# Anway to remove the NTP server timeout errors

**URL:** <https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [March 1, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224 "2026-03-01T02:35:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mrleelee](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/mrleelee/32/54400_2.png) [@mrleelee](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/mrleelee)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224/1 "2026-03-01T02:35:59Z")

</div>

#### Please follow the below template, it will help us to help you!

### _If you are Experiencing issues with a Pi-hole install that has non-standard elements (e.g you are using `nginx`, `apache2` or another reverse proxy, or there is some other aspect of your install that is customised) - please use the [Community Help](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/c/bugs-problems-issues/community-help/36) category._

## Expected Behaviour:

im running on a pi5 and i want to know if there is anyway to silence the NTP server errors that i get atleast once a day. since the pi5 already uses its own built in NTP server i have diabled some of the options. did i miss something? anything i can do to silene these and not loose my time syncing?

> pi-hole@pi-hole:~ $ timedatectl status  
> Local time: Sat 2026-02-28 20:37:24 CST  
> Universal time: Sun 2026-03-01 02:37:24 UTC  
> RTC time: Sun 2026-03-01 02:37:24  
> Time zone: America/Chicago (CST, -0600)  
> System clock synchronized: yes  
> NTP service: active  
> RTC in local TZ: no  
> pi-hole@pi-hole:~ $

 ![image](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/uploads/default/original/3X/5/b/5bb20c8e4f2e378ffe9b8cb50fcd6944dea2682d.png)

Replace this text with what you think should be happening. Please include as much detail relevant to your system/install as possible including, but not limited to:

- Operating System (Family and Version)
- Hardware
- Docker compose file or Docker run command
- Docker engine version

## Actual Behaviour:

random NTP server errors:

 ![image](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/uploads/default/original/3X/2/0/20fe78dc0271a5904e755853853d92b50442cc35.png)

Debug Token:

[https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/vFgwmcJ5/](https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/vFgwmcJ5/)

`pihole -d `

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rdwebdesign](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/rdwebdesign/32/51363_2.png) [@rdwebdesign](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/rdwebdesign)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 5:46am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224/2 "2026-03-01T05:46:27Z")

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You enabled `ntp.sync.active` and added a NTP server, but the server you chose is not responding.

> [@mrleelee](#):
>
> anything i can do to silene these and not loose my time syncing?

You can try to change the server to a different one.

If this doesn't work, you can simply disable `ntp.sync.active`, since your OS already uses its own built in NTP server.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![H0wMuch](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@H0wMuch](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/H0wMuch)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 9:17am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224/3 "2026-03-01T09:17:17Z")

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Hi there,

I encountered the similar issue on my Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole v6.

The root cause is that Pi-hole v6 now includes an internal NTP client. If you are using a local recursive DNS like `Unbound (127.0.0.1#5335)`, the DNSSEC  
validation can sometimes take more than a second, which triggers a timeout in Pi-hole's NTP client, resulting in that “Cannot resolve NTP server address”  
error in your FTL.log.

Since Raspberry Pi OS already uses systemd-timesyncd to keep the system clock accurate, Pi-hole's internal sync is redundant and can be safely disabled.

Here is how I resolved it:

1. Backup your configuration:  
`sudo cp /etc/pihole/pihole.toml /etc/pihole/pihole.toml.bak`

2. Disable the internal NTP client:  
Edit `/etc/pihole/pihole.toml` and find the `[ntp] section`. Set the sync to false:  
`ntp.sync.active = false`

3. Apply the changes:  
`sudo systemctl restart pihole-FTL`

After doing this, the errors disappeared from my logs, and the system time remains perfectly synced by the OS. Hope this helps!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![major4579](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/dec6dc/32.png) [@major4579](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/major4579)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224/4 "2026-03-04T19:13:01Z")

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@**[H0wMuch](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/h0wmuch),**

I see a [ntp.ipv4], a [ntp.ipv6], a [ntp.sync], a [ntp.sync.rtc] - but no [ntp] section. Also no setting called “ntp.sync.active”. there is the following:

```auto
[ntp.sync]

  active = true

```

Is this what you were referring to?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![deHakkelaar](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/dehakkelaar/32/674_2.png) [@deHakkelaar](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/deHakkelaar)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224/5 "2026-03-04T19:39:42Z")

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Hint, use [Bash completion](https://wiki.debian.org/Add%20Bash%20Completion) (double TAB) instead of searching through that **.toml** file and possibly make a mistake!  
Eg:

```auto
$ sudo pihole-FTL
arp-scan idn2 sha256sum
branch --list-dhcp4 sqlite3
--config --list-dhcp6 sqlite3_rsync
debug --lua tag
--default-gateway lua --teleporter
dhcp-discover --luac test
dnsmasq-test luac --tls-ciphers
-f no-daemon --totp
--gen-x509 ntp --v
gravity --perf -v
gzip ptr verify
-h --read-x509 version
--help --read-x509-key -vv
help regex-test

```

```auto
$ sudo pihole-FTL --config
[..]
misc.readOnly
ntp.ipv4.active
ntp.ipv4.address
ntp.ipv6.active
ntp.ipv6.address
ntp.sync.active
ntp.sync.count
ntp.sync.interval
ntp.sync.rtc.device
ntp.sync.rtc.set
ntp.sync.rtc.utc
ntp.sync.server

```

```auto
$ sudo pihole-FTL --config ntp.sync.active
false true

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rdwebdesign](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/rdwebdesign/32/51363_2.png) [@rdwebdesign](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/rdwebdesign)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 10:13pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224/6 "2026-03-04T22:13:46Z")

</div>

> [@major4579](#):
>
> Is this what you were referring to?

Yes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/uploads/default/original/3X/7/c/7c8792f649eeb921c5d2b4c41564ffa873d9a2b8.png) [@system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/system)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 10:13pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/anway-to-remove-the-ntp-server-timeout-errors/85224/7 "2026-03-25T22:13:53Z")

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