# System.date.now() VS system.tag.readBlocking("\[System\]Gateway/CurrentDateTime")

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/system-date-now-vs-system-tag-readblocking-system-gateway-currentdatetime/99312>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Tags:** ignition81, scripting\
**Created:** [December 2, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/system-date-now-vs-system-tag-readblocking-system-gateway-currentdatetime/99312 "2024-12-02T15:40:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Xander\_Dawson-Fink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/73ab20/32.png) [@Xander\_Dawson-Fink](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Xander_Dawson-Fink)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/system-date-now-vs-system-tag-readblocking-system-gateway-currentdatetime/99312/1 "2024-12-02T15:40:59Z")

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Hey y'all,  
I was curious as to the difference between using system.date.now() and using system.tag.readBlocking("[System]Gateway/CurrentDateTime"). The only difference I can think of would be in values as the scope changes, as the read would always return gateway time, but system.date.now() would return client time if executed in the client scope, right? With the assumption that both values would be equal if executed on a gateway tag, is there one that is faster in execution or more accurate, or are they equivalent in the gateway scope?

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**Author:** ![Transistor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/transistor/32/3380_2.png) [@Transistor](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Transistor)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/system-date-now-vs-system-tag-readblocking-system-gateway-currentdatetime/99312/2 "2024-12-02T16:06:58Z")

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> [@Xander\_Dawson-Fink](#):
>
> but system.date.now() would return client time if executed in the client scope, right?

For Vision, yes. For Perspective it would be the gateway value.

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**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:** [December 2, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/system-date-now-vs-system-tag-readblocking-system-gateway-currentdatetime/99312/3 "2024-12-02T16:08:27Z")

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> [@Xander\_Dawson-Fink](#):
>
> is there one that is faster in execution

`system.date.now()` is faster.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Xander\_Dawson-Fink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/73ab20/32.png) [@Xander\_Dawson-Fink](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Xander_Dawson-Fink)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/system-date-now-vs-system-tag-readblocking-system-gateway-currentdatetime/99312/4 "2024-12-02T16:27:16Z")

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> [@Transistor](#):
>
> For Vision, yes. For Perspective it would be the gateway value

Ah, yes. I always consider Perspective as gateway scoped, but that's my bad for not distinguishing, since perspective does have a session scope where it could have potentially grabbed the time.

> [@Kevin.Herron](#):
>
> `system.date.now()` is faster

Ok. I had a feeling as reading tags seems to be a generally slow method if there are other ways to gather the data.