Generate and analyze Twitter Snowflake IDs, unique 64-bit identifiers used in distributed systems. This tool allows you to create new Snowflake IDs and parse existing ones, providing insights into their timestamp, machine ID, and sequence number components.
A Snowflake ID generator creates unique identifiers for distributed systems, originally developed by Twitter for handling massive scale data processing. This powerful unique ID generator produces 64-bit integers composed of a timestamp, machine ID, and sequence number, ensuring uniqueness across distributed systems without coordination between servers.
Our free online Snowflake ID generator tool allows you to generate and parse Snowflake IDs instantly, making it perfect for developers working with microservices, distributed databases, and high-throughput applications.
Snowflake IDs are 64-bit integers with a carefully designed structure that guarantees uniqueness:
This distributed ID structure enables generation of approximately 4,096 unique IDs per millisecond per machine, making it ideal for high-throughput distributed systems.
Follow these simple steps to generate unique Snowflake IDs:
To decode a Snowflake ID, enter it in the "Parse ID" field and click "Parse" to see its timestamp, machine ID, and sequence components.
The Snowflake ID algorithm constructs unique identifiers using bitwise operations:
1ID = (timestamp << 22) | (datacenterId << 17) | (workerId << 12) | sequence
2Formula Components:
timestamp: Number of milliseconds since the epochdatacenterId: 5-bit integer (0-31) identifying the data centerworkerId: 5-bit integer (0-31) identifying the worker machinesequence: 12-bit integer (0-4095) for multiple IDs per millisecondThe Snowflake ID generation algorithm follows these precise steps:
This process guarantees monotonically increasing IDs within each machine while maintaining global uniqueness across distributed systems.
Snowflake IDs excel in various distributed computing scenarios:
While Snowflake IDs are powerful, other unique ID generation systems include:
Understanding Snowflake ID limitations helps in proper implementation:
Snowflake IDs were introduced by Twitter in 2010 to solve the challenge of generating distributed, time-sortable unique identifiers at massive scale. As Twitter's user base and tweet volume exploded, traditional auto-incrementing IDs became insufficient for their distributed architecture.
The system has since been adopted by major tech companies including Instagram, Discord, and countless other platforms requiring scalable ID generation for distributed systems.
Implement Snowflake ID generation in your preferred programming language:
1class SnowflakeGenerator {
2 constructor(epoch = 1288834974657, datacenterIdBits = 5, workerIdBits = 5, sequenceBits = 12) {
3 this.epoch = BigInt(epoch);
4 this.datacenterIdBits = datacenterIdBits;
5 this.workerIdBits = workerIdBits;
6 this.sequenceBits = sequenceBits;
7 this.maxDatacenterId = -1n ^ (-1n << BigInt(datacenterIdBits));
8 this.maxWorkerId = -1n ^ (-1n << BigInt(workerIdBits));
9 this.sequenceMask = -1n ^ (-1n << BigInt(sequenceBits));
10 this.workerIdShift = BigInt(sequenceBits);
11 this.datacenterIdShift = BigInt(sequenceBits + workerIdBits);
12 this.timestampLeftShift = BigInt(sequenceBits + workerIdBits + datacenterIdBits);
13 this.sequence = 0n;
14 this.lastTimestamp = -1n;
15 }
16
17 nextId(datacenterId, workerId) {
18 let timestamp = this.currentTimestamp();
19
20 if (timestamp < this.lastTimestamp) {
21 throw new Error('Clock moved backwards. Refusing to generate id');
22 }
23
24 if (timestamp === this.lastTimestamp) {
25 this.sequence = (this.sequence + 1n) & this.sequenceMask;
26 if (this.sequence === 0n) {
27 timestamp = this.tilNextMillis(this.lastTimestamp);
28 }
29 } else {
30 this.sequence = 0n;
31 }
32
33 this.lastTimestamp = timestamp;
34
35 return ((timestamp - this.epoch) << this.timestampLeftShift) |
36 (BigInt(datacenterId) << this.datacenterIdShift) |
37 (BigInt(workerId) << this.workerIdShift) |
38 this.sequence;
39 }
40
41 tilNextMillis(lastTimestamp) {
42 let timestamp = this.currentTimestamp();
43 while (timestamp <= lastTimestamp) {
44 timestamp = this.currentTimestamp();
45 }
46 return timestamp;
47 }
48
49 currentTimestamp() {
50 return BigInt(Date.now());
51 }
52}
53
54// Usage
55const generator = new SnowflakeGenerator();
56const id = generator.nextId(1, 1);
57console.log(`Generated Snowflake ID: ${id}`);
581import time
2import threading
3
4class SnowflakeGenerator:
5 def __init__(self, datacenter_id, worker_id, sequence=0):
6 self.datacenter_id = datacenter_id
7 self.worker_id = worker_id
8 self.sequence = sequence
9
10 self.last_timestamp = -1
11 self.epoch = 1288834974657
12
13 self.datacenter_id_bits = 5
14 self.worker_id_bits = 5
15 self.sequence_bits = 12
16
17 self.max_datacenter_id = -1 ^ (-1 << self.datacenter_id_bits)
18 self.max_worker_id = -1 ^ (-1 << self.worker_id_bits)
19
20 self.worker_id_shift = self.sequence_bits
21 self.datacenter_id_shift = self.sequence_bits + self.worker_id_bits
22 self.timestamp_left_shift = self.sequence_bits + self.worker_id_bits + self.datacenter_id_bits
23 self.sequence_mask = -1 ^ (-1 << self.sequence_bits)
24
25 self._lock = threading.Lock()
26
27 def _til_next_millis(self, last_timestamp):
28 timestamp = self._get_timestamp()
29 while timestamp <= last_timestamp:
30 timestamp = self._get_timestamp()
31 return timestamp
32
33 def _get_timestamp(self):
34 return int(time.time() * 1000)
35
36 def next_id(self):
37 with self._lock:
38 timestamp = self._get_timestamp()
39
40 if timestamp < self.last_timestamp:
41 raise ValueError("Clock moved backwards. Refusing to generate id")
42
43 if timestamp == self.last_timestamp:
44 self.sequence = (self.sequence + 1) & self.sequence_mask
45 if self.sequence == 0:
46 timestamp = self._til_next_millis(self.last_timestamp)
47 else:
48 self.sequence = 0
49
50 self.last_timestamp = timestamp
51
52 return ((timestamp - self.epoch) << self.timestamp_left_shift) | \
53 (self.datacenter_id << self.datacenter_id_shift) | \
54 (self.worker_id << self.worker_id_shift) | \
55 self.sequence
56
57## Usage
58generator = SnowflakeGenerator(datacenter_id=1, worker_id=1)
59snowflake_id = generator.next_id()
60print(f"Generated Snowflake ID: {snowflake_id}")
611import java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock;
2import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
3
4public class SnowflakeGenerator {
5 private final long epoch;
6 private final long datacenterIdBits;
7 private final long workerIdBits;
8 private final long sequenceBits;
9 private final long maxDatacenterId;
10 private final long maxWorkerId;
11 private final long workerIdShift;
12 private final long datacenterIdShift;
13 private final long timestampLeftShift;
14 private final long sequenceMask;
15
16 private long datacenterId;
17 private long workerId;
18 private long sequence = 0L;
19 private long lastTimestamp = -1L;
20
21 private final Lock lock = new ReentrantLock();
22
23 public SnowflakeGenerator(long datacenterId, long workerId) {
24 this.epoch = 1288834974657L;
25 this.datacenterIdBits = 5L;
26 this.workerIdBits = 5L;
27 this.sequenceBits = 12L;
28
29 this.maxDatacenterId = ~(-1L << datacenterIdBits);
30 this.maxWorkerId = ~(-1L << workerIdBits);
31
32 this.workerIdShift = sequenceBits;
33 this.datacenterIdShift = sequenceBits + workerIdBits;
34 this.timestampLeftShift = sequenceBits + workerIdBits + datacenterIdBits;
35 this.sequenceMask = ~(-1L << sequenceBits);
36
37 if (datacenterId > maxDatacenterId || datacenterId < 0) {
38 throw new IllegalArgumentException("datacenterId can't be greater than maxDatacenterId or less than 0");
39 }
40 if (workerId > maxWorkerId || workerId < 0) {
41 throw new IllegalArgumentException("workerId can't be greater than maxWorkerId or less than 0");
42 }
43 this.datacenterId = datacenterId;
44 this.workerId = workerId;
45 }
46
47 public long nextId() {
48 lock.lock();
49 try {
50 long timestamp = timeGen();
51 if (timestamp < lastTimestamp) {
52 throw new RuntimeException("Clock moved backwards. Refusing to generate id");
53 }
54
55 if (lastTimestamp == timestamp) {
56 sequence = (sequence + 1) & sequenceMask;
57 if (sequence == 0) {
58 timestamp = tilNextMillis(lastTimestamp);
59 }
60 } else {
61 sequence = 0L;
62 }
63
64 lastTimestamp = timestamp;
65
66 return ((timestamp - epoch) << timestampLeftShift) |
67 (datacenterId << datacenterIdShift) |
68 (workerId << workerIdShift) |
69 sequence;
70 } finally {
71 lock.unlock();
72 }
73 }
74
75 private long tilNextMillis(long lastTimestamp) {
76 long timestamp = timeGen();
77 while (timestamp <= lastTimestamp) {
78 timestamp = timeGen();
79 }
80 return timestamp;
81 }
82
83 private long timeGen() {
84 return System.currentTimeMillis();
85 }
86
87 public static void main(String[] args) {
88 SnowflakeGenerator generator = new SnowflakeGenerator(1, 1);
89 long id = generator.nextId();
90 System.out.println("Generated Snowflake ID: " + id);
91 }
92}
931require 'time'
2
3class SnowflakeGenerator
4 def initialize(datacenter_id, worker_id, sequence = 0)
5 @datacenter_id = datacenter_id
6 @worker_id = worker_id
7 @sequence = sequence
8 @last_timestamp = -1
9 @epoch = 1288834974657
10
11 @datacenter_id_bits = 5
12 @worker_id_bits = 5
13 @sequence_bits = 12
14
15 @max_datacenter_id = -1 ^ (-1 << @datacenter_id_bits)
16 @max_worker_id = -1 ^ (-1 << @worker_id_bits)
17
18 @worker_id_shift = @sequence_bits
19 @datacenter_id_shift = @sequence_bits + @worker_id_bits
20 @timestamp_left_shift = @sequence_bits + @worker_id_bits + @datacenter_id_bits
21 @sequence_mask = -1 ^ (-1 << @sequence_bits)
22 end
23
24 def next_id
25 timestamp = (Time.now.to_f * 1000).to_i
26
27 raise 'Clock moved backwards' if timestamp < @last_timestamp
28
29 if timestamp == @last_timestamp
30 @sequence = (@sequence + 1) & @sequence_mask
31 timestamp = til_next_millis(@last_timestamp) if @sequence == 0
32 else
33 @sequence = 0
34 end
35
36 @last_timestamp = timestamp
37
38 ((timestamp - @epoch) << @timestamp_left_shift) |
39 (@datacenter_id << @datacenter_id_shift) |
40 (@worker_id << @worker_id_shift) |
41 @sequence
42 end
43
44 private
45
46 def til_next_millis(last_timestamp)
47 timestamp = (Time.now.to_f * 1000).to_i
48 timestamp = (Time.now.to_f * 1000).to_i while timestamp <= last_timestamp
49 timestamp
50 end
51end
52
53## Usage
54generator = SnowflakeGenerator.new(1, 1)
55snowflake_id = generator.next_id
56puts "Generated Snowflake ID: #{snowflake_id}"
571<?php
2
3class SnowflakeGenerator {
4 private $epoch;
5 private $datacenterIdBits;
6 private $workerIdBits;
7 private $sequenceBits;
8 private $maxDatacenterId;
9 private $maxWorkerId;
10 private $workerIdShift;
11 private $datacenterIdShift;
12 private $timestampLeftShift;
13 private $sequenceMask;
14
15 private $datacenterId;
16 private $workerId;
17 private $sequence = 0;
18 private $lastTimestamp = -1;
19
20 public function __construct($datacenterId, $workerId) {
21 $this->epoch = 1288834974657;
22 $this->datacenterIdBits = 5;
23 $this->workerIdBits = 5;
24 $this->sequenceBits = 12;
25
26 $this->maxDatacenterId = -1 ^ (-1 << $this->datacenterIdBits);
27 $this->maxWorkerId = -1 ^ (-1 << $this->workerIdBits);
28
29 $this->workerIdShift = $this->sequenceBits;
30 $this->datacenterIdShift = $this->sequenceBits + $this->workerIdBits;
31 $this->timestampLeftShift = $this->sequenceBits + $this->workerIdBits + $this->datacenterIdBits;
32 $this->sequenceMask = -1 ^ (-1 << $this->sequenceBits);
33
34 if ($datacenterId > $this->maxDatacenterId || $datacenterId < 0) {
35 throw new Exception("datacenterId can't be greater than maxDatacenterId or less than 0");
36 }
37 if ($workerId > $this->maxWorkerId || $workerId < 0) {
38 throw new Exception("workerId can't be greater than maxWorkerId or less than 0");
39 }
40 $this->datacenterId = $datacenterId;
41 $this->workerId = $workerId;
42 }
43
44 public function nextId() {
45 $timestamp = $this->timeGen();
46
47 if ($timestamp < $this->lastTimestamp) {
48 throw new Exception("Clock moved backwards. Refusing to generate id");
49 }
50
51 if ($this->lastTimestamp == $timestamp) {
52 $this->sequence = ($this->sequence + 1) & $this->sequenceMask;
53 if ($this->sequence == 0) {
54 $timestamp = $this->tilNextMillis($this->lastTimestamp);
55 }
56 } else {
57 $this->sequence = 0;
58 }
59
60 $this->lastTimestamp = $timestamp;
61
62 return (($timestamp - $this->epoch) << $this->timestampLeftShift) |
63 ($this->datacenterId << $this->datacenterIdShift) |
64 ($this->workerId << $this->workerIdShift) |
65 $this->sequence;
66 }
67
68 private function tilNextMillis($lastTimestamp) {
69 $timestamp = $this->timeGen();
70 while ($timestamp <= $lastTimestamp) {
71 $timestamp = $this->timeGen();
72 }
73 return $timestamp;
74 }
75
76 private function timeGen() {
77 return floor(microtime(true) * 1000);
78 }
79}
80
81// Usage
82$generator = new SnowflakeGenerator(1, 1);
83$id = $generator->nextId();
84echo "Generated Snowflake ID: " . $id . "\n";
851using System;
2using System.Threading;
3
4public class SnowflakeGenerator
5{
6 private readonly long _epoch;
7 private readonly int _datacenterIdBits;
8 private readonly int _workerIdBits;
9 private readonly int _sequenceBits;
10 private readonly long _maxDatacenterId;
11 private readonly long _maxWorkerId;
12 private readonly int _workerIdShift;
13 private readonly int _datacenterIdShift;
14 private readonly int _timestampLeftShift;
15 private readonly long _sequenceMask;
16
17 private readonly long _datacenterId;
18 private readonly long _workerId;
19 private long _sequence = 0L;
20 private long _lastTimestamp = -1L;
21
22 private readonly object _lock = new object();
23
24 public SnowflakeGenerator(long datacenterId, long workerId)
25 {
26 _epoch = 1288834974657L;
27 _datacenterIdBits = 5;
28 _workerIdBits = 5;
29 _sequenceBits = 12;
30
31 _maxDatacenterId = -1L ^ (-1L << _datacenterIdBits);
32 _maxWorkerId = -1L ^ (-1L << _workerIdBits);
33
34 _workerIdShift = _sequenceBits;
35 _datacenterIdShift = _sequenceBits + _workerIdBits;
36 _timestampLeftShift = _sequenceBits + _workerIdBits + _datacenterIdBits;
37 _sequenceMask = -1L ^ (-1L << _sequenceBits);
38
39 if (datacenterId > _maxDatacenterId || datacenterId < 0)
40 {
41 throw new ArgumentException($"datacenterId can't be greater than {_maxDatacenterId} or less than 0");
42 }
43 if (workerId > _maxWorkerId || workerId < 0)
44 {
45 throw new ArgumentException($"workerId can't be greater than {_maxWorkerId} or less than 0");
46 }
47 _datacenterId = datacenterId;
48 _workerId = workerId;
49 }
50
51 public long NextId()
52 {
53 lock (_lock)
54 {
55 var timestamp = TimeGen();
56
57 if (timestamp < _lastTimestamp)
58 {
59 throw new Exception("Clock moved backwards. Refusing to generate id");
60 }
61
62 if (_lastTimestamp == timestamp)
63 {
64 _sequence = (_sequence + 1) & _sequenceMask;
65 if (_sequence == 0)
66 {
67 timestamp = TilNextMillis(_lastTimestamp);
68 }
69 }
70 else
71 {
72 _sequence = 0L;
73 }
74
75 _lastTimestamp = timestamp;
76
77 return ((timestamp - _epoch) << _timestampLeftShift) |
78 (_datacenterId << _datacenterIdShift) |
79 (_workerId << _workerIdShift) |
80 _sequence;
81 }
82 }
83
84 private long TilNextMillis(long lastTimestamp)
85 {
86 var timestamp = TimeGen();
87 while (timestamp <= lastTimestamp)
88 {
89 timestamp = TimeGen();
90 }
91 return timestamp;
92 }
93
94 private long TimeGen()
95 {
96 return DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds();
97 }
98}
99
100// Usage
101class Program
102{
103 static void Main(string[] args)
104 {
105 var generator = new SnowflakeGenerator(1, 1);
106 var id = generator.NextId();
107 Console.WriteLine($"Generated Snowflake ID: {id}");
108 }
109}
1101package main
2
3import (
4 "fmt"
5 "sync"
6 "time"
7)
8
9type SnowflakeGenerator struct {
10 epoch int64
11 datacenterIdBits uint
12 workerIdBits uint
13 sequenceBits uint
14 maxDatacenterId int64
15 maxWorkerId int64
16 workerIdShift uint
17 datacenterIdShift uint
18 timestampLeftShift uint
19 sequenceMask int64
20
21 datacenterId int64
22 workerId int64
23 sequence int64
24 lastTimestamp int64
25
26 lock sync.Mutex
27}
28
29func NewSnowflakeGenerator(datacenterId, workerId int64) (*SnowflakeGenerator, error) {
30 g := &SnowflakeGenerator{
31 epoch: 1288834974657,
32 datacenterIdBits: 5,
33 workerIdBits: 5,
34 sequenceBits: 12,
35 lastTimestamp: -1,
36 }
37
38 g.maxDatacenterId = -1 ^ (-1 << g.datacenterIdBits)
39 g.maxWorkerId = -1 ^ (-1 << g.workerIdBits)
40
41 g.workerIdShift = g.sequenceBits
42 g.datacenterIdShift = g.sequenceBits + g.workerIdBits
43 g.timestampLeftShift = g.sequenceBits + g.workerIdBits + g.datacenterIdBits
44 g.sequenceMask = -1 ^ (-1 << g.sequenceBits)
45
46 if datacenterId > g.maxDatacenterId || datacenterId < 0 {
47 return nil, fmt.Errorf("datacenterId can't be greater than %d or less than 0", g.maxDatacenterId)
48 }
49 if workerId > g.maxWorkerId || workerId < 0 {
50 return nil, fmt.Errorf("workerId can't be greater than %d or less than 0", g.maxWorkerId)
51 }
52 g.datacenterId = datacenterId
53 g.workerId = workerId
54
55 return g, nil
56}
57
58func (g *SnowflakeGenerator) NextId() (int64, error) {
59 g.lock.Lock()
60 defer g.lock.Unlock()
61
62 timestamp := g.timeGen()
63
64 if timestamp < g.lastTimestamp {
65 return 0, fmt.Errorf("clock moved backwards, refusing to generate id")
66 }
67
68 if g.lastTimestamp == timestamp {
69 g.sequence = (g.sequence + 1) & g.sequenceMask
70 if g.sequence == 0 {
71 timestamp = g.tilNextMillis(g.lastTimestamp)
72 }
73 } else {
74 g.sequence = 0
75 }
76
77 g.lastTimestamp = timestamp
78
79 return ((timestamp - g.epoch) << g.timestampLeftShift) |
80 (g.datacenterId << g.datacenterIdShift) |
81 (g.workerId << g.workerIdShift) |
82 g.sequence, nil
83}
84
85func (g *SnowflakeGenerator) tilNextMillis(lastTimestamp int64) int64 {
86 timestamp := g.timeGen()
87 for timestamp <= lastTimestamp {
88 timestamp = g.timeGen()
89 }
90 return timestamp
91}
92
93func (g *SnowflakeGenerator) timeGen() int64 {
94 return time.Now().UnixNano() / int64(time.Millisecond)
95}
96
97func main() {
98 generator, err := NewSnowflakeGenerator(1, 1)
99 if err != nil {
100 fmt.Printf("Error creating generator: %v\n", err)
101 return
102 }
103
104 id, err := generator.NextId()
105 if err != nil {
106 fmt.Printf("Error generating ID: %v\n", err)
107 return
108 }
109
110 fmt.Printf("Generated Snowflake ID: %d\n", id)
111}
112Here's a visual representation of the Snowflake ID structure:
Snowflake IDs combine timestamp, machine ID, and sequence number in a 64-bit structure, ensuring uniqueness without requiring coordination between servers.
Each machine can generate up to 4,096 unique IDs per millisecond, totaling approximately 4 million IDs per second per machine.
Yes, Snowflake IDs are excellent primary keys for distributed databases due to their uniqueness, sortability, and built-in timestamp information.
Having duplicate machine IDs can cause ID collisions. Proper machine ID management and coordination are essential in distributed deployments.
Use bitwise operations to extract timestamp (first 41 bits), machine ID (next 10 bits), and sequence (last 12 bits) from the 64-bit integer.
No, Snowflake IDs are only sequential within each individual machine. Across multiple machines, they maintain rough chronological order based on timestamps.
With Twitter's epoch (2010), Snowflake IDs will work until 2079. Custom epochs can extend this range based on your starting point.
Yes, you can adjust the bit distribution for timestamp, machine ID, and sequence based on your specific requirements, though this affects compatibility.
Snowflake ID generators provide an excellent solution for distributed unique ID generation, combining the benefits of UUIDs with the sortability of sequential IDs. Whether you're building microservices, handling high-volume data, or managing distributed systems, Snowflake IDs offer a proven approach to identifier generation.
Use our free Snowflake ID generator tool to create and analyze IDs for your applications, or implement the provided code examples in your preferred programming language.
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