title: how do I find the php session start timestamp
body: <p>I recall reading somewhere recently that you can obtain the server session start-time in timestamp format of the exact time a php session started for a user, but I cannot find this article again.</p>
  
  <p>What I do not want is the request time (ie the time the <code>'REQUEST_TIME'</code>) or the "current timestamp" as of the execution of <code>date()</code> because (if I understand these correctly) they will change for each request and each script execution.</p>
  
  <p>What I want is the time that the session was initiated on the server, and this logically can only be one moment in time.</p>
  
  <p>There was apparently a was of retrieving this information. </p>
  
  <p>Can anyone help? </p>