Pine Script Session Time Filter

Restricts entries to a configurable trading session using TradingView's time() function. Prevents off-hours fills and overnight holds that violate prop firm rules.

Copy//@version=5
strategy("Session Filter — RTH Only", overlay=true)

// ── Inputs ──────────────────────────────────────────────
sessionInput = input.session("0930-1600", "Trading Session",
     tooltip="Use TradingView session format. Default: NY RTH 9:30-16:00 ET.")
timezone     = input.string("America/New_York", "Timezone")

// ── Session check ────────────────────────────────────────
inSession = not na(time(timeframe.period, sessionInput, timezone))

// ── Entry logic (replace with your own conditions) ───────
longCondition  = ta.crossover(ta.ema(close, 9), ta.ema(close, 21)) and inSession
shortCondition = ta.crossunder(ta.ema(close, 9), ta.ema(close, 21)) and inSession

if longCondition
    strategy.entry("Long", strategy.long)
    strategy.exit("Long Exit", "Long", profit=20, loss=10)

if shortCondition
    strategy.entry("Short", strategy.short)
    strategy.exit("Short Exit", "Short", profit=20, loss=10)

// Visual: shade outside-session bars
bgcolor(not inSession ? color.new(color.gray, 92) : na, title="Outside Session")

How to set your session string

TradingView session strings follow the format HHMM-HHMM in the timezone you specify. Common session strings for prop firm traders:

To restrict to weekdays only, append :23456 to the session string — for example, 0930-1600:23456 trades Monday through Friday only.

Why prop firms care about overnight holds

Nearly every prop firm evaluation account explicitly prohibits holding positions when the session closes. The reason is straightforward: overnight gaps can produce large unexpected losses in a single bar that blow through the firm's trailing drawdown limit without warning.

Even on funded PA accounts where overnight holds are technically permitted by some firms, the risk profile is dramatically different from RTH trading. Liquidity drops sharply, bid-ask spreads widen, and news events can move prices several hundred ticks before you can react. The session filter is the simplest way to ensure your strategy never opens a position that could still be live when the session ends.

Pair this snippet with the EOD Flatten snippet for belt-and-suspenders protection: the session filter prevents new entries after a cutoff, and the EOD flatten closes any positions that are still open at that time.

Frequently Asked Questions

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