---
name: "proc_pid_timerslack_ns"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "man-pages"
version: "6.19-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/proc_pid_timerslack_ns"
---

# proc\_pid\_timerslack\_ns(5)

timer slack in nanoseconds

## NAME

/proc/pid/timerslack\_ns - timer slack in nanoseconds

## DESCRIPTION

- */proc/*pid*/timerslack\_ns* (since Linux 4.6)

  This file exposes the process's "current" timer slack value, expressed in nanoseconds. The file is writable, allowing the process's timer slack value to be changed. Writing 0 to this file resets the "current" timer slack to the "default" timer slack value. For further details, see the discussion of **PR\_SET\_TIMERSLACK** in [**prctl**(2)](/prctl/2.md).

-

  Initially, permission to access this file was governed by a ptrace access mode **PTRACE\_MODE\_ATTACH\_FSCREDS** check (see [**ptrace**(2)](/ptrace/2.md)). However, this was subsequently deemed too strict a requirement (and had the side effect that requiring a process to have the **CAP\_SYS\_PTRACE** capability would also allow it to view and change any process's memory). Therefore, since Linux 4.9, only the (weaker) **CAP\_SYS\_NICE** capability is required to access this file.

## SEE ALSO

[**proc**(5)](/proc/5.md)