Fluorescence lifetime of phosphors is a critical index in the field of high energy physics and astrophysical detection. A series of ZnSxO1-x:0.05Ce3+ phosphors with tunable short fluorescence lifetime were prepared by performing high temperature solid state reaction method. The phosphors exhibited two mixed phases consisting of the hexagonal phase ZnO and the hexagonal phase ZnS. They are spherical and the average particle size is 2.24 μm. As the component content of the ZnS in ZnSxO1-x:0.05Ce3+ phosphors varies, the emission wavelength can be tuned from 448 nm to 495 nm, the short fluorescence lifetime can be tuned within the range of 6 μs–200 μs. By performing exponential fitting, we obtained the equation for the variation of fluorescence lifetime of ZnSxO1-x:0.05Ce3+ phosphors with ZnS fraction.