Prop Guardian Risk Manager – Full User Guide (MT4 & MT5)
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Prop Guardian Risk Manager – Full User Guide (MT4 & MT5)

22 November 2025, 08:04
The Hung Ngo
The Hung Ngo
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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.

This tool does not open trades and does not implement any trading strategy. It runs as a chart-attached Expert Advisor (Utility) that:

  • Monitors daily drawdown based on equity
  • Monitors overall drawdown from your initial balance
  • Calculates risk per trade from your Stop Loss
  • Calculates total open risk across all positions/orders
  • Can close positions/orders and block new trades when your limits are hit
  • Shows a clear on-chart panel with status & key metrics
  • Publishes 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 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 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 are provided so you can test the behaviour on demo accounts with live market data.
    – These trial files are attached at the end of this article. Please use them only on demo accounts.

All builds share the same logic and settings. The only differences are technical (MT4 “orders” vs MT5 “positions”, etc.).

2. Installation & first attach

2.1. Common preparation

  1. Download the product from the MQL5 Market and make sure it is installed in your terminal.
  2. Open your MetaTrader terminal (MT4 or MT5).
  3. 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.
  4. 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

  1. Open any chart on the account you want to protect (symbol does not matter for the logic).
  2. Drag & drop Prop Guardian Risk Manager onto the chart.
  3. In the EA settings:
    • On the Common tab, allow Algo Trading for this EA.
    • On the Inputs tab, configure parameters (see sections below).
  4. Click OK. Make sure the main “Algo Trading” button is green.

2.3. Attaching on MT4

  1. Open any chart on the account you want to protect.
  2. Drag & drop Prop Guardian Risk Manager onto the chart.
  3. In the EA properties:
    • On the Common tab, allow live trading and allow DLL (not required, but common setup).
    • On the Inputs tab, configure parameters.
  4. Click OK. Make sure the “AutoTrading” button is enabled (green).

Once running, you will see a panel 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 style of panel appears on both platforms. It contains:

  • STATE – the guardian state:
    • NORMAL – within all configured limits
    • WARNING – daily loss reached the warning threshold
    • LOCKED (DAILY) – daily loss limit hit; account locked until prop day end
    • LOCKED (OVERALL) – overall loss limit hit; account locked until manually unlocked (if allowed)
    If trading session filtering is enabled and current time is outside the allowed session, the state text will also indicate this.
  • Daily – current daily P/L in %, plus the daily loss limit.
  • Overall – current overall P/L in %, plus the overall loss limit.
  • Total Risk – total open risk in %, plus your configured maximum total risk.
  • Prop day ends in – countdown (hh:mm:ss) until the prop day ends according to your time settings.
  • Unlock buttons (if enabled):
    • Unlock Daily – clears the daily lock state.
    • Unlock Overall – clears the overall lock state (if allowed in inputs).

The background color and STATE label change based on the current state (normal, warning, daily lock, overall lock), 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 server time (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 to lock until end of day and to display the countdown.

When a new prop day is detected, daily stats are reset and daily 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 (e.g. -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 day.

This allows you to adapt to how your prop firm defines daily loss (from day start vs from daily peak).

You also set a DailyWarningPercent:

Warning threshold = MaxDailyLossPercent × DailyWarningPercent ÷ 100

When daily loss reaches this warning threshold (more negative than the warning level), 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/orders with a valid Stop Loss:

  • On MT5, it simulates what would happen if the position hits its Stop Loss and converts that potential loss into a percentage of your equity.
  • On MT4, it does the same idea using price distance, tick value and lot size, and then also expresses it as a percentage of equity.

From this, the EA derives:

  • Risk per position / order (%)
  • TotalOpenRiskPercent – the sum of risk for all monitored positions/orders

Important: if you do not set a Stop Loss on a trade, Prop Guardian treats its risk as 0% in the “risk per trade” and “total open risk” metrics. Your daily / overall loss protection still works, because those are equity-based, but you lose the benefit of per-trade risk control.

4.5. 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 trade opened outside the allowed session will be closed immediately (if symbol is in scope).

Outside of the allowed session, the panel will also show an “Outside Session” note in the state line.

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 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 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 trade’s risk is checked against MaxRiskPerTradePercent.
  • MaxRiskPerTradePercent
    Maximum allowed risk per trade (in % of equity).
  • EnableTotalOpenRiskLimit
    When enabled, total open risk is checked against MaxTotalOpenRiskPercent.
  • MaxTotalOpenRiskPercent
    Maximum allowed total risk from all open trades combined.
  • LockOnRiskLimitBreak
    When enabled, if any risk limit is breached (per trade or total open risk), the EA can:
    • Lock the account (as a daily lock)
    • Close all open trades in scope

5.5. 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, closes any new trades opened outside the session.

5.6. Lock Behavior

  • CloseAllOnDailyHit – close all trades in scope when the daily loss limit is hit.
  • CloseAllOnOverallHit – close all trades in scope when the overall loss limit is hit.
  • AutoBlockNewTrades – when locked, any new trades in scope are immediately closed.
  • AllowManualUnlockDaily – show and enable the “Unlock Daily” button on the panel.
  • AllowManualUnlockOverall – show and enable the “Unlock Overall” button on the panel.

5.7. Symbol Filter

  • UseSymbolFilter – when enabled, only trades whose symbol is in SymbolList are managed.
  • SymbolList – comma-separated symbols, e.g. XAUUSD,EURUSD,GBPUSD.

5.8. 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).

5.9. 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
  • 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 + alerts only, without any automatic closing or locking:

  • Configure your limits as usual.
  • Then set:
    • CloseAllOnDailyHit = false
    • CloseAllOnOverallHit = false
    • LockOnRiskLimitBreak = false
    • AutoBlockNewTrades = false

In this mode, Prop Guardian becomes a monitoring + notification dashboard. You keep 100% manual control over closing trades.

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 → LOCKED)
    • Verify that positions/orders are closed when limits are hit (with simulated trades)
  • However, the tester’s performance results (profit factor, expected payoff, etc.) are not meaningful for this product, because it does not have its own strategy.

Always judge the product by how well it enforces your risk rules, not by backtest statistics.

8. Global Variables (advanced usage)

Both MT4 and MT5 builds write key values into terminal Global Variables with prefix PG_, for example:

  • PG_STATE – current guardian state (enum as number)
  • PG_DAILY_LOSS_PCT – current daily loss (%)
  • PG_OVERALL_LOSS_PCT – current overall loss (%)
  • PG_TOTAL_OPEN_RISK_PCT – total open risk (%)
  • PG_LOCKED – 1 if locked, 0 if not
  • PG_LOCK_UNTIL – lock expiry time (for daily lock)
  • PG_DAY_START_EQUITY
  • PG_DAY_HIGH_EQUITY
  • PG_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, closes, and blocks based on 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 and breaches slightly differently. You should always understand your firm’s rules and configure Prop Guardian with some safety margin.

Q3: Why is the risk per trade 0% for some trades?

Most often because those trades have no Stop Loss. Risk-per-trade and total-open-risk computations only consider trades with SL. Daily and overall loss protections still work, as they use account equity.

Q4: Do I need separate licenses for MT4 and MT5?

MT4 and MT5 are different platforms with different builds. Please check the Market page for licensing details and which platform your purchase covers.

Q5: What happens if my terminal or VPS restarts?

The EA stores its key state (prop day start, equities, lock state) in Global Variables. On restart, it restores the state if it is still the same prop day. If a daily lock should have expired while the terminal was offline, it will be auto-unlocked on the next run.

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/seller