How does workspace:GetServerTimeNow() work? Does it replicate time on every call or in the background?

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1

Hey community! I have a question about how workspace:GetServerTimeNow() actually works.

The Core Question:
This method returns server time on the client, but how exactly does it synchronize?

  • Does it replicate the time only when the method is called?
  • Or does Roblox maintain background synchronization, with the method simply returning the last known value?

Why This Matters:

  • If time is requested on every call, it could cause performance issues with frequent usage.
  • If it’s cached/synchronized in the background, we can call the method freely without network overhead.

What I’ve Tested:

  1. Basic tests:

    -- Client:
for i = 1, 1e5 do
    task.defer(workspace.GetServerTimeNow, workspace)
end
    • Network Stats showed no spike in recv (so it’s not spamming requests).
    • But it’s unclear exactly how Roblox updates the time.

  2. Comparison with RemoteEvent:
    If this used RemoteEvent/Function, 100K calls would create massive traffic. But it doesn’t - so the mechanism must be different.

2

GetServerTimeNow() returns the client’s best approximation of the current time on the server.

That’s what the documentation states. I am sure it has answered your question now.

3

I do wonder, given client/server synchronization, how does it work when it has been called right as the player joined? Technically the server could send its time right as the player connects to the server, so then the player could use it right away, but you wouldn’t have ping compensation as that requires a round way trip to get. Perhaps this information is retrieve before the client actually starts up the game?