Minecraft has a bunch of commands that you can use to modify the game. You can give yourself items, swap between Survival and Creative, and set the time of day. We’ll be taking a look at how to set time in Minecraft via the /time command.
The Four Phases of Minecraft’s Day and Night Cycle
A day in Minecraft is comprised of four phases:
Daytime
Daytime in Minecraft lasts about 12000 ticks. Ticks are the in-game unit of measurement. One tick is equivalent to 0.05 seconds in real-time. This means that a day in Minecraft lasts ten real-life minutes. It’s also worth noting that it starts at 6:00 (0 ticks) and ends at 18:00 (12000 ticks).
During the day is where you’ll be doing most of the exploring and building as it’s the safest time to do so. The sun is apparent and casts a level 15 light. This prevents hostile mobs from spawning.
Dusk/Sunset
Dusk/Sunset happens at about 18:00 (12000 ticks) and ends at 19:00 (13000 ticks). It lasts one in-game hour and one and a half real-life minutes. During this time, the sky color begins to shift from light blue to orange, then dark blue, and the light level drops from 15 to 4.
Night-time
Night in Minecraft begins around 19:00:00 (13000 ticks) and ends at 5:00:00 (23000 ticks). It lasts ten in-game hours and eight and a half real-life minutes. Nighttime is when the hostile mobs start spawning.
Dawn/Sunrise
The sun in Minecraft starts to rise at 5:00:00 (23000 ticks) and ends at 6:00:00 (24000 ticks). It lasts one in-game hour and one and a half real-life minutes. As the sun starts to rise, the sky shifts into orange then light blue.
How to Set Time in Minecraft for Day
You’re stranded in the middle of nowhere, and you’re making your way back to your base. As the sun starts to set, you feel the dangerous mobs looming in the shadows.
If you’ve been in this situation before, then you might have wished for a way to set the time to day. Thankfully, you can actually do it. Here’s how:
- Make sure that cheats are enabled in your world settings. They’re disabled by default in Survival but enabled in Creative.
- Open the chat menu and type in one of the following commands: /time set 1 or /time set day.
- Hit enter and voilà! It’s back to daytime.
How to Set Time in Minecraft for Night
The night in Minecraft brings with it some fun challenges since it’s when the mobs spawn. You can also snap some nice screenshots during the night, especially if you’re using shaders. Here’s how to do it:
- Make sure that cheats are enabled in your world settings. They’re disabled by default in Survival but enabled in Creative.
- Open the chat menu and type in one of the following commands: /time set 13000 or /time set night.
- Hit enter and voilà! It’s back to nighttime.