# Default Timestamp Source for new OPC-UA connections **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [February 26, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/default-timestamp-source-for-new-opc-ua-connections/114206 "2026-02-26T17:16:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andre\_Hennecke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e95f7d/32.png) [@Andre\_Hennecke](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Andre_Hennecke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/default-timestamp-source-for-new-opc-ua-connections/114206/1 "2026-02-26T17:16:50Z")
Ignition 8.3.1 introduced the new timestamp source setting (OPC\_PREFER\_SOURCE). This must be configured individually for each OPC-UA connections. The default for new OPC-UA Connections is Ignition\_Source. Is anyone aware of an existing way to always set OPC\_PREFERE\_SOURCE as the default (beside using a script to create the OPC UA Connection? Thank you, André ---
**Author:** ![Kevin.Herron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kevin.herron/32/7259_2.png) [@Kevin.Herron](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Kevin.Herron)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/default-timestamp-source-for-new-opc-ua-connections/114206/2 "2026-02-26T17:20:06Z")
> [@Andre\_Hennecke](#): > > The default for new OPC-UA Connections is Ignition\_Source. Really? This was a mistake... maybe a UI/frontend thing, because in the definition of the config object on the backend it's `OPC_PREFER_SOURCE`. ---
**Author:** ![Kevin.Herron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kevin.herron/32/7259_2.png) [@Kevin.Herron](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Kevin.Herron)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/default-timestamp-source-for-new-opc-ua-connections/114206/3 "2026-02-26T18:29:14Z")
Tracking this as IGN-15585. ---
**Author:** ![Andre\_Hennecke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e95f7d/32.png) [@Andre\_Hennecke](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Andre_Hennecke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 9:26am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/default-timestamp-source-for-new-opc-ua-connections/114206/4 "2026-03-03T09:26:54Z")
@Kevin.Herron The configuration says OPC\_PREFERE\_SOURCE. Is our assumption correct, that when the OPC-UA server does not provide a source timestamp, Ignition will fallback to Source Timestamp IGNITION? If this is the case: Can we disable this functionality or can we see somewhere that a fallback happend? Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Kevin.Herron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kevin.herron/32/7259_2.png) [@Kevin.Herron](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Kevin.Herron)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2026, 1:05pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/default-timestamp-source-for-new-opc-ua-connections/114206/5 "2026-03-03T13:05:13Z")
The order of preference has always been: 1. OPC Source 2. OPC Server (if source not available) 3. Ignition (if neither available) You’re just choosing a starting place in this list with that setting. A timestamp will always be chosen; the Ignition tag system needs one. There is no indication which one was chosen. There will always be an OPC Server timestamp available unless you're dealing with a server with a broken implementation. The primary use case for this setting is to change timestamp source to IGNITION when you're dealing with a server that has not had its time synchronized yet. Ideally it's temporary, because a relatively synchronized clock is a baseline requirement for all OPC UA applications. Secondary use case would be if your server is reporting values from some downstream source (DNP3, another OPC UA server, etc...) that has its own timestamps, in which case the downstream timestamps usually end up in the OPC UA SourceTimestamp, and for some reason you don't want those and would rather use the OPC UA ServerTimestamp.