Use toPrecision to set the date precision
<html> <head> <title>the date</title> <script type = "text/javascript"> var started = new Date(); var now = started.getTime(); </script> </head> <body> <p id="dateField"></p> <script type = "text/javascript"> var bottom = new Date(); var diff = (bottom.getTime() - now)/1000; var finaltime = diff.toPrecision(5); var dateLoc = document.getElementById("dateField"); dateLoc.innerHTML = "Time: " + finaltime + " seconds."; </script> </body> </html>