diff --git a/src/console/c_cmds.cpp b/src/console/c_cmds.cpp
index 3f697465f6..026db5c3ed 100644
--- a/src/console/c_cmds.cpp
+++ b/src/console/c_cmds.cpp
@@ -570,6 +570,133 @@ CCMD (special)
 
 
 
+//==========================================================================
+//
+// CCMD setdate
+//
+// Set the time to a specific value
+//
+//==========================================================================
+
+extern time_t epochoffset;
+CCMD(setdate)
+{
+	if (argv.argc() != 3)
+	{
+		Printf("setdate HH:MM:SS DD-MM-YYYY: Set the current date\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
+	time_t today;
+	time(&today);
+	struct tm* timeinfo = localtime(&today);
+	if (timeinfo != nullptr)
+	{
+		auto clock = FString(argv[1]).Split(":");
+		auto date  = FString(argv[2]).Split("-");
+		if(clock.Size() != 3 || date.Size() != 3)
+		{
+			Printf("setdate HH:MM:SS DD-MM-YYYY: Set the current date\n");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		if(!clock[0].IsInt())
+		{
+			Printf("Invalid hour\n");
+			return;
+		}
+		if (!clock[1].IsInt())
+		{
+			Printf("Invalid minutes\n");
+			return;
+		}
+		if (!clock[2].IsInt())
+		{
+			Printf("Invalid seconds\n");
+			return;
+		}
+		if (!date[0].IsInt())
+		{
+			Printf("Invalid day\n");
+			return;
+		}
+		if (!date[1].IsInt())
+		{
+			Printf("Invalid month\n");
+			return;
+		}
+		if (!date[2].IsInt())
+		{
+			Printf("Invalid year\n");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		//Set Date
+		timeinfo->tm_hour = int( clock[0].ToLong() );
+		timeinfo->tm_min  = int( clock[1].ToLong() );
+		timeinfo->tm_sec  = int( clock[2].ToLong() );
+		timeinfo->tm_mday = int(  date[0].ToLong() );
+		timeinfo->tm_mon  = int(  date[1].ToLong() - 1);     // Month interally is 0 - 11
+		timeinfo->tm_year = int(  date[2].ToLong() - 1900 ); // Year interally is 00 - 138
+
+		time_t newTime = mktime(timeinfo);
+		tm* t_old = localtime(&today);
+		time_t oldTime = mktime(t_old);
+
+		if (newTime == -1 || oldTime == -1)
+		{
+			Printf("Unable to set the date\n");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		epochoffset = newTime - oldTime;
+
+		// This deals with some inconsistent display behaviour for DST
+		// In this case, we want to emulate GCC's behaviour
+		today += epochoffset;
+		struct tm* t_new = localtime(&today);
+		if (t_new != nullptr)
+		{
+			char timeString[1024];
+			if (strftime(timeString, sizeof(timeString), "%H", t_new))
+			{
+				auto hour = FString(timeString).ToLong();
+				if (hour - clock[0].ToLong() == -1 || hour - clock[0].ToLong() == 23)
+					epochoffset += 3600;
+				else if (hour - clock[0].ToLong() == 1 || hour - clock[0].ToLong() == -23)
+					epochoffset -= 3600;
+			}
+		}
+
+		return;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		Printf("Unable to set the date\n");
+		return;
+	}
+}
+
+CCMD(getdate)
+{
+	time_t now;
+	time(&now);
+	now += epochoffset;
+	struct tm* timeinfo = localtime(&now);
+	if (timeinfo != nullptr)
+	{
+		char timeString[1024];
+		if (strftime(timeString, sizeof(timeString), "%H:%M:%S %d-%m-%Y%n", timeinfo))
+			Printf(timeString);
+		else
+			Printf("Error Retrieving Current Date\n");
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		Printf("Error Retrieving Current Date\n");
+	}
+}
+
 //==========================================================================
 //
 // CCMD warp
diff --git a/src/g_game.cpp b/src/g_game.cpp
index 1cca128225..cb87715f80 100644
--- a/src/g_game.cpp
+++ b/src/g_game.cpp
@@ -164,6 +164,8 @@ bool			playeringame[MAXPLAYERS];
 int 			consoleplayer;			// player taking events
 int 			gametic;
 
+time_t 			epochoffset = 0;		// epoch start in seconds (0 = January 1st, 1970)
+
 CVAR(Bool, demo_compress, true, CVAR_ARCHIVE|CVAR_GLOBALCONFIG);
 FString			newdemoname;
 FString			newdemomap;
diff --git a/src/scripting/vmthunks.cpp b/src/scripting/vmthunks.cpp
index 782a7e24f7..0bbeffd59c 100644
--- a/src/scripting/vmthunks.cpp
+++ b/src/scripting/vmthunks.cpp
@@ -2669,20 +2669,84 @@ DEFINE_ACTION_FUNCTION_NATIVE(FLevelLocals, setFrozen, setFrozen)
 //
 //=====================================================================================
 
-static int GetRealTime()
+extern time_t epochoffset;
+
+static int GetEpochTime()
 {
 	time_t now;
 	time(&now);
-	struct tm* timeinfo = localtime(&now);
-	return timeinfo ? timeinfo->tm_sec + timeinfo->tm_min * 60 + timeinfo->tm_hour * 3600 : 0;
+	return now != (time_t)(-1) ? now + epochoffset : (time_t)(-1);
 }
 
-DEFINE_ACTION_FUNCTION_NATIVE(_AltHUD, GetRealTime, GetRealTime)
+//Returns an empty string if the Strf tokens are valid, otherwise returns the problematic token
+static FString CheckStrfString(FString timeForm)
+{
+	// Valid Characters after %
+	const char validSingles[] = { 'a','A','b','B','c','C','d','D','e','F','G','g','h','H','I','j','k','l','m','M','n','p','P','r','R','s','S','t','T','u','U','V','w','W','x','X','y','Y','z','Z' };
+
+	timeForm.Substitute("%%", "%a"); //Prevent %% from causing tokenizing problems
+	timeForm = "a" + timeForm; //Prevent %* at the beginning from causing a false error from tokenizing
+
+	auto tokens = timeForm.Split("%");
+	for (auto t : tokens)
+	{
+		bool found = false;
+		// % at end
+		if (t.Len() == 0) return FString("%");
+
+		// Single Character
+		for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(validSingles)/sizeof(validSingles[0]); i++)
+		{
+			if (t[0] == validSingles[i])
+			{
+				found = true;
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		if (found) continue;
+		return FString("%") + t[0];
+	}
+	return "";
+}
+
+static void FormatTime(const FString& timeForm, int timeVal, FString* result)
+{
+	FString error = CheckStrfString(timeForm);
+	if (!error.IsEmpty())
+		ThrowAbortException(X_FORMAT_ERROR, "'%s' is not a valid format specifier of SystemTime.Format()", error.GetChars());
+
+	time_t val = timeVal;
+	struct tm* timeinfo = localtime(&val);
+	if (timeinfo != nullptr)
+	{
+		char timeString[1024];
+		if (strftime(timeString, sizeof(timeString), timeForm, timeinfo))
+			*result = timeString;
+	}
+}
+
+DEFINE_ACTION_FUNCTION_NATIVE(_SystemTime, Now, GetEpochTime)
 {
 	PARAM_PROLOGUE;
-	ACTION_RETURN_INT(GetRealTime());
+	ACTION_RETURN_INT(GetEpochTime());
 }
 
+DEFINE_ACTION_FUNCTION_NATIVE(_SystemTime, Format, FormatTime)
+{
+	PARAM_PROLOGUE;
+	PARAM_STRING(timeForm);
+	PARAM_INT(timeVal);
+	FString result;
+	FormatTime(timeForm, timeVal, &result);
+	ACTION_RETURN_STRING(result);
+}
+
+//=====================================================================================
+//
+//
+//
+//=====================================================================================
+
 DEFINE_ACTION_FUNCTION_NATIVE(_AltHUD, GetLatency, Net_GetLatency)
 {
 	PARAM_PROLOGUE;
diff --git a/wadsrc/static/zscript/base.zs b/wadsrc/static/zscript/base.zs
index abed488f22..bd5298cc1f 100644
--- a/wadsrc/static/zscript/base.zs
+++ b/wadsrc/static/zscript/base.zs
@@ -422,6 +422,12 @@ struct GameInfoStruct native
 	native double normsidemove[2];
 }
 
+struct SystemTime
+{
+	native static ui int Now(); // This returns the epoch time
+	native static clearscope String Format(String timeForm, int timeVal); // This converts an epoch time to a local time, then uses the strftime syntax to format it
+}
+
 class Object native
 {
 	const TICRATE = 35;
diff --git a/wadsrc/static/zscript/ui/statusbar/alt_hud.zs b/wadsrc/static/zscript/ui/statusbar/alt_hud.zs
index 7ddbf902df..b3bd3b4a59 100644
--- a/wadsrc/static/zscript/ui/statusbar/alt_hud.zs
+++ b/wadsrc/static/zscript/ui/statusbar/alt_hud.zs
@@ -770,13 +770,12 @@ class AltHud ui
 	// for meaning of all display modes
 	//
 	//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-	private native static int GetRealTime();
-
 	virtual bool DrawTime(int y)
 	{
 		if (hud_showtime > 0 && hud_showtime <= 9)
 		{
 			int timeSeconds;
+			String timeString;
 
 			if (hud_showtime < 8)
 			{
@@ -787,33 +786,35 @@ class AltHud ui
 							? Level.time
 							: Level.totaltime);
 				timeSeconds = Thinker.Tics2Seconds(timeTicks);
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				timeSeconds = GetRealTime();
-			}
 
-			int hours   =  timeSeconds / 3600;
-			int minutes = (timeSeconds % 3600) / 60;
-			int seconds =  timeSeconds % 60;
+				int hours   =  timeSeconds / 3600;
+				int minutes = (timeSeconds % 3600) / 60;
+				int seconds =  timeSeconds % 60;
 
-			bool showMillis  = 1 == hud_showtime;
-			bool showSeconds = showMillis || (0 == hud_showtime % 2);
+				bool showMillis  = 1 == hud_showtime;
+				bool showSeconds = showMillis || (0 == hud_showtime % 2);
 
-			String timeString;
-
-			if (showMillis)
-			{
-				int millis  = (Level.time % Thinker.TICRATE) * (1000 / Thinker.TICRATE);
-				timeString = String.Format("%02i:%02i:%02i.%03i", hours, minutes, seconds, millis);
+				if (showMillis)
+				{
+					int millis  = (Level.time % Thinker.TICRATE) * (1000 / Thinker.TICRATE);
+					timeString = String.Format("%02i:%02i:%02i.%03i", hours, minutes, seconds, millis);
+				}
+				else if (showSeconds)
+				{
+					timeString = String.Format("%02i:%02i:%02i", hours, minutes, seconds);
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					timeString = String.Format("%02i:%02i", hours, minutes);
+				}
 			}
-			else if (showSeconds)
+			else if (hud_showtime == 8)
 			{
-				timeString = String.Format("%02i:%02i:%02i", hours, minutes, seconds);
+				timeString = SystemTime.Format("%H:%M:%S",SystemTime.Now());
 			}
-			else
+			else //if (hud_showtime == 9)
 			{
-				timeString = String.Format("%02i:%02i", hours, minutes);
+				timeString = SystemTime.Format("%H:%M",SystemTime.Now());
 			}
 
 			int characterCount = timeString.length();