$xf.time not accessible in email template

[XFFA.IR Bot]

I'm trying to specify the following in an email template: {{date($xf.time,'M jS, Y g:i A')}}

Unfortunately, this yields: Dec 31st, 1969 6:00 PM

If I use the same in a public template, the date is rendered as expected (i.e. Apr 22nd, 2025 8:27 PM)