Since the EA settings tab in MetaTrader has a static structure(settings menu doesn’t change based on user selections) some users may find hard to understand how settings are organized in the Expert Advisor(EA).

We will go through each concept in EA settings therefore you can have a better understanding of how everything connects.

Sections

Sections in settings cover different aspects of operations in the copier. Settings are divided in to groups to help the user navigate through each setting.

In the above image, each section is highlighted into red rectangles. For an example, the section TP Hit Events(top red rectangle) is where the user set what actions to be taken by the copier when Take profit level 1 and 2 is hit.

Numbered settings

You will see some numbers enclosed in box brackets (example: [1],[2],[3]). Those numbers correspond to or relate to another setting if selected. Let’s take some examples

Example 1

In trading options, you have three open modes in the drop down menu

Based on signal [1]
Place pending order [1]
Enter at market price

Notice that “Pending order expiration time” and “Pending order expiration unit” options(red rectangles)  have “[1]” before them. This means that these options are only used if relevant open modes are selected(Red squares). 

If “Enter at market price” mode is selected, options “Pending order expiration time” and “Pending order expiration unit”  will not be used.

Example 2

Let’s look at a more advanced example in Lot size section

There are 3 lot sizing modes available

Fix lot sizes [1]
Risk based 0 - 1.00 [2]
Money ratio for every 0.01 lot [3]

If “Fix lot sizes [1]” is selected(highlighted in red) , Fixed lot sizes need to be entered into the next three rows for each TP level.

If “Risk based 0 – 1.00 [2]” is selected(highlighted in purple) , Risk% (between 0.00-1.00) need to be entered into the next three rows for each TP level. Since this mode uses a calculation, The user can limit the highest the lot sizes can go.  The highest lot size allowed can be set in  “[2],[3] Max lot size” option.

If “Money ratio for every 0.01 lot [3]” is selected(highlighted in Yellow) , money ration for every 0.01 lots need to be entered into the next three rows for each TP level. Since this mode uses a calculation, The user can limit the highest the lot sizes can go.  The highest lot size allowed can be set in the  “[2],[3] Max lot size” option.