WHATPORT(13) whatport.net WHATPORT(13)
13

Daytime

Daytime — connect and the server prints the current date and time as human-readable text, then hangs up.

TCP UDP IANA registry

Description

RFC 867 specifies Daytime as an ASCII time-of-day string returned on connect, with no request format and no defined layout for the string itself. NIST still runs it on time.nist.gov as part of the Internet Time Service, in a fixed format that includes a Modified Julian Date and a UTC timestamp. It was an inetd built-in on classic UNIX and is off by default on modern systems. Because the string is unstructured and unauthenticated, it is a curiosity rather than a way to set a clock — NTP is.

Exposed to the internet?

Expose with care

It leaks nothing worse than the host clock, but the UDP form is a spoofable reflector and the service has no modern purpose outside a deliberate public time service.

Check it yourself

$ nc -v time.nist.gov 13

See also

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