Run a cron job daily at midnight: 0 0 * * * explained

How this is calculated

Midnight cron jobs run in the server's local timezone, which is typically UTC on cloud VMs and containerized environments. A 0 0 * * * job on a UTC server runs at 00:00 UTC, which might be 5 PM or 8 PM in your local time depending on your timezone. If you need the job to run at local midnight, either set the server's timezone or adjust the hour field: for EST (UTC-5), use 0 5 * * *. The @daily and @midnight shortcuts are equivalent to 0 0 * * *.

Verdict

0 0 * * * is correct for daily midnight execution, but always confirm the server timezone first. A job you think runs at midnight local time might actually be firing in the middle of the afternoon. Document the intended timezone next to the cron expression in your crontab.