PHP DateTime - setTime() Method

The PHP DateTime::setTime() method sets the time of a DateTime object. The date_time_set() function is an alias of this method.

Syntax

//Object-oriented style
public DateTime::setTime(hour, minute, 
                    second, microsecond)

//Procedural style
date_time_set(object, hour, minute, 
              second, microsecond)

Parameters

`object`	`Required.` For procedural style only: A DateTime object returned by date_create().
`hour`	`Required.` Specify an integer value representing hour of the time.
`minute`	`Required.` Specify an integer value representing minute of the time.
`second`	`Optional.` Specify an integer value representing second of the time. Default is 0.
`microsecond`	`Optional.` Specify an integer value representing microsecond of the time. Default is 0.

Return Value

Returns the DateTime object with modified time on success, otherwise returns false.

Example: using both styles

The example below shows the usage of DateTime::setTime() method.

<?php
  //creating a DateTime object
  $date = new DateTime();

  //setting time using Object-oriented style
  $date->setTime(5, 10); 

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo $date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s")."\n";

  //setting time using Procedural style
  date_time_set($date, 10, 48); 

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo $date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s")."\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

11-Sep-2021 05:10:00
11-Sep-2021 10:48:00

Example: Modifying time of a DateTime object

This method can be used to modify time of the DateTime object to a new value. Consider the example below:

<?php
  //datetime string
  $datetime_string = "14-May-2015 5:10";

  //creating a DateTime object
  $date = new DateTime($datetime_string);

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo "Original DateTime: ".$date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s")."\n";

  //setting time to a new value
  $date->setTime(11, 15); 

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo "Modified DateTime: ".$date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s")."\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Original DateTime: 14-May-2015 05:10:00
Modified DateTime: 14-May-2015 11:15:00

Example: Adding values exceeding ranges

When values exceeding ranges are passed to this method, they will be added to their parent values. Consider the example below:

<?php
  //creating a DateTime object
  $date = new DateTime("20-May-2015");

  //setting time to a new value
  $date->setTime(5, 10);
  echo $date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s") . "\n";

  //setting time with exceeding range of minutes -
  //exceeding minutes (5 minutes) will be added
  $date->setTime(5, 65);
  echo $date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s") . "\n";

  //setting time with exceeding range of hours -
  //exceeding hours (2 hours) will be added
  $date->setTime(26, 10);
  echo $date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s") . "\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

20-May-2015 05:10:00
20-May-2015 06:05:00
21-May-2015 02:10:00

❮ PHP Date and Time Reference