A daily-loss setting needs a definition: balance, equity, open exposure and reset time
A daily-loss value of 2% looks precise. It still leaves several questions: 2% of what, measured over which day, including which positions, and followed by what action?
Those details matter before you rely on an EA's risk control. This guide gives you a worksheet for checking the definition and collecting evidence. The percentage below is an illustration, not a recommended setting or a promised loss limit.
1. Identify the measurement and starting reference
MT5 exposes balance, credit, current account profit and equity as separate values in the account's deposit currency. Copy both balance and equity at the documented reset boundary; recording only one can hide an important difference.
A calculation based on closed trading results can miss losses still carried by open positions. An equity comparison includes their current effect, but its result also depends on the starting reference. Day-start balance, day-start equity and a moving peak are different baselines.
Read the exact definition for your installed edition. Record the numerator, denominator, units and trigger comparison. Does the control use a currency amount or a percentage? Is the boundary reached at or above the threshold, or only after it is exceeded?
Official account properties:
Account Properties — MQL5 Reference
2. Work through one deliberately simple example
This is a hypothetical account snapshot, not a Redline result, backtest or live observation. Assume no open positions at the reset, no credit, no deposits or withdrawals, and all booked costs already included in balance, with no additional blocked funds or unbooked commission adjustments.
Starting balance and equity: 10,000 account-currency units
Net closed trading loss since reset: 120
Current balance: 9,880
Remaining floating contribution from open positions: -130
Current equity: 9,750
Illustrative threshold: 2% of the fixed 10,000 reference = 200
A balance-decrease calculation gives:
10,000 - 9,880 = 120, or 1.2% of the reference.
An equity-decrease calculation gives:
10,000 - 9,750 = 250, or 2.5% of the reference.
The same snapshot is below 200 using balance and above 200 using equity. The arithmetic does not establish which calculation your EA uses, when it evaluates it, or whether any closing request succeeds.
MT5's account-state explanation covers the components of equity:
Account state and trade history — MetaTrader 5 Help
If positions already exist at the reset, retain their floating result too. A comparison with day-start equity measures a change from that equity snapshot; it need not equal today's closed loss plus today's remaining floating loss. Do not silently substitute a different baseline.
3. Separate account scope from strategy scope
Several EAs and manual trades can share one account. Account equity is not automatically the result of one magic number. Conversely, a counter filtered to one strategy does not represent all account exposure.
Record whether the control covers the whole account, one EA, selected symbols, or an internal virtual ledger. An internal ledger needs its own definition and reconciliation; its balance may differ from the trading account's balance.
For a history-based calculation, check how commission, swap and fees are treated, including charges on entry deals and separate commission operations. Summing only profit on closing deals can omit costs. Separate deposits, withdrawals, credit and corrections from trading results according to the documented rule; funding changes can distort a simple balance comparison.
MQL5 defines separate deal fields for profit, commission, swap and fees, plus deal types and magic numbers:
Deal Properties — MQL5 Reference
4. Define the reset and response
Write the reset time with its clock reference. Broker-server midnight and your computer's midnight can differ. MQL5's TimeCurrent uses the last known server quote time, independent of the computer's clock settings:
TimeCurrent — MQL5 Reference
Ask what happens if quotes pause, the terminal restarts, or a position crosses the reset. Preserve logs and the reference values around that event. A restart should not be assumed to reset or preserve a counter without evidence.
Then identify the response: block new entries, cancel pending orders, request position closure, or latch a halt until a later reset. These are distinct actions. A display saying that a threshold was reached does not prove that positions closed.
For developers, OrderSend returning true alone does not establish completed execution. Reconcile the result and subsequent order/deal records:
OrderSend — MQL5 Reference
5. Keep a copyable definition record
EA name, installed version and saved inputs:
Tester, demo or live context:
Account currency and observation timestamps:
Measured value and scope:
Starting reference and percentage denominator:
Reset time, timezone and carry-over treatment:
Profit, commission, swap and fee treatment:
Funding and credit adjustments:
Threshold comparison and evaluation timing:
Action requested, order/deal evidence and restart behaviour:
Confirmed facts and unanswered questions:
Use retained historical-test or demo records to check the documented behaviour. Label each evidence type clearly and redact account identifiers before sharing. Never share login credentials.
I'm Jarrod Emery, the developer behind ExpertCodeFX. The current EcFx XAU Redline 1.152 Market listing describes a 3.0% virtual daily equity-loss setting for its trend complement and separate internal accounting. That scope differs from the whole-account example above. Compare the worksheet with the documentation and your installed inputs; confirm the formula, reset and response before relying on a threshold:
EcFx XAU Redline — MQL5 Market
Which detail is hardest to confirm in your setup: the starting reference, the reset clock or the action after the threshold?
Trading can result in loss. A risk-control threshold is not a guaranteed maximum loss; execution conditions and monitoring delays can affect the outcome.
