Time Trader EA User Guide

6 October 12, 2026

Time Trader EA User Guide

This guide covers the five-block Time Trader EA interface for MT4 and MT5, associated with release 3.11. Older six-slot settings are not the same interface. Compare the input names below with your installed release before loading an old settings file.

Time Trader submits orders according to time, date and weekday rules. It does not generate moving-average, oscillator or other directional entry signals. You choose the order direction in each block. The common management settings determine sizing, entry restrictions and how managed positions close.

Start on a demo account. All five trade blocks default to None, but the recovery-mode default is loss-side grid. Disable recovery explicitly if you only want to test scheduled entries. No default configuration is a trading recommendation.

How Scheduled Trading Works

The five blocks

Trade #1 through Trade #5 use the same input structure. Each block can be disabled, buy, sell or place one of four pending-order types. A block is independent of the others for scheduling, last attempt and successful completion. With multi-pair enabled, these states are also separate for each configured pair.

The same five settings apply to every selected pair; there is not a separate symbol selector inside each block. Due blocks are processed by their actual scheduled timestamps, not simply by the displayed input order. If times are equal on a pair, the lower block number is processed first. A successful entry can change the candle or count limit before the next block is checked.

Independent schedules are not independent exit baskets. Trades sharing the applicable symbol, direction and MagicNumber can be managed together. MT5 netting accounts may merge, reduce or reverse an existing position; independent requests do not guarantee separate hedged positions.

Weekly, daily and selected-date modes

Mode	Inputs used	Inputs ignored	Result
Weekly	Schedule, TimeToExecute and Monday–Sunday switches	TradeDate	Repeat on each enabled weekday at the specified server time.
DateTime, TradeDate = 0	Schedule and TimeToExecute	Monday–Sunday switches	Repeat every calendar day at the specified time, including weekends if execution is otherwise permitted.
DateTime, TradeDate is nonzero	Calendar date from TradeDate and TimeToExecute	Weekday switches and the time component stored in TradeDate	One dated occurrence for the current session; it is exhausted after acceptance or expiry.

Weekly with all seven weekdays false has no eligible target. A nonzero date is not an annual repeating anniversary. A past dated occurrence whose execution window has expired is not replayed.

Server time, not local time

Enter the time as HH:MM or HH:MM:SS, using a 24-hour broker-server clock. For example, 08:00 and 08:00:00 describe the same schedule time. Use two digits for hours, minutes and seconds. Invalid active-block times prevent initialization rather than silently becoming midnight; disabled blocks do not validate their time string.

Compare the broker’s displayed server time with your intended session before enabling a block. Broker daylight-saving changes can alter its relationship to UTC or your local clock. The news filter’s GMT offset only aligns calendar events; it does not shift the five schedule times.

The scheduler uses MetaTrader server time (TimeCurrent). Tick and timer callbacks check the same state, but a timer does not manufacture fresh server-clock time while quotes are unavailable. A closed market, disconnected terminal or stale quote clock can cause a scheduled opportunity to be missed.

Padding, retries and missed opportunities

PaddingSeconds applies to every block. A request is eligible from its scheduled time through scheduled time plus padding, inclusive.

Example: with an 08:00:00 target and the default 60-second padding, the eligible window is 08:00:00 through 08:01:00. This is an illustration of timing, not a recommended trading session.

0 permits only the exact scheduled second. A callback must occur then, and all filters must pass.
60 is the supplied default.
Valid values range from 0 to 86400. An out-of-range value prevents initialization.
A failed submission does not complete the occurrence. The same block/pair can attempt again after at least 10 server-clock seconds, provided the grace period remains open and the filters pass.
A filter-blocked occurrence can become eligible later in its window. There is no promise of a retry at a precise wall-clock second.
After the window expires, the occurrence is skipped. The next selected weekday or daily occurrence becomes the target; an expired selected-date occurrence has no replacement.
A window can cross midnight. A late Monday occurrence can still run in its remaining Tuesday grace period even if Tuesday is not enabled for Weekly scheduling.
Very large padding can overlap daily occurrences. The oldest still-open, unconsumed occurrence takes priority; a block is processed at most once per callback.

Padding does not expire an accepted pending order. The scheduler submits pending orders without a scheduled expiry. Broker/helper behavior and subsequent management determine their lifetime; ending the schedule window or entering a news window does not automatically cancel them.

What counts as completion?

A successful accepted market-order or pending-order submission consumes that block’s scheduled occurrence for that pair. The pending order does not need to fill first. Closing a market trade immediately, or cancelling an accepted pending order, does not rearm the same occurrence in an uninterrupted session.

A failure in one block cannot complete a different block. Submission acceptance does not guarantee a specific fill price or a future pending-order fill.

Schedule Inputs: Trade #1 to Trade #5

Time Trader Trade #1 inputs showing a Weekly Buy at 12:19:00 server time. — Example only—not defaults or a trading recommendation: Trade #1 is Buy, Weekly, at 12:19:00 server time, with all seven weekdays enabled. Saturday and Sunday are true here, unlike the supplied false defaults. The zero date may display as 1970.01.01 00:00:00; Weekly ignores it. Fix Price and 0.0 are ignored for this market Buy.

In the table, N means the block suffix 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. For example, TradeTypeN covers TradeType1 through TradeType5. Each row applies independently to all five blocks.

Input	Default	Explanation
`TradeTypeN` — Type of trade	None	Disables the block or chooses Buy, Sell, Buy Stop, Buy Limit, Sell Stop or Sell Limit. Configure this last when preparing a new schedule.
`ScheduleN` — Weekly or DateTime	DateTime	Chooses whether weekdays or the date/daily rule controls the calendar.
`TimeToExecuteN`	#1 08:00:00; #2 10:00:00; #3 12:00:00; #4 14:00:00; #5 16:00:00	Broker-server time in HH:MM or HH:MM:SS. This supplies the time even when TradeDate contains its own time.
`TradeDateN`	0	DateTime only: 0 means every day; a selected date means one calendar-date occurrence. The time portion of this field is ignored. Weekly ignores the entire field.
`MondayN`	true	Weekly only: allow Monday’s target.
`TuesdayN`	true	Weekly only: allow Tuesday’s target.
`WednesdayN`	true	Weekly only: allow Wednesday’s target.
`ThursdayN`	true	Weekly only: allow Thursday’s target.
`FridayN`	true	Weekly only: allow Friday’s target.
`SaturdayN`	false	Weekly only: allow Saturday’s target if enabled and the broker can trade.
`SundayN`	false	Weekly only: allow Sunday’s target if enabled and the broker can trade.
`PendingPriceTypeN`	Fixed price	For pending orders, interpret PendingOrderPrice as an absolute price or a point distance. Market Buy/Sell ignore these pending settings.
`PendingOrderPriceN`	0	Absolute pending price or point distance according to PendingPriceType. A positive usable value is required for a pending request; 0 is not an automatic market price.
`PaddingSeconds`	60	Shared grace period for all five blocks, in seconds; valid range 0–86400, inclusive.

A zero date may appear in MetaTrader as 1970.01.01 00:00:00. In DateTime mode this zero value means every day; in Weekly mode the date is ignored.

Section-title and blank separator strings are layout labels, not strategy parameters.

Pending-order price rules

Order type	Fixed-price requirement in Time Trader	Point-distance calculation
Buy Stop	Above current Ask	Ask + integer distance × symbol point
Sell Limit	Above current Ask	Ask + integer distance × symbol point
Sell Stop	Below current Bid	Bid − integer distance × symbol point
Buy Limit	Below current Bid	Bid − integer distance × symbol point

The point-distance value is truncated to an integer, not rounded. Use a positive whole number of points to avoid ambiguity. A symbol point is the platform’s point size; it is not always one pip.

Illustration: if Ask is 1.10020, Bid is 1.10000 and the symbol point is 0.00001, a 100-point distance gives 1.10120 for Buy Stop/Sell Limit and 1.09900 for Sell Stop/Buy Limit. These are arithmetic examples only. Quote changes, price normalization, broker minimum distance, permitted order types and market sessions can still prevent acceptance.

A point-based price is calculated from the quotes at each submission attempt. A later retry may therefore request a different price. A fixed-price setting remains the same requested level, but can become invalid if the market moves across it. One fixed number also applies to every pair in multi-pair mode, so do not assume a price appropriate for one symbol is valid for another.

Worked Schedule Setups

Repeat on business days

Leave Trade #2–#5 at None.
Set Schedule1 = Weekly and TimeToExecute1 = 08:00:00.
Enable Monday1 through Friday1; leave Saturday1 and Sunday1 false.
Set TradeDate1 to any value or leave 0—it is ignored in Weekly mode.
Configure lot size, limits and exits, then choose TradeType1 = Buy for a demo test.

This asks for one buy-family submission opportunity on each selected day. It does not require the previous day’s position to be closed, but entry limits may prevent another request.

Repeat every calendar day

Set Schedule1 = DateTime, TradeDate1 = 0 and the desired TimeToExecute1. Weekday flags do not exclude weekends in this mode. For weekday-only trading, use Weekly instead.

Trade on one selected date

Set Schedule1 = DateTime, choose a future calendar date in TradeDate1, and enter the desired server time in TimeToExecute1. Only the date component of TradeDate1 is used. Check that the target shown on the dashboard is correct before enabling automated trading.

Submit a pending order

Choose a pending TradeType, its schedule and time, then select either a fixed price or a positive point distance. Confirm broker stop-distance requirements. After successful placement, manage or cancel the pending order deliberately; it is not cancelled just because PaddingSeconds ends.

Common Settings: Use the Functions Glossary

The shared guides below explain the common controls in detail. This manual keeps only their purpose and the Time Trader exceptions; it does not repeat the shared input inventories.

Multi-pair trading

Apply the same five schedules to the configured broker symbols. Completion and retry state remain separate for each block/pair, but shared management can group trades. Use exact broker symbol names.

Event	Behavior to rely on
Repeated tick/timer checks in an uninterrupted session	An accepted block/pair occurrence remains consumed; a failed submission retains its retry throttle.
MT5: change chart timeframe, keep the same chart symbol	Scheduler completion, attempt state and the original pair mapping are preserved by the custom lifecycle path. This promise is limited to scheduler state, not every inherited management counter.
MT4: change chart timeframe	Do not rely on the MT5 preservation policy. The reviewed MT4 lifecycle does not run the product’s custom deinitialization path, so the preservation latch is not set. A still-open occurrence may submit again after reinitialization.
Change chart symbol	Scheduler state resets, including on MT5.
Change inputs, remove/re-attach, recompile or restart terminal	Treat this as a fresh scheduler session. An occurrence still inside padding may submit again.
Run another chart/instance	Instances do not share completion memory. Distinct MagicNumbers help separate management, but do not coordinate schedules.