The Clock is a major game mechanic in the FiveNightsatFreddy's series, and displays how much time the player has until the night shift ends. Each shift lasts 12 AM to 6 AM. It also pairs up with what night the player is on, with Five Nights at Freddy's 4 being the only exception.
It is located in the heads-up display on the upper right-hand corner of the screen, where it remains constantly, even when the player is being jumpscared by one of the animatronics (with the exception of running out of power in the first game and when wearing the Freddy Fazbear Head in the second game). Once the clock reaches 6 AM, the night ends, and the player moves on to the next night.
In the first two games, it only displays the current hour; it does not show minutes, seconds, etc. However, this is not the case in the night completion screens in Five Nights at Freddy's 3, in which the clock shows a transition from 5:59 AM to 6:00 AM. In Five Nights at Freddy's 4, it changed into random numbers before reaching to 6:00. In the first three games, the night is shown below the clock during normal gameplay. In Five Nights at Freddy's 4, the clock is located where the night should be in the previous three games.
In-game[]
The clock slowly turning to 6 AM (click to animate).
The main objective in all of the games is to survive until 6 AM without being killed by the animatronics. The clock always starts at 12 AM, which is the beginning of the protagonists' night.
In the first game, each hour lasts approximately 86 seconds, making each night last around 8 minutes and 36 seconds long. On the mobile version, every hour lasts approximately 45 seconds, making every night last around 4 minutes and 30 seconds. After the clock reaches 6 AM, the screen fades away, showing the time roll over from 5 AM to 6 AM. A bell jingle plays to denote that time is up, accompanied by a chorus of cheers from excited children.
In the second game, each hour lasts only about 68 seconds, making a night only approximately 6 minutes and 48 seconds, making the duration of the night significantly shorter than the first game's PC version. Unlike the first game, there is no difference in the passage of time between the PC and mobile version. The design is now more akin to that of a digital clock, with a slightly higher-pitched jingle. Confetti now rains down as the clock turns to 6 AM. The cheering sound byte remains unchanged.
In the third game, each hour is approximately 58 seconds long, making each night approximately 5 minutes and 48 seconds long. Once again, there is no difference in time length between the PC and mobile version. This marks the third game as having the shortest hours, and by extension, nights in the series, excluding the first game's mobile version. On the other hand, with Fast Nights enabled, each hour will last 27 seconds, making each night 2 minutes and 48 seconds, slightly more than half as long as the first game's mobile version. While the chime for the end of the night is the same as the second game, the visuals are dramatically changed. A section of the background momentarily flashes a shade of dull green-yellow on a horizontal strip, the numbers flash green and yellow, and instead of a transition from 5 AM to 6 AM, it is now 5:59 AM to 6:00 AM. Oddly, the cheers of children are still present.
In the fourth game, each hour is approximately one minute long, making each night approximately 6 minutes long. Oddly, in this game, instead of the clock chimes from the previous 3 games, the sound of a digital alarm clock chiming can be heard. The visuals are also dramatically changed. The time on the clock appears to start at 00:00 before the numbers change to seemingly random times.
The clock will continue to run even after the power has run out, despite disappearing from the top right corner. Until the player gets caught, they have a chance of advancing to the next night. This also applies for when The Puppet is free from the Music Box, or when BB is in The Office. As long as the player survives long enough, the night will end.
It is assumed the animatronics stop their attempts to attack the player at precisely 6 AM due to their programming, with their free roaming circuitry disabled at this specified time.
If this is the case, then the animatronics can only freely roam for 6 hours per day (12 AM to 6 AM). Since this is the same time as the shift of the security guard, it is likely that Freddy Fazbear's Pizza had the 12 to 6 shift specifically designed for the guard to watch the animatronics themselves, to make sure they stayed safe while they were in their roaming mode.
Another cause may be that the establishment opens at 6 AM (hence the cheers of children), at which point the animatronics would need to return to their proper positions to avoid suspicion.
While the family restaurant probably doesn't open its doors for business at 6 AM, it is likely that early-shift workers such as cooks would begin arriving around this time to prepare for the day.
In the third game, it is unknown why there are the cheers of children, considering the building is no longer a pizzeria and is now a horror attraction.
It is unknown how the protagonists keep track of the time, as no clocks physically appear in the player's view of The Offices. It is possible that either they wear watches, there are clocks in their general area that are simply off-screen or there truly is no way for them to tell the time, and they are never aware of the hour.
This is not the case for the Bedroom, as an alarm clock clearly appears on the dresser on the left side of the room. Despite never displaying any number besides "00:00", it is possible that it would be too difficult or time consuming to program it to match the time on Scott Cawthon's part.
In the first game, Foxy's jumpscare can be cut off (as can be seen here), along with his scream, by the power running out just as his animation occurs.
This can also occur in the second game when the clock turns over to 6 AM, seen here.
Additionally, there is a rare chance in the third game in which Springtrap's jumpscare can be cut off by the clock turning to 6 AM, seen here.
Likewise, in the fourth game, a nightmare animatronic's jumpscare can be interrupted if 6 AM is close enough, seen here.
The clock chime sound in the second and third game is the same sound that can be heard by clicking on a clock in Chipper & Sons Lumber Co., a game that is also developed by Scott Cawthon.
The confetti seen when the clock strikes 6 AM in the second game is almost identical to the sprite when a mosquito is trapped by the Bug Net in Sit & Survive, a game also developed by Scott Cawthon.
The clock in Five Nights at Freddy's 4 appears to display random numbers in rapid succession before finally settling on 6:00 A.M. However, before the clock reaches 6:00, it displays several different times from 6:00 to 6:09. It is possible that these times could be references to Bible passages, due to Scott Cawthon's involvement with Christian related media.
Upon further investigation, in the Book of Psalms of the Bible, Psalm 6 includes eleven verses which describe someone being wrought with terror and weeping on their bed, similar to the main protagonist of the game. Examples include:
6:7 (6:07 on the clock), which reads (same source), "I am wearied with sighting; all night long tears drench my bed; my couch is soaked with weeping." This could reference the protagonist's frequent weeping on his bed.
6:9 (6:09 on the clock), which reads (same source), "Away from me, all who do evil! The LORD has heard my weeping." This could reference the protagonist's want for the nightmare animatronics to leave.
It is worth noting that the numbers flashed on the clock in Five Nights at Freddy's 4 sometimes differ every time.
In the fourth game, if listened closely, the bell is heard in the tone of the chimes right before it switches to a scary bell tone similar to the trailer's bell.
The clock makes a minor appearance in Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, only appearing in the 5th night's "fake" ending.
In a way, the clock is replaced with the 'Shift Complete!' scene that appears only when all of the nights' tasks have been completed. File:Shift complete animation.gif
