Jenkins cron expression: every 3 hours

Use H */3 * * *. At a hashed minute (Jenkins picks it from the job name), every 3 hours.

To run a Jenkins job every 3 hours, use:

H */3 * * *

At a hashed minute (Jenkins picks it from the job name), every 3 hours.

Jenkins (H syntax) expression

Schedule time zone

Your week at a glance

fewer more runs

Upcoming runs

#	Local	UTC	From now

Eight runs a day: 00:00, 03:00, 06:00 and so on. Handy when you want regular coverage without hourly load.

Starting from 1 January 2027, evaluated in UTC (the hashed H offset is shown as its range start):

Need to translate a different expression? Use the cron converter.

Drop this into your project. The expression is the one above.

Declarative pipeline

pipeline {
    agent any
    triggers { cron('H */3 * * *') }
    stages {
        stage('Build') { steps { echo 'Scheduled build' } }
    }
}

The Jenkins fields, in order: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day-of-month (1-31), month (1-12), day-of-week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday).

H/15 starts every 15 minutes at a hashed offset per job, which avoids every job firing at :00. The preview here assumes an offset of 0.
Use H instead of a fixed minute to spread load. H 2 * * * means "once during the 2 AM hour", at a stable per-job minute.
Jenkins uses the controller's time zone. Put TZ=Asia/Kolkata on its own first line of the trigger to override it.

Eight runs divide 24 evenly, but across a daylight-saving change the local gap can be two or four hours once a year.

How do I run a Jenkins job every 3 hours?

Use H */3 * * *. At a hashed minute (Jenkins picks it from the job name), every 3 hours.

What is the every 3 hours cron expression in other systems?

Quartz: 0 0 */3 * * ?; Spring: 0 0 */3 * * *; Crontab: 0 */3 * * *. The table on this page lists every dialect.

Which time zone does Jenkins use for this schedule?

Jenkins uses the controller's time zone. Put TZ=Asia/Kolkata on its own first line of the trigger to override it.