Configurable parameters
Every knob the Guardian, Balanced and Edge cBots expose in cTrader — with its default, its range and what it does. The cBot ships the tier preset that reproduces its published figure; you only need to change a value if your account, broker or prop rules differ. Change the calibrated parameters and you are off the published map — that is your responsibility.
1 · Preset & mode
The master switches: which tier the bot runs, how it sizes, and the portfolio-level risk scale.
Preset & mode 8 params
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preset | its own tier | Guardian · Balanced · Edge · Custom | Loads a tier's risk scale, position cap and guard thresholds. Each cBot ships at its own tier; a preset lets you downshift to a calmer tier, or Custom to keep your own values. |
| Sides | Both | Both · BuyOnly · SellOnly | Global trade direction. A per-sleeve Sides can override this individually. |
| Sizing mode | Additive | Additive · Compound | Additive = risk% off a fixed base (the published method, no compounding); Compound = off live equity. |
| Initial balance (additive base) | 0 = auto | ≥ 0 | Fixed base for additive sizing. 0 uses the account balance at start. |
| Risk scale (× all strategies) | per tier | 0.05–3.0 (step 0.01) | Master multiplier over every sleeve's risk%. At the tier default the published figure is reproduced; scale it to match your account size. |
| Max open positions | per tier | 1–50 | Cap on simultaneous open sleeves — 8, 12 or 14 for Guardian, Balanced, Edge. |
| Prop-firm mode | true | bool | Enables the FTMO-style daily reset and the prop-firm guards below. |
| Max margin usage % | 30 | 1–100 | Blocks new entries once margin usage would exceed this. |
2 · Per-sleeve knobs
Each of the 8 / 12 / 14 strategies is its own group in cTrader, labelled by its market and timeframe. Every sleeve exposes the same three knobs — turn a sleeve off, dial its risk, or fix its direction — without touching the others. The strategy logic itself stays proprietary.
Per strategy sleeve 3 knobs × each sleeve
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| · On | true | bool | Enable or disable this individual sleeve. |
| · Risk % | per sleeve (≈0.5–1.2) | 0–5 (step 0.05) | Risk-to-stop for this sleeve, before the master Risk scale is applied. |
| · Sides | Inherit | Inherit · Both · BuyOnly · SellOnly | Direction for this sleeve. Inherit falls back to the global Sides. |
3 · Risk caps
Portfolio-level ceilings that hold even if you raise the risk scale — they stop concentration and cap total open risk.
Risk caps 2 params
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset risk cap % | 2.5 | 0–100 (0 = off) | Max summed risk-to-stop on any ONE symbol — prevents a single market concentrating risk. |
| Global risk cap % | 4.5 | 0–100 | Max summed risk-to-stop across all open positions at once. |
4 · Daily-loss guard
The prop-firm daily rule, mirrored in the bot: stop before the firm's daily-loss line bites.
Daily-loss guard 3 params
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily loss guard % | 3.5 | 0.5–5.0 (step 0.1) | Daily loss at which the bot stops trading for the day (and closes, per the toggle below). Counts on the prop firm's CE(S)T server day. |
| Daily entry lock % | 3.0 | 0.5–5.0 (step 0.1) | Daily loss at which NO new entry opens — open positions are kept. |
| Daily guard closes all | true | bool | Whether the daily guard also flattens open positions when it trips. |
5 · Max drawdown guard
The hard floor — total drawdown at which everything halts.
Max drawdown guard 1 param
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max drawdown guard % | 8.0 | 1.0–30.0 (step 0.5) | Total drawdown at which ALL trading halts. |
6 · Balance protection
An optional soft floor under a losing streak. Off by default — the tier presets don't need it, but it's there if your firm wants an extra brake.
Balance protection 6 params
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance protection | Off | Off · EquityEma · ProfitTarget | Mode. EquityEma trails a balance EMA and pauses risk below it; ProfitTarget locks in profit once a target is hit. |
| EMA period (days) | 20 | 2–200 | Length of the balance EMA (EquityEma mode). |
| EMA buffer % | 0.0 | 0–20 (step 0.1) | Slack below the EMA before the guard triggers. |
| EMA close-all on breach | false | bool | Whether an EMA breach also flattens open positions. |
| Profit target % | 10.0 | 1.0–100.0 (step 0.5) | Profit level that arms the trail (ProfitTarget mode). |
| Profit trail gap % | 2.0 | 0.5–20.0 (step 0.5) | Give-back gap once the profit trail is armed. |
7 · Account uniqueness (anti-copy)
Expectancy-neutral levers that make each account trade a slightly different variant of the same edge, so no two accounts emit identical trade streams. The primary lever — a 60–120 second entry-time jitter on live/demo — is hardcoded (not a dial) and never applies in backtest, so you reproduce the published figure exactly.
Account uniqueness 4 params
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| B: account sleeve keep % | 100 | 50–100 (step 5) | Optionally dilutes the per-account sleeve subset (100 = all sleeves trade). |
| B: min active sleeves (floor) | 6 | 1–50 | Floor for the setting above, so a dilution never starves the book. |
| Max new entries per day | 0 = unlimited | 0–100 | Frequency cap on new entries per UTC day. Exits and management don't count. |
| News blackout windows (UTC CSV) | "" | CSV of windows | Windows with no new entries — for a non-Swing account that must avoid the news. Swing products ship this empty. |
8 · Advanced
Broker mapping and diagnostics — most accounts never touch these.
Advanced 3 params
| Parameter | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol overrides | "" | CSV | Remap a market to your broker's symbol, e.g. USATECHIDXUSD=US100.cash. Raw/ECN suffixes auto-map. |
| Manual quote→acct rates | "" | CSV | Last-resort FX rates for sizing, used only in custom-data backtests; broker data never needs it. |
| Verbose event log | true | bool | Logs actions only (label · side · lots · risk% · P&L · guard names) — never SL/TP, ATR or rules. Forced OFF in the free edition so structure can't leak. |
How each preset reproduces its tier
A preset simply loads the risk scale, position cap and guard thresholds for its tier. Keep the defaults and you reproduce that tier's published cTrader-native backtest.
| Dimension | Guardian | Balanced | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk band | Conservative | Balanced | Aggressive |
| Strategies · max open positions | 8 | 12 | 14 |
| Markets | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Master risk scale | tightest | tier default | widest |
| Guard thresholds | tightest | daily 3.5% · max DD 8.0% | widest |
| Max DD · equity (backtest) | −3.43% | −3.97% | −5.89% |
| Price · one-time | $160 | $240 | $280 |