How to Update the Time on Your Dedicated Server
This guide explains how to check and update the date, time and timezone on your Dedicated Server.
To make sure your server time stays correct, we recommend using automatic time synchronization instead of setting the time manually.
Incorrect server time can cause problems with SSL certificates, logs, cron jobs, authentication, backups and some applications. It is recommended to keep automatic time synchronization enabled.
Check Current Server Time
Log in to your server via SSH as root.
To check the current date and time, run:
date
Example output:
Mon Jul 13 12:48:37 CEST 2026
You can also check detailed time settings with:
timedatectl
This command shows the current local time, universal time, timezone and time synchronization status.
Check or Change Timezone
To check the current timezone, run:
timedatectl
To list available timezones, use:
timedatectl list-timezones
You can search for your timezone, for example:
timedatectl list-timezones | grep Europe
To set the timezone, use:
timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Amsterdam
Replace Europe/Amsterdam with the timezone you want to use.
For servers located in the Netherlands, Europe/Amsterdam is usually the correct timezone.
Enable Automatic Time Synchronization
On most modern Linux distributions, you can enable automatic time synchronization with:
timedatectl set-ntp true
Then check the status again:
timedatectl
You should see that NTP synchronization is enabled or active.
Debian / Ubuntu
On Debian or Ubuntu, automatic time synchronization is usually handled by systemd-timesyncd or chrony.
Option 1 – systemd-timesyncd
Enable NTP synchronization:
timedatectl set-ntp true
Check the service status:
systemctl status systemd-timesyncd
If needed, restart the service:
systemctl restart systemd-timesyncd
Option 2 – chrony
If you prefer to use chrony, install it with:
apt update apt install -y chrony
Enable and start the service:
systemctl enable --now chrony
Check synchronization status:
chronyc tracking
AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux / CentOS
On AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux and modern CentOS systems, time synchronization is usually handled by chrony.
Install chrony if it is not installed:
dnf install -y chrony
On older CentOS systems, use:
yum install -y chrony
Enable and start chrony:
systemctl enable --now chronyd
Check synchronization status:
chronyc tracking
You can also check available time sources with:
chronyc sources -v
Manual Time Change
If you need to set the time manually, you can use:
date -s "20:21:10"
or set a full date and time:
date -s "2026-07-13 20:21:10"
Manual time changes are not recommended unless you know exactly why they are needed. If automatic synchronization is enabled, the system may correct the time again automatically.
Verification
If date shows the correct time and timedatectl shows that time synchronization is enabled, your server time is configured correctly.
If the time is still incorrect after enabling synchronization, check your timezone setting and make sure the server can reach NTP time servers over the network.
