# Synchronizing the time on NGFW Engines

The time on NGFW Engines is automatically synchronized to match the time of the Management Server. You can optionally use an NTP server to synchronize the time.

By default, NGFW Engines get time setting commands from the Management Server. If an NGFW Engine is configured to use NTP and it can successfully get the time from an external NTP server, the NGFW Engine ignores time setting commands from the Management Server.

In environments where there are Master NGFW Engines and Virtual NGFW Engines, you can use NTP servers to synchronize engine times only for Master NGFW Engines. Virtual NGFW Engines do not communicate directly with NTP servers.

If the Management Server, Log Server, and the engines do not have the same time, there might be problems with logging and monitoring. Also make sure that the computer you are using for Management Client access has the time and time zone set correctly. Correct settings prevent time synchronization problems when you view statistics or logs, generate reports, or schedule automatic maintenance tasks.