Time zones

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Time zones

    ServiceNow stores all times in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and displays them to users based on their local time zone preferences. Time zones in the system use a primary Country/City format, with some aliases linking to these primary IDs without affecting functionality. Administrators should configure a default system time zone to ensure consistent behavior across the platform.

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    Key Features

    • Time zone representation: Primary IDs follow a Country/City format (e.g., America/LosAngeles), while others act as linked aliases (e.g., US/Pacific).
    • Daylight Saving Time (DST): Location-based time zones automatically adjust for DST, while name-based zones (like GMT) generally do not. Exceptions exist, following Java and IANA time zone database rules.
    • User preferences: Users can select their own time zone via Self-Service > My Profile, with the system default clearly indicated.
    • Java time zone support: The platform supports all Java time zone class IDs, viewable through user record time zone choices.
    • Email notifications: Notification timestamps use the system time zone. An optional property (glide.email.append.timezone) enables appending the instance’s time zone to outbound emails.
    • Service Level Agreements (SLAs): SLA definitions allow selecting the time zone source, either caller or SLA time zone. Using caller time zone can be unpredictable if undefined, so manual specification is recommended.
    • Scripting: Server-side scripts use GlideSystem date/time functions that return time values formatted per the API.
    • DST enhancements: Reports, trend charts, line charts, and filters now respect Daylight Saving Time rules for accurate data representation.
    • Time zone changer: Users can temporarily change their time zone for the session via system settings, reverting to profile or system default at next login.

    Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers

    • Ensure the system default time zone (glide.sys.default.tz) is configured to avoid reliance on server JVM defaults.
    • Encourage users to set their time zone preferences for accurate local time displays.
    • For SLAs, specify the time zone explicitly to avoid errors related to undefined caller time zones.
    • Consider enabling glide.email.append.timezone if you want outbound emails to show time zone information clearly.
    • Utilize GlideSystem API methods in scripting for consistent time handling across your customizations.

    All times are stored in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and appear globally based on the system time zone. However, times appear to users in their local time zone, according to their user preference settings.

    Time zone representation

    Time zones that have the Country/City format are primary time zone IDs. Other time zone IDs are links to the primary time zone.
    • For example, US/Pacific is a link to the America/Los_Angeles time zone. Both America/Los_Angeles and US/Pacific represent Pacific Standard Time with the same zone offset and Daylight Savings Time (DST) schedule.
    • Other than the representation, there is no impact on date and time functionality.
    In the absence of a default time zone for the user or the system, JVM reads default time zone information from the server.
    • Depending on how the server is configured, it might return the Country/City or link, for example, US/Pacific or America/Los_Angeles.
    • Administrators should configure their system with a default time zone glide.sys.default.tz to avoid system dependencies. For more information, see Time zone representation.

    Daylight Saving Time

    In general, if you specify a time zone based on location (for example, America/Los Angeles), the system automatically adjusts for daylight saving time.
    • If you specify a time zone based on the time zone name (for example, GMT), which is discouraged, it does not typically adjust for daylight saving time. There are however exceptions to these guidelines.
    • For more detailed information on how daylight saving time is handled in Java, see https://www.iana.org/time-zones and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tz_database.

    User preferences

    Once the System Time Zone is defined, users can also select their own time zone from their user form, accessed through Self-Service > My Profile.
    Note:

    The System default appears as System ([name of the default time zone]). For example, if the System time zone is America/Los_Angeles, the user sees System (America/Los Angeles).

    Java time zone class

    The ServiceNow AI Platform supports all Java time zone class time zones. To view a listing of these time zones:
    1. In the Type filter text field, enter sys_user.list.
    2. Open one of the user records in the listing.
    3. Right-click the time zone field and select Show Choices.

      The resulting list is a complete listing of available time zone IDs.

    Time zones in email notifications

    The date and time stamp of a notification uses the system time zone and not the time zone of any recipient.
    Note:

    The glide.email.append.timezone property in System Properties > Email controls whether to append the time zone. If set to true, the system time zone of the instance is appended to any dates or date/times in outbound email messages (for example, 2010-07-02 04:01:14 PST).

    Time zones in service level agreements

    Service level agreements have different options for which time zone to use. To set a time-zone for SLAs, navigate to the SLA definition and locate the Timezone source field:

    Figure 1. Time zone for service level agreements
    SLA time zone
    Some special considerations:
    • If you select the time zone for the caller, unpredictable behavior can occur if the caller does not have a time zone defined.
    • If you select the time zone for the SLA definition, you must manual specify the time zone on the form for the SLA.

    Time zone in scripting

    When you create scripting on the server, the script uses several GlideSystem date and time functions to obtain time values. For more information about specific methods and to learn the format in which each returns the requested time, see the GlideSystem API.

    Enhancements

    DST enhancement requires that reports and queries observe Daylight Saving Time rules. Changes affect trend charts, line charts, and filters using the "trend on" operation.

    Time zone changer

    The time zone changer is active by default. Users can change their time zone for the current session in the system settings (the gear on the top right of the banner). At the next login, the time zone setting reverts to the system default, or user profile setting for time zone.