This guide covers the common input parameters shared across all TickStack grid-based Expert Advisors, including Gold Matrix, ChronomaX, Aussie Victor, Neural Nexus, Cable Brain and other grid systems.
While each EA features unique entry models and grid management algorithms tailored to specific market conditions and instruments, they all share the same front-end interface and input parameters. This unified design allows you to apply consistent risk management, money management, and filtering settings across your entire portfolio of grid-based strategies.
The core differences between each EA lie in:
• Entry Logic: Each EA uses proprietary algorithms to identify optimal market entry points based on price action, volatility, trend, or other technical factors specific to its design.
• Grid Management: The spacing, timing, and conditions for adding grid positions vary between EAs to suit different market behaviors and trading styles.
• Optimization: Each EA has been optimized for specific instruments or market conditions, though the input parameters remain consistent across all systems.
Below you'll find detailed explanations of all input parameters. These settings give you complete control over risk management, position sizing, news filtering, trading hours, and safety features across all your grid-based trading systems.
GENERAL INPUTS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Use Symbol Input | Set to false if you want the EA to trade on the chart symbol it is attached to. Set to true to specify a different symbol via the ticker input below. |
| GBPUSD ticker + suffix | Enter the symbol ticker as it appears in your broker's Market Watch. Include any prefix or suffix (e.g., XAUUSD, XAUUSD.m, #XAUUSD). |
| Minutes between debug prints | If no new positions are opened, the EA will print status updates to the journal at this interval (in minutes). |
| Enable spread filter? | Set to true if you want to stop the EA from trading when spreads exceed the maximum threshold defined below. |
| Max spread in points for entry | The maximum allowed spread (in points) for the EA to open new positions when the spread filter is enabled. |
| EA comment | This comment will appear in the trade log with each deal. You can customize it for identification purposes. |
| Hide Entry Model Comments | Set to true to hide entry model comments from appearing in position comments. |
| EA magic number | The unique identifier for this EA instance. Ensure you don't have other EAs on the same account using the same magic number. |
| Allow buy positions | Set to true to allow the EA to start new buy grids. Setting to false will prevent new buy grids but won't affect existing buy positions. |
| Allow sell positions | Set to true to allow the EA to start new sell grids. Setting to false will prevent new sell grids but won't affect existing sell positions. |
| Allow Hedging | Set to false if you need to comply with FIFO (First In First Out) requirements from certain prop firms or regulators. |
| Set file used | Displays the current set file being used for the EA's configuration. |
MONEY MANAGEMENT
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Maximum positions per currency | Limits exposure to a single currency by counting existing positions on your account. For example, if set to 2 and you already have 2 long USD positions, the EA won't open additional sell positions on any USD pair. |
| Print currency checks in journal? | Set to true to see detailed currency exposure checks printed in the journal for debugging purposes. |
| Close grid on opposite signal? | When enabled, the EA will close all buy positions if a sell signal is generated, and vice versa. |
STARTING LOT SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Risk Model | Choose 'Fixed Lot' to always use the same lot size, or 'AutoLot' for dynamic lot sizing that grows with your account balance. |
| Starting lot | The lot size used for initial positions when 'Fixed Lot' is selected in Risk Model. |
| AutoLot level | Determines position sizing for AutoLot mode. Value of 1 = 0.01 lots per $1,000 account balance. Risk levels:• 0.1 = Low Risk (7-15% p.a.) - min. balance $10k• 0.3 = Moderate Risk (10-25% p.a.) - min. balance $7k• 0.5 = High Risk (40-100% p.a.) - min. balance $5k• 1 = Aggressive Risk (80-120% p.a.) - min. balance $1k• 1.5 = Degen Risk (100-200% p.a.) - min. balance $1k• >1.5 = YOLO (150-300% p.a.) - min. balance $1kNote: 1:500 or higher leverage is advised. Use a cent account if you don't have the minimum balance ($10 = $1k on cent account). |
LOT MULTIPLIER SETTINGS
LINEAR LOT MULTIPLIER
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Use linear only | Set to true to use only linear lot progression and ignore exponential multiplier settings. |
| Use ATR-based distance | When enabled, the EA uses Average True Range to dynamically calculate grid spacing instead of static pip distances. |
| Pips distance for lot increase | The static pip distance between grid levels when ATR-based distance is disabled. |
| Lot amount to increase per distance | The amount to add to the lot size for each grid level when using linear progression. |
ATR SETTINGS FOR LINEAR LOT MULTIPLIER
| Input Parameter | Description |
| ATR timeframe for lot multiplier | The timeframe used to calculate ATR for dynamic grid spacing (e.g., 1 Hour, 1 Day). |
| ATR period for lot multiplier | The number of bars/candles to use in the ATR calculation (typically 3-20). |
| ATR multiplier | Multiplies the ATR value to determine grid spacing. Value of 0.1 means 10% of ATR for each grid level increase. |
| Show lot multiplier ATR debug prints | Set to true to see ATR calculations and grid spacing information in the journal. |
EXPONENTIAL LOT MULTIPLIER
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Lot *factor - linear growth | Additional linear multiplication factor for grid volume. Higher values create more aggressive lot growth. |
| ExF | Exponential multiplication factor for grid positions. Values >1 create exponential growth, =1 creates linear growth, <1 creates slower growth. |
| Volatility Timeframe | The timeframe used to measure market volatility for adaptive lot sizing. |
| Volatility Lookback (bars) | Number of bars to analyze when calculating market volatility. |
| Volatility Weight (0-100) | Percentage weight given to volatility in lot size calculations. 0 = ignore volatility, 100 = fully adaptive to volatility. |
| Baseline Period Multiplier | Base multiplier value used in the lot sizing calculation formula. |
MAX LOT SIZE
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Max Lot per 1K balance | Maximum lot size allowed per $1,000 of account balance to prevent over-exposure. |
| FixedLot: final size / AutoLot: base size | Sets the maximum lot size. For Fixed Lot this is the absolute maximum; for AutoLot this is multiplied by the AutoLot level. |
TP SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Show TP calculation debug prints | Set to true to see take profit calculations printed in the journal for debugging. |
| Money Target per 0.01 starting lot | The profit target in account currency per 0.01 lot of the initial position size. For example, 7.0 means the EA targets $7 profit for every 0.01 lot of the starting position. |
COMMISSION COST SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Include commission costs in TP calculation? | When enabled, the EA factors in commission costs when calculating take profit levels to ensure net profit targets are met. |
| Broker commission charging method | Select how your broker charges commissions:• 'Half on entry, half on exit' - Most common, commission split between opening and closing• Other methods may be available based on broker specifications |
SWAP COST SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Include swap costs in TP calculation? | When enabled, the EA accounts for overnight swap/rollover costs in the take profit calculation. |
| Broker swap charging method | Select your broker's swap charging method:• 'Full swap on open position at rollover' - Entire swap charged when position rolls over• Other methods may vary by broker |
GRID SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Show grid debug prints in journal | Set to true to see detailed grid management information printed in the journal. |
| Minimum minutes between grid positions | The minimum time interval (in minutes) that must pass before the EA adds another grid position. |
| Enable Grid? | Set to false to disable grid trading entirely. When disabled, the EA uses only stop loss orders. |
| SL in pips | Stop loss distance in pips, used only when grid is disabled. |
| Max number of positions in a grid | The maximum number of positions allowed in a single grid sequence before the EA stops adding new positions. |
| Use max available margin | When enabled and there's insufficient margin for the calculated lot size, the EA will use the maximum lot size that available margin allows. |
NEWS FILTER SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Allow trading on NFP days? | Set to false to prevent trading on Non-Farm Payroll days when high volatility is expected. |
| Enable news filter (for initial positions)? | When enabled, prevents the EA from opening new grids during specified time windows around news events. |
| Filter only selected news? | When true, only the news events you select from the list below will trigger trading restrictions. Unselected news won't affect trading. |
| Disable grid positions during news events? | When enabled, prevents the EA from adding grid positions during news events, even if an initial position is already open. |
| Number of days to load | Number of days (past and future) for which to display news events and vertical lines on the chart. Past events show in gray, future selected events in red, unselected in orange. |
| Print news info in journal? | Set to true to see news-related information printed in the journal. |
| Minutes before un-selected news to stop trading | How many minutes before un-selected news events to stop opening new positions. |
| Minutes after un-selected news to start trading | How many minutes after un-selected news events to resume opening new positions. |
| Minutes before selected news to stop trading | How many minutes before selected news events to stop opening new positions. |
| Minutes after selected news to start trading | How many minutes after selected news events to resume opening new positions. |
| Minutes before to stop grid | How many minutes before news events to stop adding grid positions. |
| Minutes after to start grid | How many minutes after news events to resume adding grid positions. |
The following news events can be selected/deselected:
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Select NFP | Non-Farm Payrolls - Major US employment report |
| Select CPI | Consumer Price Index - Inflation indicator |
| Select FOMC Meetings/Statements | Federal Open Market Committee decisions |
| Select PPI | Producer Price Index |
| Select Retail Sales | US Retail Sales data |
| Select GDP | Gross Domestic Product |
| Select Fed Interest Rate Decision | Federal Reserve interest rate announcements |
| Select Unemployment Rate | US Unemployment Rate |
| Select Initial Jobless Claims | Weekly unemployment claims |
| Select Average Hourly Earnings | Wage growth indicator |
| Select JOLTS Job Openings | Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey |
| Select Fed Chair Speaks | Federal Reserve Chairman speeches |
| Select ECB President Speaks | European Central Bank President speeches |
| Select ECB Press Conference | ECB policy press conferences |
| Select ECB Interest Rate Decision | ECB interest rate decisions |
TIME SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Trade on Monday | Enable/disable trading on Mondays. |
| Trade on Tuesday | Enable/disable trading on Tuesdays. |
| Trade on Wednesday | Enable/disable trading on Wednesdays. |
| Trade on Thursday | Enable/disable trading on Thursdays. |
| Trade on Friday | Enable/disable trading on Fridays. |
| Using Trade Hour | Enable time-based trading restrictions. When enabled, the EA will only open new grids during specified hours. |
| Start Hour (Tuesday to Friday) | Opening hour for trading session from Tuesday through Friday (24-hour format). |
| Last Hour (Monday to Thursday) | Closing hour for trading session from Monday through Thursday (24-hour format). |
| Start Hour (Monday) | Opening hour for trading session on Mondays (24-hour format). |
| Last Hour (Friday) | Closing hour for trading session on Fridays (24-hour format). |
CLOSE END OF DAY
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Close positions at hour? | Enable to automatically close all positions at a specific hour each day. |
| Hour to close all positions | The hour (24-hour format) at which to close all positions if the above setting is enabled. |
XMAS HOLIDAY FILTER
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Enable Christmas Holiday Filter | Prevents trading during the Christmas holiday period. |
| First Trading Day (DD.MM) | First day to resume trading after holiday period (format: day.month, e.g., 05.01). |
| Last Trading Day (DD.MM) | Last day to trade before holiday period (format: day.month, e.g., 20.12). |
SAFETY SETTINGS
STOP LOSS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Enable stop loss? | Set to true to enable automatic position closure when maximum drawdown is reached. |
| Stop loss at percentage or money drawdown? | Choose between 'PercentageDD' for percentage-based stop loss or 'MoneyDD' for fixed account currency amount. |
| Drawdown money for stop loss | Maximum loss in account currency before closing all positions (used when MoneyDD is selected). |
| Drawdown percentage for stop loss | Maximum loss as percentage of account balance before closing all positions (used when PercentageDD is selected). |
EMERGENCY STOP OUT PROTECTION
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Enable emergency stop out protection | Activates emergency margin protection that closes positions before broker stop-out occurs. |
| Margin cushion above broker stop out (%) | Percentage of margin to maintain above broker's stop-out level. For example, 10% means close positions when margin level is 10% above broker stop-out. |
| Check interval in seconds | How often (in seconds) to check margin levels for emergency protection. |
| Set to 0 to disable, or 1-2 for aggressive | Aggressiveness level: 0=disabled, 1-2=very aggressive monitoring, higher values=less aggressive. |
| Show debug prints in journal | Set to true to see emergency protection status updates in the journal. |
DRAWDOWN ALERTS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Enable drawdown alerts | Enable notifications when drawdown reaches specified thresholds. |
| Maximum allowed drawdown percentage | Drawdown percentage threshold that triggers an alert to the user. |
| Alert interval in minutes | Minimum time between consecutive drawdown alert notifications. |
PROP FIRM SETTINGS
PROP FIRM COMPLIANCE
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Enable random time delay for entries | Adds random delay to entry execution to comply with some prop firm rules against automated trading detection. |
| Maximum delay in milliseconds (0-1000) | Maximum random delay in milliseconds before opening positions (if enabled above). |
PROP FIRM - STOP EA AT WIN
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Enable prop firm challenge win | Automatically closes all positions and stops trading when target equity is reached. Useful for prop firm challenges. |
| Close positions and stop trading at this equity | The equity/profit target at which to close all positions and disable the EA. |
INFO PANEL SETTINGS
| Input Parameter | Description |
| Show info panel? | Display the information panel on the chart showing EA status and statistics. Set to false to improve performance in strategy tester. |
| Number of days to calculate trading statistics | Number of days of trading history to use for statistics displayed in the info panel. Requires minimum number of trades before some stats display (shows N.A. until enough data collected). |
| Panel X position | Horizontal position of the info panel on the chart (in pixels from left edge). |
| Panel Y position | Vertical position of the info panel on the chart (in pixels from top edge). |
| Space between header and first text line | Vertical spacing in pixels between the panel header and first information line. |
| Space between labels and values | Horizontal spacing in pixels between parameter labels and their values. |
| Width of the black background | Width of the info panel background in pixels. |
| Height of the black background | Height of the info panel background in pixels. |
| Show HL lines? | Display horizontal lines on chart showing price levels where the EA would consider buy or sell positions. Note: Not all breaks of these lines result in positions due to additional filters. |
| Draw price expectancy lines? | Display price prediction/expectancy lines on the chart showing projected price movements. |
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