1) First step is to sort the array in desc. 2) create two variable  like $fh as first highest and $sh as second highest. 3) loop the array in foreach ,we will check the if condition to first val is greater then $fh variable ,where first iteration first highest value will be assigned to $fh value. 4) second  else if condition will be same ,but here variable will be $sh and another condition in is check duplicate value of highest in the array. $arr = [55,40,50,76,76,40,30,20,60,89]; rsort($arr); $fh=0; $sh=0; foreach($arr as $val){     if($val > $fh){         $fh = $val;     } elseif(($val>$sh) && ($val != $fh)){         $sh = $val;     }   } echo $sh;