{
  "id": 18357076,
  "title": "Your Discord bot's timestamp says the year 58970 (I tested 16 edge cases)",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/your-discord-bots-timestamp-says-the-year-58970-i-tested-16-edge-cases",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-05T19:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/fazal_bhinder/your-discord-bots-timestamp-says-the-year-58970-i-tested-16-edge-cases-403e"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Discord's bot-generated timestamps can display years far in the future due to a bug with handling malformed or extreme codes. The format is documented, but Discord's behavior with bad input is unclear. A reporter tested 16 edge cases on November 4, 2026.\n\nThe bot shows normal dates for valid inputs, such as \"Friday, January 1, 2027 at 6:30 AM\" for \"t:1798765200:F\". However, when using milliseconds instead of seconds, Discord renders the year \"58970\" on \"Tuesday, August 7, 58970 at 9:30 PM\", nearly 57,000 years ahead. Zero and negative values show dates from December 31, 1969.\n\nBeyond JavaScript's date limits, Discord still displays valid years. For example, \"Tuesday, January 19, 2038 at 8:44 AM\" for \"t:2147483648:F\", and \"Saturday, September 13, 275760\" for \"t:8640000000000:F\". Even one second past these limits is displayed correctly as raw text.\n\nHowever, not all valid codes render as expected. In some cases like poll questions, answers, thread titles, server nicknames, and custom statuses, Discord displays the code as raw text instead of a formatted date. This includes messages, thread messages, and channel topics, but not bot embeds or mobile app interfaces.",
  "summary": "Discord turns <t:1798765200:F> into a date shown in each reader's own time zone. The format is documented, but what Discord does with bad input isn't. Bots generate these strings, and bots get the input wrong, so on 4 November 2026 I sent 16 malformed or extreme codes to a private server from the Discord web client and read back what rendered. Code What it tests Discord showed <t:1798765200:F>…",
  "key_points": [
    "Discord bot timestamps can display years far in the future due to a bug.",
    "Bug occurs with malformed or extreme codes, not with valid inputs.",
    "Zero and negative values show dates from December 31, 1969."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}