How to Find Your Broker's GMT Offset for Accurate Backtesting
Short answerYour broker's MetaTrader server runs on its own time zone. If your EA or the Strategy Tester assumes the wrong GMT offset, sessions, rollover and daily candles drift by hours. Look up the measured offset and set it exactly.
Why the offset matters
Session filters (London/NY), daily-candle logic and rollover all depend on the server's clock. Most brokers run UTC+2/UTC+3 (with daylight-saving shifts) so the daily candle closes at the New York close — but not all, and a mismatch quietly corrupts backtests.
Fix it in three steps
- Get your broker's measured offset from the Backtest GMT Offset Fixer or the server-time database.
- Set that value in your EA's GMT/offset input (or the tester's model) so sessions line up.
- Confirm the daily candle closes when you expect (typically 00:00 server = New York close for UTC+2/+3 brokers).
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my broker's server time offset?
Look it up in the Backtest GMT Offset Fixer — we publish the measured offset per broker.
What GMT offset should I use for backtesting?
Use your broker's actual server offset, not a guess. Most are UTC+2 or UTC+3 with DST shifts.
Why does my backtest have the wrong session times?
The EA assumes a different offset than the broker's server uses. Set the measured offset to fix it.