A lightweight GNOME Shell extension that replaces the top-bar clock with a numeric, fully configurable format — ideal for DD/MM/YYYY, ISO 8601, 24-hour, or 12-hour time with optional seconds, anywhere in the world.
Latest: v17.4.4 — ESM build v28 for GNOME 45–50 (X11/Xorg validated on Zorin OS 18.1 / GNOME Shell 46)
Download only v17.4.4. Older stable releases (v17.3.x) are kept for rollback. No new extension release is required for docs/CI-only updates on
mainsince v17.4.4.
UUID: numeric-clock@nickotmazgin
Keywords: GNOME clock · numeric date · DD/MM/YYYY · ISO 8601 · 24-hour time · Wayland · X11 · Xorg · top bar · Linux desktop · open source
GNOME Shell 42–44 is no longer supported. Numeric Clock requires GNOME 45–50.
- Latest release (ZIPs): GitHub Releases
- Privacy: PRIVACY.md
- Security: SECURITY.md
- Issues: Report a bug
- Discussions: Ask a question
Numeric Clock v17.4.4 — click any image to view it full size.
 c1 — Panel icon menu |
 c2 — Quick presets |
 c3 — Preferences · Settings |
 c4 — Format presets |
 c5 — About |
- Fully numeric date/time — you choose the
strftimeformat string - International defaults:
DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM:SS(24-hour, seconds; uses your system locale and timezone) - 7 format presets: International, weekday, compact, time-only, ISO 8601, US 12-hour, top-bar only
- Live preview in settings — ticks every second when format shows seconds
- Configurable update interval (1–300 seconds)
- Smooth second tick alignment when showing seconds
- Panel access icon — digital clock icon opens a quick menu (preferences, presets, copy time)
- Right-click the formatted clock for the same quick menu (left-click still opens GNOME calendar)
- Restore default clock when disabled or uninstalled
- Safe plain-text rendering (no Pango markup)
- No network access, telemetry, or external services — see PRIVACY.md
| GNOME | Status | Extension version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45–50 | Supported | 28 | ESM build; do not ship schemas/gschemas.compiled |
| 42–44 | Discontinued | — | No longer built or maintained |
| Session | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| X11 / Xorg | Supported · validated | v17.4.4 runtime-tested on Zorin OS 18.1 / GNOME Shell 46 / X11 |
| Wayland | Supported | Works by design; not maintainer runtime-tested for v17.4.4 |
Minimum requirement: GNOME Shell 45 on a Wayland or X11/Xorg session.
Validation scope (v17.4.4): maintainer confidence is highest on X11/Xorg (local Zorin setup). Older release notes were not retroactively re-labeled.
Works on Zorin OS, Ubuntu, Fedora, and other GNOME-based distributions that ship Shell 45–50.
gnome-extensions install --force dist/numeric-clock@nickotmazgin.v28.shell-extension.zip
gnome-extensions enable numeric-clock@nickotmazgin
gnome-extensions prefs numeric-clock@nickotmazgin./tools/build.sh
./tools/validate.sh
gnome-extensions install --force dist/numeric-clock@nickotmazgin.v28.shell-extension.zip
gnome-extensions enable numeric-clock@nickotmazginNote: Release ZIPs must not contain
schemas/gschemas.compiled.
After install, restart GNOME Shell: Alt+F2 → r → Enter (Xorg) or log out/in (Wayland).
Open Preferences and set:
- Format string — any
strftimepattern - Update interval (seconds) — use
1when showing seconds - Smooth tick — align updates to second boundaries
- Show panel access icon — digital clock icon for quick menu
- Right-click clock for quick menu — secondary/middle click on the formatted clock
Changes apply immediately as you type.
Quick access:
- Click the panel clock icon (system tray area) for preferences, presets, and copy time
- Right-click or middle-click the formatted top-bar clock for the same menu
- Left-click the clock still opens the standard GNOME calendar
Numeric Clock uses your system timezone — set it in OS Settings. Examples:
Europe / DD/MM (24-hour):
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.numeric-clock format-string '%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S'ISO 8601 (worldwide standard):
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.numeric-clock format-string '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'US (12-hour):
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.numeric-clock format-string '%m/%d/%Y %I:%M:%S %p'Or use the matching preset buttons in Preferences.
%A weekday · %a short weekday · %d day · %m month · %Y year · %H hour (00–23) · %I hour (01–12) · %p AM/PM · %M minute · %S second
Examples:
%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S→30/05/2026 18:20:06%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S→2026-05-30 18:20:06%m/%d/%Y %I:%M:%S %p→05/30/2026 06:20:06 PM
Clock missing or doubled?
gnome-extensions list | grep -Ei 'clock|date|time'
gnome-extensions disable <conflicting-extension-uuid>Reset preferences:
gsettings reset-recursively org.gnome.shell.extensions.numeric-clockCheck status:
gnome-extensions info numeric-clock@nickotmazgin
gnome-extensions list --enabledLogs:
journalctl --user -b 0 -o cat | grep -i numeric-clock./tools/build.sh # -> dist/numeric-clock@nickotmazgin.v28.shell-extension.zip (GNOME 45–50)
./tools/validate.shTag v* to trigger CI upload of ZIPs to GitHub Releases.
Do not commit schemas/gschemas.compiled to the repo.
- Privacy: PRIVACY.md — local-only, no network, no telemetry
- Security: SECURITY.md — coordinated disclosure
- License: MIT — see LICENSE
This extension modifies only the top-bar clock display via supported GNOME Shell APIs. It does not bypass security, escalate privileges, or access data outside your session.
MIT © Nick Otmazgin — see LICENSE.
Numeric Clock is created, maintained, signed, and released by Nick Otmazgin — the project's sole administrator and solo developer, who authors and reviews all code that ships.
Recent releases were built with help from AI pair-programming agents, operated under the maintainer's direction and review:
- OpenAI Codex — release engineering, signed-tag release workflows, release validation and CI hardening
- Cursor (Agent) — code review, debugging, documentation
Every AI-assisted change is human-reviewed, tested on real GNOME sessions, and approved by the maintainer before release. See CONTRIBUTORS.md for the full credits.
OpenAI and Codex are trademarks of OpenAI. Cursor is a trademark of Anysphere, Inc. These names are used here solely for factual attribution. Numeric Clock is an independent project and is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by OpenAI or Anysphere/Cursor.
GitHub topics: gnome-shell-extension · clock · 24-hour · numeric-date · top-bar · seconds · wayland · x11 · xorg · linux · open-source
Search for: GNOME numeric clock, Linux top bar date format, DD/MM/YYYY clock extension, 24 hour clock GNOME
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