The server clock and the candle you think you are looking at
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2026 10:40 am
The server clock and the candle you think you are looking at
A five-minute candle on the platform is not necessarily a five-minute candle on the other broker's platform. Both start on server time boundaries, and server time varies.
Most brokers use GMT+2 or GMT+3. A few use GMT or even New York time. That affects daily candles the most, since the daily close sits at different clock times. A daily high on one platform may be a mid-session high on another, because the day was cut at a different hour.
For scalpers working on five- or one-minute charts, the issue is smaller but not absent. If the platform has a half-hour offset, as happens with some regional servers, then the chart's "round" times do not line up with the market's. The popular levels formed on clock time, such as the 08:00 London open range, are drawn differently.
Signal sharing across brokers becomes messy for this reason. Two people looking at "the 4-hour candle" see different bars.
Checking the server offset takes thirty seconds: compare the platform clock with a known UTC source and note the gap.
What server time does the broker use, and does the strategy treat it explicitly in its time filters?
A five-minute candle on the platform is not necessarily a five-minute candle on the other broker's platform. Both start on server time boundaries, and server time varies.
Most brokers use GMT+2 or GMT+3. A few use GMT or even New York time. That affects daily candles the most, since the daily close sits at different clock times. A daily high on one platform may be a mid-session high on another, because the day was cut at a different hour.
For scalpers working on five- or one-minute charts, the issue is smaller but not absent. If the platform has a half-hour offset, as happens with some regional servers, then the chart's "round" times do not line up with the market's. The popular levels formed on clock time, such as the 08:00 London open range, are drawn differently.
Signal sharing across brokers becomes messy for this reason. Two people looking at "the 4-hour candle" see different bars.
Checking the server offset takes thirty seconds: compare the platform clock with a known UTC source and note the gap.
What server time does the broker use, and does the strategy treat it explicitly in its time filters?