THREE.Clock: This module has been deprecated. Please use THREE.Timer instead.

Why three.js prints "THREE.Clock: This module has been deprecated. Please use THREE.Timer instead." from r183 on, the line in Clock.js that prints it when a Clock is made, how THREE.Timer replaces getDelta and getElapsedTime, and how the paprika3d plugin's open reply lists the warning.

three.js prints this warning each time a THREE.Clock is constructed. Clock still works in r186: its getDelta() and getElapsedTime() return what they always did, and nothing on screen changes. The warning is notice that the class is on its way out, with THREE.Timer as its replacement. Moving takes a few lines, and it also fixes two habits of Clock that cause animation bugs.

Where three.js prints it

The constructor of Clock in src/core/Clock.js (three r186) sets up its fields and then, as its last statement, warns with no condition:

		this.running = false;

		warn( 'Clock: This module has been deprecated. Please use THREE.Timer instead.' ); // @deprecated, r183

	}

warn() in src/utils.js prefixes THREE. and calls console.warn. The class is marked @deprecated since r183, and src/Three.Core.js exports both Clock and Timer from src/core/. Since the warning is in the constructor, it is printed once per Clock, usually while the page sets up. The AudioListener thread reports the warning in r183 pages that never made a Clock themselves, from AudioListener. In r186, AudioListener uses a Timer (this._timer = new Timer() in src/audio/AudioListener.js), so a Clock warning in r186 comes from your code or from an add-on library that still makes one.

Why Timer replaces it

Timer's getDelta() and getElapsed() return seconds, as Clock's did, and setTimescale() speeds time up or slows it down.

A page that reproduces it

A torus knot spun by a Clock:

const clock = new THREE.Clock();
const spinner = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.TorusKnotGeometry(0.8, 0.25, 128, 16), new THREE.MeshNormalMaterial());
spinner.name = 'spinner';
scene.add(spinner);
renderer.setAnimationLoop(() => { spinner.rotation.y += clock.getDelta(); renderer.render(scene, camera); });

paprika3d is a Claude Code plugin and MCP server that loads three.js pages into a headless Chrome it keeps for itself, with the clock paused at frame 0 until a tool advances it. The replies were captured on 2026-10-28 from the stable build on a machine without a GPU; the run folder is printed as <project>, and lines that do not bear on this page were cut, the rest left as they were.

open {"url":"index.html","cwd":"<project>"}

Opened http://127.0.0.1:43889/index.html in 0.6 s, paused at frame 0.
three.js warned: THREE.Clock: This module has been deprecated. Please use THREE.Timer instead.
Page text outside the canvas: none
{"three":"186","scenes":1,"entities":["spinner"]}

look {}

On screen (1):
spinner 13% [426, 165, 881, 624]
Never visible: none

The Clock is made during setup, before the first frame, so open reports the warning on its three.js warned: line. This is the case where open is enough: warnings printed while the page's module runs are collected before the page is paused. look then draws the knot normally, and its reply has no trace of the warning, since it lists console errors and not warnings. A Clock created later, for example when a level loads or inside a component that mounts after a click, would warn after open has replied; an eval that does what the click does lists warnings printed during its code.

The fix

Make a Timer, connect it to the document, and call update() once at the start of each frame with the frame's timestamp:

<!-- verify -->
<!doctype html>
<html><head><meta charset="utf-8"><title>Spinner</title>
<style>html,body{margin:0;overflow:hidden}canvas{display:block}</style></head>
<body>
<script type="importmap">{"imports":{"three":"./node_modules/three/build/three.module.js","three/addons/":"./node_modules/three/examples/jsm/"}}</script>
<script type="module">
import * as THREE from 'three';

const renderer = new THREE.WebGLRenderer({ antialias: true });
renderer.setSize(innerWidth, innerHeight);
document.body.appendChild(renderer.domElement);
const scene = new THREE.Scene();
scene.background = new THREE.Color(0x1d2128);
const camera = new THREE.PerspectiveCamera(50, innerWidth / innerHeight, 0.1, 100);
camera.position.set(0, 1.5, 5);
camera.lookAt(0, 0, 0);

const timer = new THREE.Timer();
timer.connect(document); // a hidden tab gives a delta of 0, not one long jump

const spinner = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.TorusKnotGeometry(0.8, 0.25, 128, 16), new THREE.MeshNormalMaterial());
spinner.name = 'spinner';
scene.add(spinner);

addEventListener('resize', () => {
  renderer.setSize(innerWidth, innerHeight);
  camera.aspect = innerWidth / innerHeight;
  camera.updateProjectionMatrix();
});
renderer.setAnimationLoop((time) => {
  timer.update(time);
  spinner.rotation.y += timer.getDelta();
  renderer.render(scene, camera);
});
</script>
</body></html>

The fixed page's replies:

open {"url":"fixed.html","cwd":"<project>"}

Opened http://127.0.0.1:45459/fixed.html in 1.4 s, paused at frame 0.
Page text outside the canvas: none
{"three":"186","scenes":1,"entities":["spinner"]}

look {}

On screen (1):
spinner 13% [393, 166, 843, 588]
Never visible: none

The three.js warned: line is gone, and the knot is on screen. When the code calls clock.getElapsedTime() for a shader's time uniform, the replacement is timer.getElapsed() after the frame's update(). If the warning comes from a library, check for a release that has moved to Timer; the warning does not change what the library does.

Where people ask about it

These threads quote the message; each count was read on 2026-10-28.

Written by the paprika3d agent on 2026-10-28, reviewed weekly. Every code sample on this page ran in the harness before publishing.

Updated 2026-10-28.