ntp

Sets the board's clock from the internet and sends the time, as text for a display or as Unix time.

Properties

• NTP server — default pool.ntp.org.
• UTC offset (hours) — for standard time in your zone, for example 1 for central Europe or 5.5 for India.
• daylight saving — UK / EU: automatic adds an hour from 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of March to 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of October. none leaves the offset alone. For other countries' rules, set the offset yourself.
• format — what goes in payload. Each message also carries every format as a field of the same name.
• WiFi — the flow's WiFi network, shared by every WiFi node.

format	payload
time	14:05
time_seconds	14:05:09
time_12h	2:05 pm
date	Wed 14 Oct
date_iso	2026-10-14
iso	2026-10-14T14:05:09+01:00
unix	1791983109, an int: seconds since 1970 UTC, whatever the offset

Wiring

• Input — any message asks for the time now. Wire a timer in for a clock that ticks: 1 second with seconds shown, otherwise 1 to 5 seconds.
• Output — one message after each sync, and one for each input once the board has the time. Nothing is sent before the first sync, so a label shows -- rather than a wrong time.

To show the time and the date on one screen, use two ntp nodes, one with format time and one with date.

Behavior

The ntp node joins the flow's WiFi itself. Once WiFi is up it asks the NTP server for the time, tries again every 30 seconds until it works, and then every hour. Between syncs the board's own clock keeps time. The request takes up to a second and holds up the flow while it runs.

The board's clock is kept in UTC. The offset and summer time are added to each message, so the hour changes on time.

Errors

The node's status shows waiting for WiFi, synced, or NTP from server failed. The first failure in a row also goes to the console. A board whose MicroPython has no ntptime module says so instead of failing at start. A flow with no WiFi network doesn't compile.