In MariaDB, UTC_TIMESTAMP() is a built-in date and time function that returns the current UTC date and time.

The result is returned in ‘YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS’ or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on whether the function is used in a string or numeric context.

UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time, and is the world standard for regulating time.

Syntax

UTC_TIMESTAMP() can be called in the following two ways:

UTC_TIMESTAMP
UTC_TIMESTAMP([precision])

Where precision is an optional argument that specifies the microsecond precision to use.

Example

Here’s an example:

SELECT 
    UTC_TIMESTAMP,
    UTC_TIMESTAMP();

Result:

+---------------------+---------------------+
| UTC_TIMESTAMP       | UTC_TIMESTAMP()     |
+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2021-06-01 22:54:53 | 2021-06-01 22:54:53 |
+---------------------+---------------------+

Precision

Here’s an example that specifies the precision to use:

SELECT 
    UTC_TIMESTAMP(3),
    UTC_TIMESTAMP(6);

Result:

+-------------------------+----------------------------+
| UTC_TIMESTAMP(3)        | UTC_TIMESTAMP(6)           |
+-------------------------+----------------------------+
| 2021-06-01 22:55:09.880 | 2021-06-01 22:55:09.880201 |
+-------------------------+----------------------------+

Numeric Context

When used in a numeric context, UTC_TIMESTAMP() returns its value in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format:

SELECT 
    UTC_TIMESTAMP(6),
    UTC_TIMESTAMP(6) + 0;

Result:

+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| UTC_TIMESTAMP(6)           | UTC_TIMESTAMP(6) + 0  |
+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| 2021-06-01 23:00:50.105119 | 20210601230050.105119 |
+----------------------------+-----------------------+

Invalid Arguments

Passing an invalid argument results in an error:

SELECT UTC_TIMESTAMP('Six');

Result:

ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MariaDB server version for the right syntax to use near ''Six')' at line 1