Prop Guardian Risk Manager is a professional risk-control utility for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, designed especially for prop firm traders and anyone who wants strict, rule-based risk management on their account.
Public channel: CLICK HERE
This tool does not open trades and does not implement any trading strategy. It runs as a chart-attached Expert Advisor (Utility) that can:
- Monitor daily drawdown based on equity
- Monitor overall drawdown from your initial balance
- Calculate risk per trade from your Stop Loss
- Calculate total open risk across managed positions / trades
- Apply a projected loss headroom guard before hard drawdown limits are hit
- Apply an optional spread guard to newly opened market trades
- Close positions/orders and block new trades when your rules are breached
- Show a clear on-chart dashboard with state, risk metrics and challenge progress
- Publish key values to Global Variables for advanced users
Use Prop Guardian as a “safety layer” on top of your manual trading or existing EAs to help you follow prop firm rules more consistently and reduce the risk of breaking their limits by accident.
1. Available versions (MT4 & MT5)
Prop Guardian Risk Manager is available for both MetaTrader platforms. Please choose the build that matches your terminal:
- Prop Guardian Risk Manager MT5 (Full Version)
– For MT5 real and demo accounts, all full-version features enabled.
– Product link:
https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/143900 - Prop Guardian Risk Manager MT4 (Full Version)
– For MT4 real and demo accounts, same protection logic and risk rules, adapted to the MT4 environment.
– Product link:
https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/155812 - Demo / Trial builds (demo accounts only)
– Separate demo-only builds can be provided so you can test the behaviour on demo accounts with live market data.
– Please use those trial files only on demo accounts.
Both builds share the same protection philosophy and almost the same inputs. The differences are technical only, such as MT4 “orders” versus MT5 “positions + orders + deals”.
2. Installation & first attach
2.1. Common preparation
- Download the product from the MQL5 Market and make sure it is installed in your terminal.
- Open your MetaTrader terminal (MT4 or MT5).
- Enable algo trading:
- MT5: Tools → Options → Expert Advisors → allow Algo Trading, then enable the main “Algo Trading” button.
- MT4: Tools → Options → Expert Advisors → allow live trading, then enable the main “AutoTrading” button.
- Open the Navigator window and locate:
- MT5: Expert Advisors → Market → Prop Guardian Risk Manager
- MT4: Expert Advisors → Market → Prop Guardian Risk Manager
2.2. Attaching on MT5
- Open any chart on the account you want to protect (symbol does not matter for account-level drawdown logic).
- Drag & drop Prop Guardian Risk Manager onto the chart.
- In the EA settings:
- On the Common tab, allow Algo Trading for this EA.
- On the Inputs tab, configure parameters (see sections below).
- Click OK. Make sure the main “Algo Trading” button is green.
2.3. Attaching on MT4
- Open any chart on the account you want to protect.
- Drag & drop Prop Guardian Risk Manager onto the chart.
- In the EA properties:
- On the Common tab, allow live trading.
- On the Inputs tab, configure parameters.
- Click OK. Make sure the “AutoTrading” button is enabled (green).
Once running, you will see a dashboard in the top-left (by default) with the current state and statistics on both MT4 and MT5.
3. On-chart panel explained (MT4 & MT5)
After attaching the utility, the same dashboard style appears on both platforms. The latest panel is richer than the original simple label panel and includes:
- Header meta – shows daily-loss mode, active timezone mode and scope summary.
- STATE badge – the main guardian state:
- NORMAL – within all configured limits
- WARNING – daily loss reached the warning threshold
- HEADROOM – projected-loss guard is active, so new trades are blocked
- SESSION – outside the configured session and blocking is active
- RISK LOCK – risk-per-trade or total-open-risk rule triggered a daily-style lock
- DAILY LOCK – daily loss limit hit
- OVERALL LOCK – overall loss limit hit
- OVERRIDE – a manual unlock override is currently active
- Risk Snapshot cards – Daily DD, Overall DD, Open Risk and Equity.
- Overview block – daily room, overall room, projected daily/overall worst-case loss, risk room, spread/session status, equity/balance and prop-day countdown.
- Evaluation line (optional) – progress toward profit target, trading days and profitable days.
- Manual Actions (optional):
- Unlock Daily – clears the current daily/risk lock and activates a manual daily override for the current prop day.
- Unlock Overall – clears the current overall lock and activates a persistent overall override if you allowed it in inputs.
The panel colors and badge text change automatically according to the current state, the same way on MT4 and MT5.
4. How Prop Guardian thinks about risk
4.1. Prop day and timezone
Many prop firms define the trading day based on a fixed timezone (often GMT ± offset). Prop Guardian allows you to mimic this:
- UsePropTimezone – when enabled, the EA uses GMT time plus your PropGMTOffsetHours to define the prop trading day on both MT4 and MT5.
- PropGMTOffsetHours – offset from GMT (example: +2 for GMT+2).
- PropDayStartHour – hour when the prop day starts (0–23).
- PropDayEndHour – hour when the prop day ends (1–24). Set 24 for “end of the day”.
From this, the EA computes:
- PropDayStartTime – used to reset the daily equity reference
- Prop day end time – used for countdown display and daily auto-unlock timing
When a new prop day is detected, daily statistics are reset and daily/risk-style locks are cleared automatically.
4.2. Initial balance and overall drawdown
Overall loss is measured from an Initial Balance:
- INIT_AUTO_ON_FIRST_RUN – on first run, the EA stores the current account balance as Initial Balance (in a Global Variable) and reuses it later.
- INIT_MANUAL_INPUT – you manually set Initial Balance, for example the starting balance of your prop challenge.
In simple terms, overall loss % is calculated as:
(current equity – initial balance) ÷ initial balance × 100
If this value falls below your configured limit (for example, -10%), the overall lock is triggered.
4.3. Daily drawdown
Daily drawdown is equity-based and can be calculated in two modes on both MT4 and MT5:
- MODE_FROM_DAY_START – compares current equity to equity at prop-day start.
- MODE_FROM_DAY_HIGH – compares current equity to the highest equity reached during the current prop day.
This allows you to adapt to how your prop firm defines daily loss: from day start or from daily peak.
You also set a DailyWarningPercent:
Warning threshold = MaxDailyLossPercent × DailyWarningPercent ÷ 100
When daily loss reaches this threshold, the state becomes WARNING and notifications are sent if enabled.
4.4. Risk per trade & total open risk
The EA calculates risk per trade only for positions / trades with a valid Stop Loss:
- On MT5, it estimates what would happen if the position hits its Stop Loss and converts that potential loss into a percentage of your equity.
- On MT4, it uses price distance, tick value and lot size, then expresses that potential loss as a percentage of equity.
From this, the EA derives:
- Risk per managed position / trade (%)
- TotalOpenRiskPercent – the sum of SL-based risk for all managed open positions / trades
Important: if you do not set a Stop Loss on a trade, Prop Guardian treats its risk as 0% in the “risk per trade”, “total open risk” and “projected loss” metrics. Your daily / overall loss protection still works, because those are equity-based.
4.5. Projected loss headroom guard
The projected guard is a proactive filter that tries to stop new exposure before your hard drawdown limit is actually hit.
The EA calculates:
- ProjectedDailyLossPercent = used daily loss + total open risk
- ProjectedOverallLossPercent = used overall loss + total open risk
“Used loss” means the current loss part only. If daily or overall P/L is positive, that positive value is not added as “negative loss”.
You can also define a ProjectedLossBufferPercent. The effective projected guard threshold becomes:
hard loss limit – buffer
Example:
- Max daily loss = 5.0%
- Projected loss buffer = 0.25%
- Effective projected daily guard threshold = 4.75%
If projected daily or projected overall worst-case loss reaches that effective threshold, Prop Guardian can block new trades immediately. In practice, this means:
- New market trades can be force-closed
- New pending orders can be force-deleted
This makes the projected guard useful for traders who want a safety margin instead of trading until the exact hard drawdown line.
4.6. Spread guard
The spread guard is optional and focuses on newly opened market exposure only.
- EnableSpreadGuard – enable or disable the spread guard.
- MaxAllowedSpreadPoints – maximum spread accepted for a newly opened market trade.
If a new market trade / position is detected with spread above the threshold, the EA can close it immediately. This helps avoid bad fills during spread spikes.
Important: the spread guard is not a general “all pending orders are forbidden” rule. Pending orders are mainly controlled by account lock state, session rules and the projected headroom guard. The spread guard is checked when live market exposure actually appears.
4.7. Trading sessions & blocking trades by time
Some prop firms restrict trading to certain hours. Prop Guardian supports this with:
- EnableTradingSession – enable or disable the session filter.
- SessionStartHour / SessionEndHour – allowed trading hours (supports wrap-over midnight).
- BlockTradesOutsideSession – when enabled, any new managed trade opened outside the allowed session can be closed immediately, and new managed pending orders can be deleted.
Outside of the allowed session, the panel also shows a session-specific state.
4.8. Evaluation tracker
The evaluation tracker is an informational dashboard feature for prop-firm style challenges. It can display:
- Closed profit % relative to Initial Balance
- Trading days – unique prop days with managed trade activity since the evaluation tracker start time
- Profitable days – days whose net closed result is at least your profitable-day threshold
- Simple consistency note – when no profitable-day target is set, the panel can instead show a simple “best day concentration” style summary
The evaluation tracker start time is stored in a Global Variable the first time the tracker is initialized for that account/server scope. In other words, it behaves like a persistent local challenge tracker unless you manually reset its stored start time.
5. All input parameters – explained
5.1. Prop Firm Limits
- MaxDailyLossPercent
Maximum allowed daily loss in percent (negative side). Example: 5.0 = daily loss limit at -5%. - DailyWarningPercent
Warning level as a percent of the daily limit. Example: 60% of 5% = 3% → warning at about -3% daily loss. - MaxOverallLossPercent
Maximum allowed overall loss from the initial balance in percent. Example: 10.0 = -10% max drawdown.
5.2. Daily Loss Calculation
- DailyLossMode
- MODE_FROM_DAY_START – loss from equity at prop-day start.
- MODE_FROM_DAY_HIGH – loss from highest equity reached during the current prop day.
5.3. Initial Balance
- InitialBalanceMode
- INIT_AUTO_ON_FIRST_RUN – auto-store balance on first run as Initial Balance.
- INIT_MANUAL_INPUT – use your own manual value for Initial Balance.
- ManualInitialBalance
Only used in manual mode. Must be > 0. Set this to your challenge starting balance or your own reference value.
5.4. Risk Limits
- EnableRiskPerTradeLimit
When enabled, each managed trade’s risk is checked against MaxRiskPerTradePercent. - MaxRiskPerTradePercent
Maximum allowed risk per managed trade (in % of equity). - EnableTotalOpenRiskLimit
When enabled, total open risk is checked against MaxTotalOpenRiskPercent. - MaxTotalOpenRiskPercent
Maximum allowed combined SL-based risk from all managed open trades. - LockOnRiskLimitBreak
When enabled, a risk breach can create a daily-style lock until the end of the current prop day.
5.5. Projected Loss Guard & Spread Guard
- EnableProjectedLossGuard
Enables projected worst-case drawdown monitoring. - ProjectedLossBufferPercent
Optional safety margin kept under the hard daily / overall loss limit. - BlockNewTradesOnProjectedGuard
When enabled, new managed trades/orders are blocked as soon as the projected guard becomes active. - EnableSpreadGuard
Enables spread checking for newly opened market exposure. - MaxAllowedSpreadPoints
Maximum allowed spread in points for a newly opened market trade.
5.6. Prop Timezone & Session
- UsePropTimezone – when enabled, use GMT plus your offset as the base for the prop day.
- PropGMTOffsetHours – offset from GMT to match your prop firm’s timing.
- PropDayStartHour / PropDayEndHour – define the prop-day window.
- EnableTradingSession – enable the time-of-day filter for trading.
- SessionStartHour / SessionEndHour – allowed hours for trading.
- BlockTradesOutsideSession – when enabled, new managed trades/orders outside the session can be closed/deleted.
5.7. Lock Behavior
- CloseAllOnDailyHit – close all managed trades and delete managed pending orders when the daily loss limit is hit.
- CloseAllOnOverallHit – close all managed trades and delete managed pending orders when the overall loss limit is hit.
- AutoBlockNewTrades – when locked, any new managed trades/orders are immediately closed/deleted.
- AllowManualUnlockDaily – show and enable the “Unlock Daily” button on the panel.
- AllowManualUnlockOverall – show and enable the “Unlock Overall” button on the panel.
5.8. Symbol Filter
- UseSymbolFilter – when enabled, active management is limited to symbols listed in SymbolList.
- SymbolList – comma-separated symbols, for example: XAUUSD,EURUSD,GBPUSD.
Important: the symbol filter does not change account-level daily and overall drawdown calculations, because those are based on total account equity. The filter mainly affects new-trade blocking, forced exit logic, open-risk calculations and evaluation tracking.
5.9. Notifications
- EnableTerminalAlert – show alerts in the MetaTrader terminal.
- EnablePushNotification – send push notifications via MetaQuotes ID (configure in terminal).
- EnableEmailNotification – send emails (requires email settings in the terminal).
5.10. Evaluation Tracker
- EnableEvaluationTracker
Show challenge-progress information on the panel. - EvaluationProfitTargetPercent
Target closed profit in % of Initial Balance. - MinimumTradingDaysTarget
Minimum number of unique trading days you want to track. - MinimumProfitableDaysTarget
Minimum number of profitable days you want to track. - ProfitableDayMinPercent
Minimum closed P/L % of Initial Balance required for a day to count as a profitable day.
5.11. UI Settings
- PanelX / PanelY – on-chart panel coordinates.
- TimerIntervalSeconds – how often the EA updates its internal logic and panel via the timer.
6. Typical configuration examples
Example 1 – Classic prop challenge (5% daily, 10% overall)
- Account size: 10 000
- Prop rules:
- Max daily loss: 5%
- Max overall loss: 10%
Suggested settings (MT4 & MT5):
- MaxDailyLossPercent = 5.0
- DailyWarningPercent = 60.0 (warning at roughly -3%)
- MaxOverallLossPercent = 10.0
- InitialBalanceMode = INIT_MANUAL_INPUT
- ManualInitialBalance = 10000.0
- EnableRiskPerTradeLimit = true
- MaxRiskPerTradePercent = 1.0
- EnableTotalOpenRiskLimit = true
- MaxTotalOpenRiskPercent = 3.0
- LockOnRiskLimitBreak = true
- EnableProjectedLossGuard = true
- ProjectedLossBufferPercent = 0.25
- BlockNewTradesOnProjectedGuard = true
- UsePropTimezone = true, set PropGMTOffsetHours to match prop server
- PropDayStartHour = 0, PropDayEndHour = 24
- CloseAllOnDailyHit = true
- CloseAllOnOverallHit = true
- AutoBlockNewTrades = true
Example 2 – Monitoring only (no automatic closing)
If you want visual monitoring + alerts only, without automatic close/delete or account locks:
- Configure your limits as usual.
- Then set:
- CloseAllOnDailyHit = false
- CloseAllOnOverallHit = false
- LockOnRiskLimitBreak = false
- AutoBlockNewTrades = false
- BlockNewTradesOnProjectedGuard = false
- EnableSpreadGuard = false
In this mode, Prop Guardian becomes a monitoring + notification dashboard. You keep full manual control over closing trades.
Example 3 – Add challenge-progress tracking
If you also want the panel to show a challenge-style progress summary:
- EnableEvaluationTracker = true
- EvaluationProfitTargetPercent = 8.0
- MinimumTradingDaysTarget = 5
- MinimumProfitableDaysTarget = 3
- ProfitableDayMinPercent = 0.5
This does not enforce a prop firm’s official pass/fail logic. It only gives you a local progress view on the chart.
7. About Strategy Tester / Backtesting
Prop Guardian Risk Manager is a utility, not an entry/exit trading system. This means:
- You can use the Strategy Tester on MT4/MT5 to:
- Check that the panel appears and updates
- Verify state transitions (NORMAL → WARNING → HEADROOM / LOCKED)
- Verify that managed exposure is closed/deleted when limits are hit in simple test conditions
- However, the tester’s performance statistics are not meaningful for this product, because it does not have its own strategy.
Always judge the product by how well it enforces your own risk rules, not by backtest profit statistics.
8. Global Variables (advanced usage)
Both MT4 and MT5 builds write key values into terminal Global Variables using an account-specific prefix, not just a single generic PG_ prefix. In practice, names look like:
- MT5: PG_MT5_[login]_[server]_...
- MT4: PG_MT4_[account]_[server]_...
Typical exported keys include:
- STATE – current guardian state (enum as number)
- DAILY_LOSS_PCT – current daily drawdown (%)
- OVERALL_LOSS_PCT – current overall drawdown (%)
- TOTAL_OPEN_RISK_PCT – current total open risk (%)
- LOCKED – 1 if locked, 0 if not
- RISK_LOCK_ACTIVE – 1 if the current daily-style lock came from a risk-limit breach
- MANUAL_OVERRIDE_DAILY – 1 if daily manual override is active
- MANUAL_OVERRIDE_OVERALL – 1 if overall manual override is active
- LOCK_UNTIL – daily lock expiry time
- DAY_START_TIME
- DAY_START_EQUITY
- DAY_HIGH_EQUITY
- INITIAL_BALANCE
Advanced users can read these from their own EAs or scripts to build custom dashboards or additional logic on top of Prop Guardian.
9. Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Does Prop Guardian open trades?
No. It never opens trades on either MT4 or MT5. It only monitors, blocks, closes and deletes according to your settings.
Q2: Can this guarantee I pass a prop challenge?
No. It is a risk-management helper, not a guarantee. Different prop firms may calculate drawdown, profitable days and violations slightly differently. Always understand your firm’s rules and configure Prop Guardian with a safety margin.
Q3: Why is the risk per trade 0% for some trades?
Most often because those trades have no Stop Loss. It can also happen when a Stop Loss is already beyond breakeven / in locked-in profit territory. Risk-per-trade, total-open-risk and projected-loss computations only use SL-based downside risk. Daily and overall drawdown protections still work because they use account equity.
Q4: What exactly does the projected guard do?
It estimates your current worst-case daily and overall drawdown by combining current used loss with current open SL-based risk. If that projected figure gets too close to your hard limit (optionally minus a safety buffer), the EA can block new managed trades/orders immediately.
Q5: Does the spread guard block pending orders too?
Not directly as a “pending-order rule”. Spread guard is checked when new market exposure appears. Pending orders are mainly controlled by lock state, session rules and the projected headroom guard.
Q6: What happens if my terminal or VPS restarts?
The EA stores its key state in Global Variables and restores it on the next run. This includes daily state, lock state, lock expiry and manual override state. If a daily lock should have expired while the terminal was offline, it will be auto-cleared when the EA starts again. The account-specific Global Variable prefix also helps avoid collisions between different accounts or servers.
Q7: Does symbol filter make daily / overall drawdown symbol-specific?
No. Daily and overall drawdown remain account-level because they are based on account equity. The symbol filter mainly affects active trade management, open-risk calculations and evaluation tracking.
10. Final notes & disclaimer
- Prop Guardian Risk Manager is a risk-management utility, not a trading strategy.
- It does not guarantee profits, evaluation passes or account safety. It is a tool to help you respect limits.
- You are responsible for understanding and configuring all parameters in line with your broker’s or prop firm’s rules.
- The author is not responsible for any financial loss or rule violation caused by incorrect settings or misuse.
For questions, suggestions or support, you can contact the author via the MQL5 profile: https://www.mql5.com/en/users/thehung21/
