Cron schedule

Cron job every 3 hours

The cron expression for every 3 hours is:

0 */3 * * *

What it does

Runs at 00:00, 03:00, 06:00 … 21:00: eight times a day.

Field	Value	Meaning
Minute	`0`	at minute 0
Hour	`*/3`	every 3 hours
Day of the month	`*`	every day of the month
Month	`*`	every month
Day of the week	`*`	every day of the week

Next run times

In your time zone. Change the expression to try another schedule.

Cron expression

Next runs

Examples

Crontab line

Add it with crontab -e over SSH. Replace the path with your script; the redirect keeps cron from emailing you the output.

0 */3 * * * /path/to/command >> /dev/null 2>&1

In Laravel

Define the task in routes/console.php (Laravel 11 and 12):

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::command('reports:send')->everyThreeHours();

Then add the scheduler's single crontab entry once; it checks every task each minute:

* * * * * cd /path/to/your-app && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

In cPanel

Open Cron Jobs under Advanced.
Type the five fields: 0 */3 * * *.
In Command, use the full path to PHP, for example /usr/local/bin/php /home/user/app/artisan schedule:run.
Click Add New Cron Job. Some hosts limit how often cron may run; check your plan if it seems to skip runs.

Frequently asked questions

What does 0 */3 * * * mean in cron?

It runs every 3 hours. The five fields are minute, hour, day of the month, month and day of the week; the table above explains each one.

How do I run a Laravel task every 3 hours?

In routes/console.php: Schedule::command('your:command')->everyThreeHours(); and add the single crontab entry * * * * * cd /path/to/app && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1.

Which time zone does cron use?

The server's time zone (check it with date in SSH, or ask your host). Laravel uses the timezone in config/app.php, and you can set it per task with ->timezone('Europe/London').