80

I know it is possible to set the maximum execution time in a script using either:

ini_set('max_execution_time', 30);

or

set_time_limit(30);

What can I do to get a variable containing the maximum execution time in seconds?

Teun Zengerink
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    It should be noted that `ini_set('max_execution_time', 30);` and `set_time_limit(30);` are not completely synonymous, because `set_time_limit()` "resets" the counter to 0, which `ini_set()` does not. – DaveRandom Dec 19 '11 at 14:03

4 Answers4

164

The converse, using ini_get:

ini_get('max_execution_time');

Note: if you check the documentation page for ini_set, you can find ini_get listed prominently on the "See Also" section. That's a very good way to discover functionality built into PHP that you are not already aware of.

Jon
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    Worth noting here (as detailed in other answers) that when you set the time with either `ini_set` or `set_time_limit()` then it resets the current time back to `0` – William Patton Mar 19 '20 at 13:04
27

There are some inaccurate points in the comments. So to clarify:

  1. set_time_limit(30) is the same as ini_set('max_execution_time', 30);
  2. Both of them reset the counter.
  3. ini_get('max_execution_time') works for both cases - set_time_limit and ini_set.
Teun Zengerink
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David
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    set_time_limit increases the time in addition to max_execution_time. So being very specific, it's not the same (!==). – Shivanand Sharma May 23 '21 at 04:44
  • @ShivanandSharma I thought the same, but the other day I did a test with set_time_limit(1) and found that after a second the script ended due to the exceeded execution time. I'll have to do more tests, but I think it really resets the timers. At least the first call – Pol Rué Feb 14 '23 at 14:21
25

you can try

$max_time = ini_get("max_execution_time");
echo $max_time;

and you can use this variable the way you want to :)

user151841
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Shades88
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13

try this:

ini_get('max_execution_time')
haynar
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