Backend Development 2 min read

PHP date_default_timezone_set() Function: Description, Parameters, Return Value, and Example

This article explains the PHP date_default_timezone_set() function, detailing its purpose of setting a default timezone for all date/time functions, the required timezone identifier parameter, the boolean return values, and provides a practical code example with expected output.

Laravel Tech Community
Laravel Tech Community
Laravel Tech Community
PHP date_default_timezone_set() Function: Description, Parameters, Return Value, and Example

The date_default_timezone_set() function in PHP sets the default timezone used by all date and time functions within a script.

Signature: bool date_default_timezone_set(string $timezone_identifier)

Parameter: $timezone_identifier – a timezone identifier such as UTC or Europe/Lisbon .

Return value: Returns TRUE on success; returns FALSE if the provided identifier is invalid.

Example usage:

<?php
date_default_timezone_set('America/Los_Angeles');
$script_tz = date_default_timezone_get();
if (strcmp($script_tz, ini_get('date.timezone'))){
    echo 'Script timezone differs from ini-set timezone.';
} else {
    echo 'Script timezone and ini-set timezone match.';
}
?>

The script sets the timezone to America/Los_Angeles , retrieves the current script timezone, compares it with the timezone defined in php.ini , and outputs a message indicating whether they match.

Sample output: Script timezone differs from ini-set timezone.

backendPHPtimezonephp-functionsdate_default_timezone_set
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