|
! Bit || Weight || Meaning
|-
| :00 || M || Start of minute, always 0.
|-
| :01 ||colspan=2 rowspan=14| Civil warning bits,<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.ptb.de/en/org/4/44/442/dcf77_bbk_e.htm |title=Warnings to the general public by means of CF77? |publisher=Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt |date=2007-05-09}}</ref> provided by the Bundesamt{{br}}für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenwarnung{{br}}(Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Relief).{{br}}Also contain weather broadcasts.<ref name=timecode/><ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.piester.de/dp200701.pdf |title=Proc. 38th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Systems and Applications Meeting |contribution=PTB's Time and Frequency Activities in 2006 |first1=D. |last1=Piester |first2=A. |last2=Bauch |first3=J. |last3=Becker |first4=T. |last4=Polewka |first5=M. |last5=Rost |first6=D. |last6=Sibold |first7=E. |last7=Staliuniene |pages=37–47 |date=2006-12-05 |accessdate=2009-03-24}}</ref>
|-
| :02
|-
| :03
|-
| :04
|-
| :05
|-
| :06
|-
| :07
|-
| :08
|-
| :09
|-
| :10
|-
| :11
|-
| :12
|-
| :13
|-
| :14
|-
| :15 || R || Call bit, set during abnormal transmitter operation.<ref name=timecode/>{{br}}Previously indicated use of the backup antenna.
|-
| :16 || A1 || [[Daylight saving time|Summer time]] announcement.{{br}}Set during hour before change.
|-
| :17 || Z1 || Set to 1 when [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]] is in effect.
|-
| :18 || Z2 || Set to 1 when [[Central European Time|CET]] is in effect.
|-
| :19 || A2 || [[Leap second]] announcement.{{br}}Set during hour before leap second.
|-
| :20 || S || Start of encoded time, always 1.
|-
| :21 || 1 ||rowspan=7| Minutes
|-
| :22 || 2
|-
| :23 || 4
|-
| :24 || 8
|-
| :25 || 10
|-
| :26 || 20
|-
| :27 || 40
|-
| :28 || P1 || [[Even parity]] over seconds 21–28.
|-
| :29 || 1 ||rowspan=6| Hours
|-
| :30 || 2
|-
| :31 || 4
|-
| :32 || 8
|-
| :33 || 10
|-
| :34 || 20
|-
| :35 || P2 || Even parity over seconds 29–35.
|-
| :36 || 1 ||rowspan=6| Day of month.{{br}}1–31
|-
| :37 || 2
|-
| :38 || 4
|-
| :39 || 8
|-
| :40 || 10
|-
| :41 || 20
|-
| :42 || 1 ||rowspan=3| Day of week<br/1>Monday=1, Sunday=7
|-
| :43 || 2
|-
| :44 || 4
|-
| :45 || 1 ||rowspan=5| Month number{{br}}1–12
|-
| :46 || 2
|-
| :47 || 4
|-
| :48 || 8
|-
| :49 || 10
|-
| :50 || 1 ||rowspan=8| Year within century{{br}}00–99
|-
| :51 || 2
|-
| :52 || 4
|-
| :53 || 8
|-
| :54 || 10
|-
| :55 || 20
|-
| :56 || 40
|-
| :57 || 80
|-
| :58 || P3 || [[Even parity]] over seconds 36–58.
|-
| '':59'' ||colspan=2| 0 bit transmitted immediately before leap seconds.<ref name=timecode/>
|-
| :59 ||colspan=2| No bit transmitted during last second of each minute.
|}
Although the time code only includes two digits of year, it is possible to deduce two bits of century using the day of week. There is still a 400-year ambiguity, as the [[Gregorian calendar]] repeats weeks every 400 years.
* {{de icon}} [http://www.dcf77.de/ The atomic clock in Frankfurt/Main Germany]
* [http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/dcf77.html Time code description]
* [http://inter-actief.cs.utwente.nl/~ptdeboer/ham/sdr/leapsecond.html Observation of DCF77 during a leap second] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526030302/http://inter-actief.cs.utwente.nl/~ptdeboer/ham/sdr/leapsecond.html |date=2010-05-26 }}
{{TimeSig}}
| 