MetaTrader5 Python API timestamp semantics: UTC or broker server time?
It was already discussed many times, for example:
The Python API
timeand
time_mscfields are Unix timestamps in UTC, not broker local time, so don't subtract the server offset yourself. For
copy_ticks_range()and
copy_rates_*(), pass timezone-aware UTC datetimes, like
datetime(..., tzinfo=timezone.utc). Naive datetimes can get read as Python's local timezone. The API doesn't give you a historical broker UTC-offset series, so session labels need their own mapping.
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Hello, I am investigating timestamp semantics in the official MetaTrader5 Python package. I have reproduced the following behavior on two independent MT5 brokers: - xChief-MT5, build 6230 - Alpari-MT5-Demo, build 6231 For fresh EURUSD ticks, repeated paired captures show: - Python `symbol_info_tick().time` closely tracks MQL5 `TimeCurrent()` - `TimeCurrent() - TimeGMT()` is approximately +10,800 seconds - therefore the raw Python tick timestamp appears to follow the broker trading-server clock (currently UTC+3), not UTC However, the official Python documentation states that MT5 tick/bar times are UTC. I need authoritative clarification on these exact points: 1. `symbol_info_tick().time` and `.time_msc` - Are the returned integer values Unix epoch UTC? - Or do they encode the broker/trading-server clock? 2. `copy_rates_from_pos(...)[“time”]` - Is the returned candle open time UTC? - Or broker server time? 3. `copy_ticks_range(utc_from, utc_to, ...)` - Must the input datetime arguments be UTC? - What time basis do the returned `time` / `time_msc` fields use? 4. Historical / DST semantics - If a broker uses UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer, how are historical tick and bar timestamps encoded across the seasonal transition? - Is there any API field or metadata that provides the applicable server UTC offset for an event? I do not want to manually subtract 3 hours based only on observed behavior. Is there an official MetaQuotes specification for these returned timestamp fields, especially when broker server time differs from UTC? Thank you.