zypper refresh will be done:
grep -B8 'refresh.delay' /etc/zypp/zypp.conf
##
## Amount of time in minutes that must pass before another refresh.
##
## Valid values: Integer
## Default value: 10
##
## If you have autorefresh enabled for a repository, it is checked for
## up-to-date metadata not more often than every <repo.refresh.delay>
## minutes. If an automatic request for refresh comes before <repo.refresh.delay>
## minutes passed since the last check, the request is ignored.
##
## A value of 0 means the repository will always be checked. To get the opposite
## effect, disable autorefresh for your repositories.
##
## This option has no effect for repositories with autorefresh disabled, nor for
## user-requested refresh.
##
repo.refresh.delay = 5
So if the time has passed a refresh will be done by any zypper command that needs a refresh…