EA settings reference

Use this reference to understand the PineConnector Expert Advisor (EA) inputs in MetaTrader. Select the chart with the EA attached, press F7, and open Inputs.

You do not need to change every setting. Start with the setting that controls the behaviour you want, then test the change on a demo account.

What shapes the trade request

1. Your alert

   Supplies the command and message values.

2. The receiving EA

   Applies its input sources, units and trading rules.

3. Your broker

   Accepts or rejects the resulting request under its trading conditions.

Match the reference to your setup

This page covers the self-hosted MetaTrader EA settings in the published guide. Labels and available options can vary by EA version. PineConnector Edge manages its hosted EA separately; use the Edge guide for the controls available there.

The sections for risk=, sl=, tp= and pending= describe those specific, setting-dependent parameters. For explicit parameters such as vol_dollar= or sl_pips=, follow their own syntax reference.

Find a setting

I want to change…	Go to
The connection’s destination ID	License ID
How a message’s size, stop or entry value is interpreted	Parameter interpretation
Whether the alert or EA supplies SL, TP and Risk	Signal or EA inputs
Repeated entries, reversals or position limits	Trading behaviour
What appears on the chart	Dashboard
Daily or cumulative profit/loss controls	Account protection
Which positions the EA can manage	Magic Number and Magic Restriction
Trading hours or broker symbols	Advanced and connection settings
Analytics, diagnostic logs or updates	Maintenance settings

See the settings window from the published guide

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Original published screenshot of MT5 EA v3.51.1. Use the values in your own EA; the screenshot is an interface reference, not a recommended configuration.

Original published screenshot of MT5 EA v3.51.1. Use the values in your own EA; the screenshot is an interface reference, not a recommended configuration.Open original Close Esc

License ID

Enter your PineConnector License ID from Portal Connections. The EA uses it to connect to PineConnector. Your alert messages must use the intended destination ID as well.

Do not use your broker’s account login in this field. If several accounts share the ID, alerts to that ID can reach all of them. See Account and licence questions.

Parameter interpretation

Check the units first

These inputs determine what the corresponding values in an alert message mean. A number such as 1 does not have a universal unit: its meaning depends on the parameter and setting.

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Published Inputs window with the interpretation group highlighted. Enlarge to locate these controls.

Published Inputs window with the interpretation group highlighted. Enlarge to locate these controls.Open original Close Esc

Target Type

Controls sl= and tp=.

Option	Meaning	Example
Pips — documented default	Distance from the entry price for a new order; the guide describes current market price for newsltp… modifications.	For a EURUSD buy at 1.0567, sl=12 places the stop 12 pips below, at 1.0555.
Price	The exact target price.	sl=1.12345 requests a stop at 1.12345.
Percentage	Percentage distance from the entry price.	A buy at $20,000 with sl=1 places the stop 1% below: $20,000 − $200 = $19,800.

For non-FX instruments, check how the EA and broker interpret a pip. Do not assume that sl=10 on an index means ten whole index points.

A TradingView price can differ from your broker's price

An exact-price target may be invalid or too close to the market on the broker account. Check the broker price and stop-distance rules before using Price mode. Verify the actual stop and take profit after a demo test.

Volume Type

Controls risk= and the order’s lot size.

Option	How risk= is interpreted	Stop loss needed for this calculation?
Lots — documented default	Direct lot size. risk=1 requests 1 lot.	No
Dollar Amount	Cash loss amount in the account currency; the EA calculates volume using the stop distance.	Yes
Percentage of Balance, Lots	A balance-based lot calculation. The guide’s example: risk=1 gives 1 lot on a $10,000 balance, 0.1 lot on $1,000, or 10 lots on $100,000.	No
Percentage of Balance, Margin	Margin to use as a percentage of balance. On a $1,000 balance, risk=1 targets approximately $10 of margin.	No
Percentage of Balance, Loss	Loss at the stop as a percentage of balance. On a $1,000 balance, risk=1 represents a $10 risk amount.	Yes
Percentage of Equity, Loss	Loss at the stop as a percentage of equity. On $1,000 equity, risk=1 represents a $10 risk amount.	Yes

For the loss-based modes, supply a stop loss through the source selected in Signal or EA inputs. The published examples use sl=. The calculation depends on that stop distance; a closer stop and a farther stop do not produce the same lot size for the same cash risk.

Example: with Dollar Amount selected, risk=10 on a USD account and a 15-pip stop is intended to size the position for approximately $10 loss at that stop. This is an estimate used for sizing, not a guaranteed maximum realised loss.

Pending Order Entry

Controls pending= for pending entries such as buylimit and sellstop.

Option	Meaning	Buy-limit example
Pips from Current Market Price — documented default	Distance from the market price when the alert is processed.	EURUSD at 1.2468 with pending=8 requests 1.2460.
Specified Price from TradingView Alert	Exact entry price.	pending=1.2460 requests that price.
Percentage from Current Market Price	Percentage distance from the current market price.	$20,000 with pending=1 requests $19,800.

Use a positive pending value. The order type determines the direction of the distance: a buy limit is below the market, while a buy stop is above it.

Stop-loss and take-profit placement for a pending order is relative to its pending entry, using the chosen Target Type. Exact-price pending entries also need to satisfy the broker’s price and minimum-distance rules.

Account Filter Basis

Controls the account metric checked by accfilter=. The published prose also calls this Account Filter Type.

Basis	Example threshold
Balance	accfilter=1000: compare balance with a threshold of 1,000.
Equity	accfilter=1000: compare equity with a threshold of 1,000.
Free Margin	accfilter=1000: compare free margin with a threshold of 1,000.
Margin Percentage	accfilter=200: compare margin level with a threshold of 200%.

Cash values use the account currency. Published references differ on whether a value exactly at the threshold passes. If that boundary matters, confirm the installed EA’s behavior with Support and a demo test, as described in the account-filter reference.

Margin-level display can be unusual when there are no open positions; confirm that case on your broker before relying on a margin-percentage filter.

Signal or EA inputs

Choose where the values come from

The Setting input chooses whether Stop Loss, Take Profit and Risk come from your alert, the EA inputs, or a mix. Target Type and Volume Type still determine their units.

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The highlighted group selects the input source and contains the EA values.

The highlighted group selects the input source and contains the EA values.Open original Close Esc

Setting

Option	SL and TP come from	Risk comes from
Signal Parameters Only	Alert message	Alert message
EA Parameters Only	EA input fields	EA input fields
SL/TP from EA, Risk from Signal	EA input fields	Alert message
SL/TP from Signal, Risk from EA	Alert message	EA input fields

Stop Loss, Take Profit and Risk inputs

Enter the values you want the EA to supply when the selected mode uses EA inputs. These can include decimal values. Interpret SL and TP using Target Type, and Risk using Volume Type.

One example across all four modes: assume the EA inputs are SL 10, TP 20, Risk 1, while the incoming message contains SL 15, TP 25, Risk 2.

Selected mode	Values used
Signal Parameters Only	SL 15, TP 25, Risk 2
EA Parameters Only	SL 10, TP 20, Risk 1
SL/TP from EA, Risk from Signal	SL 10, TP 20, Risk 2
SL/TP from Signal, Risk from EA	SL 15, TP 25, Risk 1

If a change to your alert appears to do nothing, check this setting before changing the message again. The relevant value may be coming from the EA instead.

Trading behaviour

Position scope depends on Magic Restriction. With it off, several features can include positions opened manually or by other EAs.

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General trading controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.

General trading controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.Open original Close Esc

Pyramiding

Controls repeated entries for the same symbol and direction.

Option	Behaviour described in the guide
On	New signals can open additional positions, subject to other limits and broker processing.
On — If Symbol & Direction in Profit	A new entry requires the combined existing positions for that symbol and direction to be in profit.
Off — Either 1 Buy OR 1 Sell	One position direction per symbol. An existing buy blocks another buy and also a sell.
Off — Only 1 Buy AND 1 Sell	Allows one buy and one sell on the symbol, but not a second position in either direction.

Close on Reverse

Controls what happens when a signal is opposite to positions already open on the symbol.

Option	Existing opposite positions	New position from this signal
On — Hedging	Close them.	Open the new direction.
On — Netting	Close them.	Do not open the new direction.
Off	Leave them unaffected by this feature.	Process the entry under the other rules, including Pyramiding.

For example, with three EURUSD buys open, an incoming sell under On — Hedging closes those buys and opens a sell. Under On — Netting, it closes them without opening the new sell.

These are EA option labels, not a statement that changing the option changes the broker account’s hedging/netting account type. For strategy-specific comments, see Keep strategies separate.

Shadow Targets

Off uses normal broker stop-loss and take-profit targets. This is the documented default.

On sends more distant visible targets to the broker while the EA monitors the intended targets internally and closes when they are reached. The published guide requires both the intended SL and TP in the selected message or EA source.

The EA must monitor the intended targets

Shadow Targets relies on the EA’s monitoring, rather than the broker seeing your intended target levels. The guide also flags incompatibility with ATR trailing, pip trailing and breakeven. Do not combine these features without confirming the supported behaviour for your version.

Partial Close Percentage

Sets the percentage used by closelongpct and closeshortpct.

The documented options are 10%, 20%, 25%, 34% and 50%. The guide describes the 34% option as approximately one third. Broker volume increments and minimum lot size affect the resulting close amount.

Check the closed volume and remaining position after a demo test. With Magic Restriction Off, a partial-close request can include positions opened manually or by other EAs, subject to broker rules.

Maximum Open Positions

Limits the total open market positions across symbols for the EA’s applicable position scope. 0 means no limit from this setting; a positive value sets the limit.

Pending orders are not restricted by this setting in the published guide. Their later execution can take the account beyond the limit. Do not treat this as an account-wide cap enforced against every possible order source.

Maximum Open Positions per Symbol

Limits positions for each individual symbol. 0 disables the limit; a positive number enables it.

With Magic Restriction on, the guide counts the EA’s own matching positions. With it off, positions from other sources can count too. The filter controls new signals from this EA; it does not prevent a manual order or another EA from opening a position.

Maximum Unique Symbols

Limits the number of distinct symbols represented by applicable open positions. 0 disables the limit.

For example, with a limit of 1, an existing EURUSD position means an entry for GBPUSD would introduce a second symbol and is blocked. Another EURUSD entry still needs to pass Pyramiding and the other position limits.

How limits combine: if Max Open Positions is 3, Max Open Positions per Symbol is 2, and Max Unique Symbols is 1, the tighter per-symbol rule still applies. Do not assume the total limit of 3 overrides the limit of 2 on the only permitted symbol.

Dashboard

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Dashboard display controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.

Dashboard display controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.Open original Close Esc

These settings change the on-chart display.

Setting	Options and effect
Profit Computation	With Commission, Taxes and Swap includes those costs and is the published default. Without Commission, Taxes and Swap omits them from the displayed profit.
Font Size	Sets the size of the displayed text and values. Choose a readable value for your screen; the guide gives 10, 15 and 20 as examples.
Show Dashboard	On shows the panel; Off hides it. On is the published default.

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Historical dashboard example. Displayed results are illustrative source data, not a performance claim.

Historical dashboard example. Displayed results are illustrative source data, not a performance claim.Open original Close Esc

Display settings and available fields differ by EA version. Turning off the dashboard is not the same as turning off trading or analytics sharing.

Account protection

Daily and cumulative controls define a threshold and an action. Decide both: reaching a limit does not always mean every position closes, and closing positions does not always mean the EA stops accepting signals.

Check the measured limit before relying on it

Allow for slippage and other differences between a threshold and the final trading result. If you are following a broker or prop-firm limit, compare its calculation and reset time with the EA’s actual logged values. A similarly named daily-loss setting is not proof that both use the same rules.

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Account Protection controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.

Account Protection controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.Open original Close Esc

Daily Timezone

The published guide lists a numeric GMT offset, default 0, with a range from −12 to +14. Enter 8 for GMT+8 or -5 for GMT−5; do not enter a plus sign for positive values.

Confirm the reset boundary in your EA. The source describes a configurable daily timezone but also describes some resets as midnight GMT+0. Use the EA’s Experts log and your installed version’s behaviour to confirm the daily start/reset time before relying on a non-zero offset. Contact Support if those do not match your intended schedule.

Daily Profit and Daily Loss

Set a daily gain target or loss threshold against the day’s starting balance. The guide uses these input ranges:

Value	Interpretation
0	Disabled.
Greater than 0, up to and including 1	A proportion of the day’s starting balance. 0.01 means 1%.
Greater than 1	A cash amount.

For a starting balance of $10,000:

• Daily Profit 0.01 or 100: the illustrated trigger equity is $10,100.
• Daily Loss 0.01 or 100: the illustrated trigger equity is $9,900.

Here, 0.01 means 1%

Daily protection uses a fraction of balance. These are USD-account examples; read the calculated threshold in Experts after configuring it. Do not copy a percentage from a field where 1 means 1%.

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Example of the daily profit threshold reported in Experts. Enlarge to read the full log line.

Example of the daily profit threshold reported in Experts. Enlarge to read the full log line.Open original Close Esc

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Example of the daily loss threshold reported in Experts.

Example of the daily loss threshold reported in Experts.Open original Close Esc

Action for daily limits

Option	Behaviour
Halt EA	Stops the EA for the trading day; it resumes at the next daily boundary.
Close All Positions	Requests closure of positions and pending orders covered by the action; the EA continues operating.
Close All Positions and Halt EA	Requests the closures and halts the EA for the day.

Check both the final order state and the EA’s active/halted state. Confirm the applicable position scope and daily boundary on your version, especially if other EAs or manual trades share the account.

Cumulative Profit and Cumulative Loss

These track profit or loss against a cumulative baseline, rather than a fresh baseline each day. The published guide describes the total since tracking began or was reset, excluding deposits and credits from cumulative profit.

Value	Interpretation
0	Disabled.
Greater than 0, up to and including 1	Proportion of the initial/tracked balance. 0.25 means 25%; 0.10 means 10%.
Greater than 1	Cash gain or loss amount.

For example, a cumulative profit input of 1000 represents a cash gain threshold of 1,000, while a loss input of 0.10 represents a 10% threshold against the tracked base. Confirm the baseline and calculated values in Experts, especially after reattaching or restarting the EA.

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Example of the cumulative profit threshold reported in Experts.

Example of the cumulative profit threshold reported in Experts.Open original Close Esc

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Example of the cumulative loss threshold reported in Experts.

Example of the cumulative loss threshold reported in Experts.Open original Close Esc

Action for cumulative limits

Option	Behaviour
Halt EA (Day)	Halts until the next daily boundary.
Halt EA (Persistent)	Remains halted until manually resumed.
Close All Positions	Requests closure; the EA continues unless another condition halts it.
Close All Positions and Halt EA (Day)	Requests closure and halts for the day.
Close All Positions and Halt EA (Persistent)	Requests closure and remains halted until manually resumed.

Resume a persistently halted EA

First establish why it halted and whether resuming is appropriate. The published guide lists these methods:

• Select Resume PineConnector EA on the chart, where that control is available.
• Reattach the PineConnector EA to the chart.
• Use the documented eaon command from the syntax reference.

After resuming, check the EA state and its tracked limits before allowing more signals. Resuming operation is not the same as resolving the event that reached a protection threshold.

Advanced and connection settings

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Advanced controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.

Advanced controls in the published MT5 Inputs window.Open original Close Esc

Magic Number

The Magic Number identifies positions opened by an EA instance. The published options are 76 (default), 77, 78, 79 and 80.

For a setup with separate EA instances on the same account, the guide illustrates assigning different magic numbers so each can recognise its own positions. This is distinct from filtering positions by comment= in the multi-strategy guide.

Magic Restriction

Option	Scope
On — documented default	Recognise/manage positions whose magic number matches this EA.
Off	Can recognise/manage positions for the symbol regardless of whether they were opened by this EA, another EA or manually.

The guide lists closing commands, Pyramiding, Close on Reverse, position counts and SL/TP modifications as affected features. For example, a closelong request with restriction off can affect manual buy positions for the symbol too.

Broader scope can affect other trades

Leave Magic Restriction on unless you intend the broader scope and have tested it. Check comments, symbols and direction as well; those are separate parts of a request’s targeting.

Broker Set

Option	Use described in the guide
Automatic — default	Normal automatic selection.
Set A	An alternate broker configuration; use only when directed for your issue.
Set B — Unsupported Filling	A configuration to try for unsupported order-filling errors.
Set C — Brazilian Brokers	Adjustments for the documented Brazilian-broker case.

Do not cycle through these at random. Start with the full broker error and the error guide, or follow Support’s instruction for your account.

Active hours

Start Time and End Time restrict when the EA processes incoming signals. The time source is the broker’s server time shown on the chart, not necessarily your computer’s local time.

The guide uses HH:MM, including windows such as 08:15 to 12:20, or 22:00 to 09:00 across midnight. Outside the window, signals are ignored by this setting.

For an all-day setup, preserve the all-day values supported by your EA version. The published screenshot shows 00:00 to 24:00, while the prose describes a range ending at 23:59; confirm the accepted end value in your installed EA rather than assuming those endpoints are interchangeable.

These inputs are separate from Portal Trading Time Limit, which shows its own local timezone.

Symbol Prefix and Suffix

Automatically add text before or after the symbol received in the alert.

Incoming symbol	Prefix	Suffix	Result
EURUSD	broker.	.mini	broker.EURUSD.mini

Use the exact symbol recognised by your broker. Check the final result if you also use Portal Symbol Mapping; do not assume that adding the same prefix in several places is harmless.

Maintenance settings

DLL Logs

On enables detailed logs from the EA’s underlying DLL for diagnosis. Off is the published default. Turn this on when Support needs the additional diagnostic information; these logs are not the ordinary trade-verification checklist.

PineConnector Analytics

On shares trading history for the Portal Analytics display. Off disables that sharing from the EA instance. On is the default in the documented supported MT5 versions. Follow the Analytics guide for compatibility, refreshing and opt-out steps.

Auto Update EA

On is the published default and allows the EA to check for and download updated EA files. The guide describes checking when the EA initialises, such as on attachment or terminal startup. Off disables that automatic check/download behaviour.

Check the EA’s log and version after an update. A download message by itself is not confirmation that every running terminal is using the new version; use Portal Downloads and the applicable setup instructions if an update needs attention.

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Historical update log from EA v3.43 and DLL v1.16. Check the actual installed version after an update.

Historical update log from EA v3.43 and DLL v1.16. Check the actual installed version after an update.Open original Close Esc

Enable Symbols

Controls which symbols are enabled when the EA is attached. The published options are:

• Yes — Auto-enable on trade — default.
• Yes — Enable all symbols.
• Yes — Enable up to 50 symbols.
• No — Hide all enabled symbols.
• No — Retain enabled symbols.

Choose according to the symbols you need visible and available. If a signal fails on a symbol, still check the broker’s exact symbol name and the actual error; visibility is only one part of the setup.

Check a setting change

Change one relevant setting at a time on a demo account, apply it, and send a test alert. Compare the actual account, symbol, direction, lot size, stop/target and position scope with your intention.

If the result differs, keep the full Experts message, EA version and the relevant input values. Use Errors for a recorded rejection or Missing signals to locate the stage where the instruction stopped.