How to Change Time of Day in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has a night-and-day system, with the time of day naturally progressing and changing as you play the game. While the game is certainly enjoyable and visually appealing no matter what time of day it is, you may have a preference for exploring at a particular time or find unfamiliar areas harder to navigate at night time. If you’re wondering if you can quickly change the time of day in Tears of the Kingdom, we’ve got all the information you’ll need. Here’s everything you need to know about how to change the time of day in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

How to Change the Time of Day in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Explained

If you’re stuck exploring an unfamiliar location in the dark during the early hours of the game or want to admire your scenery in some different lighting, Tears of the Kingdom allows you to change the time of day by simply interacting with any bonfire location or creating one yourself.

You can also change the time of day by resting at other locations, such as an Inn, Horse Inn, or Link’s House. However, these will pop up a bit further into the game and aren’t always around while you’re out and about exploring and traversing the lands, so getting into the habit of using bonfires can be pretty handy.

How to Build & Rest at a Bonfire in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

In Tears of the Kingdom, there are a few friendly individuals scattered throughout the lands. Quite often they will have already built their own fires, and are more than happy for you to use them to rest and pass the time.

There are also several fire pits located throughout most map areas, with some of them being pre-lit for you to rest at and cook any food. Unlike regular bonfires, fire pits allow you to cook food while you’re out and about, so if you need to prepare some extra meals for your adventure and change the time of day, you can deal with both of these objectives at a fire pit. If you stumble across a fire pit that is yet to be lit, you can light it by simply using a flint or any fire weapon/fire arrow to hit the fire pit and ignite a flame.

If you are unable to find a fire pit or bonfire anywhere nearby, you can make a bonfire for yourself by going to your inventory, scrolling to the Materials tab, and selecting a pile of wood to hold. Wood is also very easy to obtain in-game and can be earned by cutting down trees if you don’t currently have any in your inventory.

Now you can wander along until you find the place you’d like to set up your fire, and drop the pile of wood in this exact location.

The last step is to simply light the pile of wood and turn it into a bonfire. This can be done in the same way as lighting a fire pit, by either using a flint, or any fire weapon or fire arrow, on the wood.

That’s it! you now have a handy little fire that you can use to rest at and change the time of day, or even roast some food, if you’re in dire need for a bite to eat.

To rest at any bonfire or fire pit, simply walk up to the fire and press A to sit. This will open a mini menu that allows you to pass the time. You can pick from the options of Morning, Noon, or Night, and upon selecting one of these choices, the game will fast forward to that time of day.

You can also use any lit fire pit or bonfire to light your wooden weapons and turn them into temporary fire weapons. These can be handy for taking on any nearby enemies, creating a makeshift torch, or lighting other objects or patches of terrain on fire.

However, putting these weapons away will extinguish the flame, so you’ll need to ignite them with each use. This won’t have an effect on your weapon’s durability unless you exceed the burn timer, which is around one minute long. If you happen to exceed this timer, then your wooden weapon will be turned to ash by the flames and destroyed from your inventory.

How Does The In-Game Time Naturally Progress in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? Explained

Time progresses naturally in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with each real-world minute equalling an hour of in-game time. This means that every 24 minutes of gameplay, a new day will occur in Tears of the Kingdom. You can check your in-game clock at any time, found at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, just to the left of your mini-map, alongside the sound, temperature, and weather indicators.

There’s also a special event that happens every seven in-game days, which brings out a Red Moon. The Red Moon will appear at 12:00 AM, in-game time, and reset any defeated enemies and consumed items across the map. This means you can likely use the rest and time skip method to force a faster reset of these creatures and collectibles if you’re desperate to get your hands on them as soon as possible.

That’s everything you need to know about how to change time of day in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. For more helpful gameplay guides, lists, and news, check out the rest of our content at Twinfinite. We have a variety of topics covering everything The Legend of Zelda, so feel free to scroll down and have a look through our related links below for more Tears of the Kingdom content to help you along the way.