How to Pause Game Time on a Hytale Server

You can pause the game time so the time of day no longer changes. This is useful for building servers, events, or screenshots with perfect lighting.

How to Pause Game Time via Configuration

1. Stop the Server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

2. Open the World Configuration
   Connect to your server via SFTP and navigate to:

   /universe/worlds/<worldname>/config.json
   

   Replace <worldname> with the name of your world (e.g., default).

3. Pause Game Time
   Find the IsGameTimePaused setting and change the value:

   "IsGameTimePaused": true
   

   • true - Game time is paused
   • false - Game time runs normally (default)

4. Set Time (optional)
   You can also set the current time before pausing. GameTime is a timestamp, and the time of day comes after the T:

   "GameTime": "0001-01-01T12:00:00Z"
   

   (12:00:00 = noon)

   The date before the T may be different on your server. Keep your existing date and only change the time.

5. Start the Server
   Start your server for the changes to take effect.

Example: Permanent Noon

"IsGameTimePaused": true,
"GameTime": "0001-01-01T12:00:00Z"

Example: Permanent Night

"IsGameTimePaused": true,
"GameTime": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"

How to Pause Game Time via Command

With a command, you can pause the time while the server is running, without stopping it. Enter the following in the console of your dashboard:

time pause --world default

Replace default with the name of your world. The server replies with Time cycle paused in "default" at .... The command toggles: if you enter it again, time continues (Time cycle resumed ...).

If you want to set the state explicitly instead of toggling it, use:

world settings timepaused set true --world default

With false instead of true, time continues again. In-game, admins use /time pause without --world, in which case the command applies to the world you are in.

Change Time via Command

Even with paused time, you can change the time via command:

time noon --world default

For more time commands, see Change Time.