What time does the trading day reset on MetaTrader 5?

Many traders assume the trading day on MetaTrader 5 ends at their own midnight. It usually does not. The day resets at 00:00 on your broker's server clock, which may sit several hours away from your own time zone and may move twice a year. This article explains how to find that clock, how daylight saving changes it, and what the reset does and does not do to positions you already hold.

Broker server time is not your time

MetaTrader 5 shows every time stamp on the chart, in the trade history and in the journal in the time of your broker’s trade server, not in the time on your computer. Each broker chooses its own server time zone. Many set it so that server midnight falls at the New York close, which gives five daily candles a week and often puts the server some hours away from the trader.

So when a rule says the day resets at midnight, the first question is: whose midnight? In most cases on MetaTrader 5 it is 00:00 server time. That is also when a new D1 candle opens on your gold chart.

How to find the server clock

You do not need to ask anyone. The terminal shows it.

1. Open Market Watch (View menu, or Ctrl+M).
2. Look at the top of the window. Next to the heading, the terminal shows the current server time, ticking while prices come in.
3. Compare it with the clock on your computer. The difference, in whole hours, is your offset.
4. Write down the offset and the date you checked it.

Two other places confirm it. The Time column in the Trade and History tabs uses server time, and on a D1 chart each candle opens at server 00:00. If the clock in Market Watch looks frozen, the market may be closed or the connection lost; check again when prices are moving.

Daylight saving shifts

Many brokers move their server clock with daylight saving, often following the US or European dates. Your own country may change on different dates, or not at all. For a few weeks in spring and autumn, the gap between you and the server can change by an hour, then change again.

A simple habit helps: check the Market Watch clock again on the Monday after any clock change in your country, in the US and in Europe. It takes ten seconds and avoids a session that starts on the wrong day.

What the reset means for open positions

The reset is a count, not an action. At server 00:00 nothing is closed by the terminal itself. An open position simply carries over into the new day, with its floating gain or floating loss.

• Daily counters start again. Whatever your rule set measures per day starts a fresh count. Some rule sets measure from the balance at the reset, others from equity, which includes floating results. The same open trade can be treated quite differently.
• Swap. Holding a position through the rollover can bring a swap charge or credit, which shows on the account in the new day.
• Spread and liquidity. Around the rollover, spreads on gold often widen and liquidity can be thin. A stop placed close to price can be hit by a wide spread rather than by a real move.

For a closer look at how midnight affects a daily loss figure, see daily loss and broker midnight.

Check your own rule set

Do not rely on a summary, including this one. Read the exact wording of your own firm’s rules and look for three things:

• which clock defines the day: server time, a named time zone, or something else;
• whether the daily figure is measured from balance or from equity at the reset;
• whether floating results on open positions count towards the daily limit.

If anything is unclear, ask your firm in writing and keep the answer. If you run more than one account, the clocks may differ; see running two prop accounts. For a wider view of tools and rules, see a gold tool for prop rules on MT5.

Where Spectar FX Gold fits

Spectar FX Gold is a subscription service for MetaTrader 5, for gold (XAUUSD). You set every rule yourself: lot sizes, daily stop, daily target, trading hours and news window. The tool holds them. The daily stop is counted from 00:00 broker server time, the way many prop firms count it; check your own rules. When the daily stop is reached, the day locks: no new trades until the next day.

It runs on your own account. We never receive broker passwords, never hold funds, set no numbers, recommend no trades, give no signals and never promise any result. A gap in the market or slippage at the broker can carry a position past any limit; a daily stop is a setting, not a promise. Plans are MANUAL, SEMIAUTO and AUTO, monthly, with an 8-day free trial on MANUAL monthly. See the FAQ or the home page.

Related: Daily loss limit and broker server midnight · What happens when the daily stop is reached