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Get the atomic timeTag(s): Date and Time


We connect to a publicly accessible time server on the internet and parse the result.

List of available time servers : http://tf.nist.gov/tf-cgi/servers.cgi

NOTE : All users should ensure that their software NEVER queries a server more frequently than once every 4 seconds. Systems that exceed this rate will be refused service. In extreme cases, systems that exceed this limit may be considered as attempting a denial-of-service attack.

Using java.time

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.net.Socket;
import java.util.TimeZone;
import java.time.LocalDateTime;

public final class AtomicTime {
  // NIST, Boulder, Colorado  (time-a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov)
  // public static final String ATOMICTIME_SERVER="132.163.4.101";
  // NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland (time-a.nist.gov)
  // public static final String ATOMICTIME_SERVER="129.6.15.28";
  // NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland  (time-c.nist.gov)
  public static final String ATOMICTIME_SERVER="129.6.15.30";
  public static final int ATOMICTIME_PORT = 13;


  public final static LocalDateTime getAtomicTime() throws IOException{
    BufferedReader in = null;
    Socket conn = null;

    try {
       conn = new Socket(ATOMICTIME_SERVER, ATOMICTIME_PORT);

       in = new BufferedReader
         (new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream()));

       String atomicTime;
       while (true) {
          if ( (atomicTime = in.readLine()).indexOf("*") > -1) {
             break;
          }
       }
       System.out.println("DEBUG 1 : " + atomicTime);
       String[] fields = atomicTime.split(" ");
       String[] date = fields[1].split("-");
       // deals with the timezone and the daylight-saving-time (you may need to adjust this)
       TimeZone tz = TimeZone.getDefault(); // or .getDefault()
       int gmt = (tz.getRawOffset() + tz.getDSTSavings()) / 3600000;
       System.out.println("DEBUG 2 : " + gmt + " " + TimeZone.getDefault());
       String[] time = fields[2].split(":");

       LocalDateTime ldt = LocalDateTime.of(
            2000 +  Integer.parseInt(date[0]) ,  // year
            Integer.parseInt(date[1])-1,         // month
            Integer.parseInt(date[2]),           // dayOfMonth
            Integer.parseInt(time[0]) + gmt,     // hour
            Integer.parseInt(time[1]),           // minute
            Integer.parseInt(time[2]));          // second


       return ldt;
    }
    catch (IOException e){
       throw e;
    }
    finally {
       if (in != null) { in.close();   }
       if (conn != null) { conn.close();   }
    }
  }

  public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException {
    System.out.println("Atomic time : " + AtomicTime.getAtomicTime());
  }


  /*
    ref : http://www.bldrdoc.gov/doc-tour/atomic_clock.html

                       49825 95-04-18 22:24:11 50 0 0 50.0 UTC(NIST) *

                       |     |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    These are the last +     |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    five digits of the       |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    Modified Julian Date     |        |     | | |  |      |      |
                             |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    Year, Month and Day <----+        |     | | |  |      |      |
                                      |     | | |  |      |      |
    Hour, minute, and second of the <-+     | | |  |      |      |
    current UTC at Greenwich.               | | |  |      |      |
                                            | | |  |      |      |
    DST - Daylight Savings Time code <------+ | |  |      |      |
    00 means standard time(ST), 50 means DST  | |  |      |      |
    99 to 51 = Now on ST, goto DST when local | |  |      |      |
    time is 2:00am, and the count is 51.      | |  |      |      |
    49 to 01 = Now on DST, goto ST when local | |  |      |      |
    time is 2:00am, and the count is 01.      | |  |      |      |
                                              | |  |      |      |
    Leap second flag is set to "1" when <-----+ |  |      |      |
    a leap second will be added on the last     |  |      |      |
    day of the current UTC month.  A value of   |  |      |      |
    "2" indicates the removal of a leap second. |  |      |      |
                                                |  |      |      |
    Health Flag.  The normal value of this    <-+  |      |      |
    flag is 0.  Positive values mean there may     |      |      |
    be an error with the transmitted time.         |      |      |
                                                   |      |      |
    The number of milliseconds ACTS is advancing <-+      |      |
    the time stamp, to account for network lag.           |      |
                                                          |      |
    Coordinated Universal Time from the National <--------+      |
    Institute of Standards & Technology.                         |
                                                                 |
    The instant the "*" appears, is the exact time. <------------+
  */
}

Using Gregorian Calendar (the old way)

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.net.Socket;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
import java.util.TimeZone;

public final class DateUtils {
  // NIST, Boulder, Colorado  (time-a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov)
  // public static final String ATOMICTIME_SERVER="132.163.4.101";
  // NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland (time-a.nist.gov)
  // public static final String ATOMICTIME_SERVER="129.6.15.28";
  // NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland  (time-c.nist.gov)
  public static final String ATOMICTIME_SERVER="129.6.15.30";
  public static final int ATOMICTIME_PORT = 13;


  public final static GregorianCalendar getAtomicTime() throws IOException{
    BufferedReader in = null;
    Socket conn = null;

    try {
       conn = new Socket(ATOMICTIME_SERVER, ATOMICTIME_PORT);

       in = new BufferedReader
         (new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream()));

       String atomicTime;
       while (true) {
          if ( (atomicTime = in.readLine()).indexOf("*") > -1) {
             break;
          }
       }
       System.out.println("DEBUG 1 : " + atomicTime);
       String[] fields = atomicTime.split(" ");
       GregorianCalendar calendar = new GregorianCalendar();

       String[] date = fields[1].split("-");
       calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, 2000 +  Integer.parseInt(date[0]));
       calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, Integer.parseInt(date[1])-1);
       calendar.set(Calendar.DATE, Integer.parseInt(date[2]));

       // deals with the timezone and the daylight-saving-time (you may need to adjust this)
       TimeZone tz = TimeZone.getDefault()
       int gmt = (tz.getRawOffset() + tz.getDSTSavings()) / 3600000;
       System.out.println("DEBUG 2 : " + gmt);

       String[] time = fields[2].split(":");
       calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, Integer.parseInt(time[0]) + gmt);
       calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, Integer.parseInt(time[1]));
       calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND, Integer.parseInt(time[2]));
       return calendar;
    }
    catch (IOException e){
       throw e;
    }
    finally {
       if (in != null) { in.close();   }
       if (conn != null) { conn.close();   }
    }
  }

  public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException {
    SimpleDateFormat sdf =
        new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
    System.out.println("Atomic time : " +
        sdf.format(DateUtils.getAtomicTime().getTime()));
  }


  /*
    ref : http://www.bldrdoc.gov/doc-tour/atomic_clock.html

                       49825 95-04-18 22:24:11 50 0 0 50.0 UTC(NIST) *

                       |     |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    These are the last +     |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    five digits of the       |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    Modified Julian Date     |        |     | | |  |      |      |
                             |        |     | | |  |      |      |
    Year, Month and Day <----+        |     | | |  |      |      |
                                      |     | | |  |      |      |
    Hour, minute, and second of the <-+     | | |  |      |      |
    current UTC at Greenwich.               | | |  |      |      |
                                            | | |  |      |      |
    DST - Daylight Savings Time code <------+ | |  |      |      |
    00 means standard time(ST), 50 means DST  | |  |      |      |
    99 to 51 = Now on ST, goto DST when local | |  |      |      |
    time is 2:00am, and the count is 51.      | |  |      |      |
    49 to 01 = Now on DST, goto ST when local | |  |      |      |
    time is 2:00am, and the count is 01.      | |  |      |      |
                                              | |  |      |      |
    Leap second flag is set to "1" when <-----+ |  |      |      |
    a leap second will be added on the last     |  |      |      |
    day of the current UTC month.  A value of   |  |      |      |
    "2" indicates the removal of a leap second. |  |      |      |
                                                |  |      |      |
    Health Flag.  The normal value of this    <-+  |      |      |
    flag is 0.  Positive values mean there may     |      |      |
    be an error with the transmitted time.         |      |      |
                                                   |      |      |
    The number of milliseconds ACTS is advancing <-+      |      |
    the time stamp, to account for network lag.           |      |
                                                          |      |
    Coordinated Universal Time from the National <--------+      |
    Institute of Standards & Technology.                         |
                                                                 |
    The instant the "*" appears, is the exact time. <------------+
  */
}
// thanks to TrueJavaProgrammer for the idea!

It's not possible to set your local computer clock in pure Java.

You need to use an external utility provided by the OS or call a JNI routine, see this HowTo.