Clock

RouterOS uses data from the TZ database. Most of the time zones from this database are included and have the same names. Because local time on the router is used mostly for timestamping and time-dependent configuration, and not for historical date calculations, time zone information about past years is not included. Only information starting from 2005 is included.

Startup date and time is 1970-01-02 00:00:00 [+|-]gmt-offset.

Time-zone-autodetect is enabled by default on a new RouterOS installation and after configuration reset. The time zone is detected depending on the router's public IP address and our Cloud servers database. cloud2.mikrotik.com is used to communicate with MikroTik's Cloud server.

Be aware that the router's internal CPU clock is not a reliable time source for precise timing operations, as its frequency may vary due to power management, thermal conditions, and hardware differences, even between identical models. This variation is expected and does not affect normal router performance. For accurate timekeeping, you should use network-based time synchronisation, such as NTP (Network Time Protocol).

Configuration

Clock is configured from the /system/clock menu. Manual time zone settings are configured from the /system/clock/manual submenu.

These settings have an effect only when time-zone-name value is set to manual. It is only possible to manually configure a single daylight saving time period.

• time-zone, dst-delta: While DST is not active, use GMT offset time-zone. While DST is active, use GMT offset time-zone + dst-delta.
• dst-start, dst-end: Local time when DST starts and ends.

For accurate time synchronisation, see the NTP documentation.