Clock

Type basic_clock · needs nothing: no network.

Shows the time in large digits, and optionally the date below it. It needs no network.

Layouts

Layout	Shows
time (default)	the time only, as large as fits
time_date	the time, with the date below it ("Monday 5 October")
small	time and date on one small line at the bottom ("10:42 Monday 5 October"); the rest stays white. PaperPi shows this as its fallback clock when no plugin has anything to show (see fallback_clock in the main README)

Settings

Setting	Default	Meaning
hours	24	24 shows 15:45, 12 shows 3:45 PM

It suggests a refresh every 60 seconds, starting just after the minute changes.

In the config file (every other setting is in the settings reference):

[[plugin]]
id = "basic_clock-b0ec65a0"
name = "Clock"
type = "basic_clock"
layout = "time_date"
hours = 12

Try it without a screen: uv run paperpi render basic_clock --layout time_date --set hours=12.

All settings

Made from the plugin's code, so always up to date.

Setting	Default	What it does
hours	24	12-hour (3:45 PM) or 24-hour (15:45) clock

Its suggestions for settings every plugin has (a block that sets one of them uses that value instead):

Setting	Default	What it does
refresh	60	Seconds between updates (at least 5). Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion
level	"rotation"	When it is shown: alert, interrupt or rotation. Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion
layout	"time"	Which layout (see the plugin's page). Leave it out to use the first
storage_mb	500	Most megabytes this plugin may keep in its storage folder; over it, the files changed longest ago are removed first. Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion
storage_days	30	Files the plugin has not changed for this many days are removed (0 = keep them). Leave it out to use the plugin's suggestion

Sample images

Sample time: 10:42 on Monday 5 October 2026. All sample images are in tests/images/, named basic_clock-<layout>[-12h]-<screen>.png, where <screen> is 9in7 (9.7", 1200x825, 16 grays), 7in5 (7.5", 800x480, black and white) or 5in65 (5.65", 600x448, 7 colours).

time	time_date	small