Native Depth Viewer
- Utilities
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Ubaldo Barranco Jimenez
I’m a trader and developer focused on building practical tools for MetaTrader 5.
I create Expert Advisors, indicators, trading systems, and custom tools designed to make trading more systematic, efficient, and easier to manage. - Version: 1.0
Native Depth Viewer renders the order book of the current symbol directly on the chart: ask ladder, bid ladder, spread, and bid/ask volume imbalance. MarketBookAdd, OnBookEvent and MarketBookGet, the functions this indicator is built on, have no equivalent in MQL4. This reading is native to MetaTrader 5 only.
WHAT IT SHOWS
When your broker does publish a real book for the symbol:
- Ask ladder (sell side), worst price first, reading top-down like a real DOM
- Bid ladder (buy side), best price first
- Current spread, in points and pips, computed from the book's own best bid/ask
- Bid volume, ask volume, and the imbalance between them as a percentage
When it does not:
- A plain status panel stating there is no book data, the reason, and that this is a broker feed limitation, not a setting to fix in the tool
WHY THIS IS NOT AVAILABLE ON MT4
MQL4 never had an order book API of any kind. MetaTrader 5's MarketBookAdd subscribes to the book, OnBookEvent fires when it updates, MarketBookGet reads it. None of that exists in the MQL4 language. A tool like this could only ever be built on MT5.
HOW TO READ IT
A wide, one-sided ladder (far more resting size on bids than asks, or the reverse) can signal near-term pressure in that direction. A near-zero imbalance with tight levels on both sides usually means a calm, liquid moment. None of this replaces your own judgment, it is raw information, not a signal to act on automatically.
WHAT IT DOES NOT DO
This tool never places, modifies or closes an order. It is read only. It also never invents a ladder: if the broker sends nothing, or stops sending updates, the panel falls back to the no-data message instead of freezing on a stale, misleading picture.
REQUIREMENTS
- Works on any symbol, any timeframe (the book is symbol-wide, not tied to a chart period)
- Your broker's server must actually stream a multi-level book for the symbol you attach this to. Check this first: open the symbol in Market Watch, right-click, Depth of Market. If the "Trade" volume column is empty for every row, your broker is not publishing real depth for that symbol, and no tool, including this one, can show what was never sent.
INPUTS
- Panel theme (Auto / Dark / Light), panel corner, panel X/Y offset
- Book levels per side (default 5)
- Seconds to wait before reporting no data, and to detect a feed that has gone quiet after previously working
PART OF THE NATIVE SERIES
Four free tools that surface data MetaTrader 5 already has but does not show:
- Native Session Volume — volume split by trading session
- Native Spread Monitor — the spread you actually pay, hour by hour
- Native Depth Viewer — the order book, on the chart
- Native Account Stats — your closed trades, by symbol, hour and weekday
All four are free, read only, and share the same panel.
DISCLAIMER: depth of market is published by your broker, not by this tool. Most retail forex brokers do not publish a real book, only a synthetic bid/ask ladder for one-click trading. Check Market Watch > Depth of Market for this symbol first: an empty Trade/volume column means your broker sends none. This panel says so plainly, instead of faking a ladder.
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