 2 hours") |
/ago | Past timestamp relative to now |
/add / /subtract | Add or subtract time from a Unix timestamp |
/unix | Show the syntax for a specific Unix timestamp |
/snowflake | Show timestamp syntax derived from a Discord snowflake ID |
/iso | Convert an ISO 8601 string into timestamp syntax |
/settings | Open your personal settings |
/statistics, /faq | Bot info and help |
It also ships context menu commands: right-click any message and you can pull the timestamp of when it was sent or last edited, or run Extract Timestamps to recover the raw codes from timestamps already rendered in someone's message. That extraction trick is unique and occasionally a lifesaver, like when you want to reuse the exact moment from someone else's event post.
The honest caveat: slash commands are a keyboard-first workflow. Filling out /at parameters on a phone is slower than tapping a date picker on a website, and every server member who wants to generate codes this way needs the bot present (or added to their own account).
What HammerTime Does Well
Credit where it's due. Choose HammerTime when these things matter to you:
- You want to stay inside Discord. The slash-command bot means no browser tab, and the context-menu timestamp extraction has no real equivalent elsewhere.
- You work in a language other than English. Its interface localization is the broadest of any timestamp tool we're aware of.
- You care about open source. The site and bot code are public, which is reassuring for anything you invite into your server.
- Timezone-shifted input. Building "8 PM in London" while you sit in Denver is a first-class feature.
HammerTime vs discordtimestamp.com
Both tools generate identical, standard codes, so this comes down to workflow. Here's the honest breakdown:
| Feature | HammerTime | discordtimestamp.com |
|---|---|---|
| All 7 timestamp styles with copy buttons | Yes | Yes |
| Live preview | Text preview of each format | Discord-style chat preview, styled like the actual client |
| Natural-language input | Yes, with limited language support | Yes, plain-English parsing is a core input method |
| Quick presets ("in 1 hour", "tonight") | Partial, via relative input | Yes |
| In-Discord bot with slash commands | Yes | No |
| Extract timestamps from existing messages | Yes, via context menu | No |
| Snowflake-to-timestamp tool | Via bot command | Yes, dedicated snowflake converter on the site |
| Unix converter and countdown pages | No | Yes, same site |
| Interface localization | Dozens of languages | English |
| Open source | Yes | No |
Our pitch, plainly: discordtimestamp.com shows your timestamp inside a live Discord-style chat preview, so you see the rendered message the way your members will, bubble and all, before you copy anything. You can type times in plain English, and the related tools live on one site: a snowflake decoder (Discord snowflake IDs embed a creation time counted from Discord's epoch of January 1, 2015), a Unix converter, and a countdown generator. If your workflow is "browser tab open while writing announcements," we think it's the faster loop.
If your workflow is "never leave Discord," HammerTime's bot wins, full stop.
Other Alternatives
r.3v.fi/discord-timestamps is the minimalist option: a single page with a date-time picker, a reset-to-now button, the standard format list, and copy-to-clipboard. No presets, no natural language, no bot, and that's the appeal. If you want zero interface between you and the code, it's the fastest thing going.
General-purpose server bots with scheduling, reminder, or event features often emit dynamic timestamps as a side effect. If you already run one for events, check whether its announcements include timestamp codes before adding a dedicated tool.
Writing codes by hand is always available, since the syntax is just <t:UNIX:STYLE>. Realistic for developers who already have Unix timestamps in hand; tedious for everyone else. Our guide to the format codes explained covers the full syntax if you want to go manual.
Which Should You Use?
A simple decision rule that we'd give a friend:
- Mods and members who live inside Discord: add HammerTime's bot. Slash commands plus timestamp extraction is a genuinely great in-client toolkit.
- Admins writing announcements in a browser: use a website generator, and pick the one whose input style you like. Ours leans on plain-English input and the chat-style preview; HammerTime leans on granular controls and localization.
- Developers processing IDs and raw numbers: you'll want dedicated converters. Our snowflake converter and Unix tools handle that without a bot, and HammerTime's
/snowflakeand/unixcommands do it in-client.
There's no lock-in on any side. The output is plain text either way, so try both and keep whichever one you reach for twice.
Quick Answers
Is HammerTime free? Yes. The website and the Discord app are free to use, and the project is open source.
Is the bot safe to add? It's a well-established, open-source project whose code you can inspect on GitHub. As with any bot, add it with only the permissions it requests and you're fine.
Do timestamps from different tools look different in Discord? No. Every tool outputs the same standard <t:UNIX:STYLE> syntax, and Discord renders it identically regardless of where the code came from. Nobody can tell which generator you used.
Does any of this work on mobile? Yes, all of it. The websites work in any mobile browser, the bot's slash commands work in the Discord mobile app, and a pasted timestamp renders the same on every platform.
Can I use these tools for servers I don't moderate? Website generators, yes, always, since you're just pasting text. The HammerTime bot needs to be added to the server, or to your own account for use anywhere.
Try It
The fastest way to compare is with a real announcement. Open our timestamp generator, type your next event time in plain English, and watch the Discord-style preview render all seven formats before you copy one. If it doesn't beat your current workflow, HammerTime is linked above and we genuinely recommend it as the runner-up.