Military Time: The 24-Hour Clock Explained
How to read and convert military time, the full 24-hour conversion table, why zero-dark-thirty exists, and where the 24-hour clock is standard.
Military time is the 24-hour clock: after noon you keep counting — 1300, 1400, 1800 — instead of resetting to 1 PM. "18:30" and "1830" both mean 6:30 PM. The system removes the AM/PM ambiguity that causes real accidents in aviation, medicine and the military.
Conversion table
| 12-hour | 24-hour | Spoken (military) |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM (midnight) | 0000 or 2400 | zero hundred (hours) |
| 1:00 AM | 0100 | zero one hundred |
| 6:00 AM | 0600 | zero six hundred |
| 11:59 AM | 1159 | eleven fifty-nine |
| 12:00 PM (noon) | 1200 | twelve hundred |
| 3:30 PM | 1530 | fifteen thirty |
| 6:00 PM | 1800 | eighteen hundred |
| 11:00 PM | 2300 | twenty-three hundred |
Three rules to convert instantly
- AM hours are the same: 7 AM = 0700 (just pad to four digits)
- PM hours: add 12 to the hour — 6 PM = 18:00, 11 PM = 23:00
- Afternoon minutes never change — 3:45 PM is 1545, not 1590
Where 24-hour time is the norm
Most of Europe, Latin America and Asia write clocks in 24-hour format in daily life — train departure boards, opening hours, TV listings. The 12-hour clock dominates mainly in the anglosphere (US, Canada, Australia, NZ, UK speech) plus a handful of others. Computing is 24-hour by nature: the Unix timestamp counts seconds since 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z, and ISO 8601 always writes four-digit hours.
Want to see a 24-hour clock live? Our online clock displays your local time in both 12- and 24-hour formats.
Frequently asked questions
What is 1700 in regular time?
1700 military time is 5:00 PM — subtract 12 from hours 13 and above.
How do you say 0030 in military time?
Zero zero thirty, meaning 12:30 AM — half an hour after midnight.
Is midnight 2400 or 0000?
Both refer to the same instant: 2400 closes out the day, 0000 opens the new one. Scheduling systems prefer 0000.