Everyone who competes in an online round must log on to the TopCoder Competition Arena no later than ten minutes prior to the start of the online round. (See below for competition dates and times.) TopCoder members from around the world may be participating in these rounds, but all start times will be communicated as Eastern Time, so contestants in different time zones must adjust accordingly. If a coder does not participate, for any reason, in an online round that they have advanced to, it will be treated as an automatic loss in that round of competition.

All competitors who have qualified for an online round will be assigned to a specific room. TopCoder will determine all room assignments prior to the start of each online round in a manner such that the average competitor rating (as of October 1st) for each room will be similar. The dates and times of the online rounds of competition are as follows: