Subtract seconds from current time using Calendar.add() method in Java

Import the following package for Calendar class in Java

import java.util.Calendar;

Firstly, create a Calendar object and display the current date and time

Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
System.out.println("Current Date and Time = " + calendar.getTime());

Now, let us decrement the seconds using the calendar.add() method and Calendar.SECOND constant. Set a negative value since we are decrementing

calendar.add(Calendar.SECOND, -20);

The following is an example

Example

 Live Demo

import java.util.Calendar;
public class Demo {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
      System.out.println("Current Date = " + calendar.getTime());
      // Subtract 20 seconds from current date
      calendar.add(Calendar.SECOND, -20);
      System.out.println("Updated Date = " + calendar.getTime());
   }
}

Output

Current Date = Thu Nov 22 18:05:36 UTC 2018
Updated Date = Thu Nov 22 18:05:16 UTC 2018