---
name: "stime"
section: "2"
platform: "linux"
package: "man-pages"
version: "6.19-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/stime"
---

# stime(2)

set time

## NAME

stime - set time

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <time.h>
```

**\[\[deprecated\]\] int stime(const time\_t \****t***);**

Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see [**feature\_test\_macros**(7)](/feature_test_macros/7.md)):

**stime**():

```
    Since glibc 2.19:
        _DEFAULT_SOURCE
    glibc 2.19 and earlier:
        _SVID_SOURCE
```

## DESCRIPTION

**NOTE**: This function is deprecated; use [**clock\_settime**(2)](/clock_settime/2.md) instead.

**stime**() sets the system's idea of the time and date. The time, pointed to by *t*, is measured in seconds since the Epoch, 1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 (UTC). **stime**() may be executed only by the superuser.

## RETURN VALUE

On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned, and *errno* is set to indicate the error.

## ERRORS

- **EFAULT**

  Error in getting information from user space.

- **EPERM**

  The calling process has insufficient privilege. Under Linux, the **CAP\_SYS\_TIME** privilege is required.

## STANDARDS

None.

## HISTORY

SVr4.

Starting with glibc 2.31, this function is no longer available to newly linked applications and is no longer declared in *\<time.h\>*.

## SEE ALSO

[**date**(1)](/date/1.md), [**settimeofday**(2)](/settimeofday/2.md), [**capabilities**(7)](/capabilities/7.md)