Short version: MetaTrader 5 with your prop account, buy PropGuardian on the Market, install it in the terminal, drop it on one chart, switch Algo Trading on, pick your firm's preset, check the reset time, leave "Close all + lock", enter your push ID, watch it once in the strategy tester. Then it runs on the VPS without further attention.
1. Prerequisites
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| MetaTrader 5 (not MT4), current build | PropGuardian is an MQL5 program; MT4 is not supported. |
| An account at your prop firm or broker, logged in in MT5 | The guardian watches the account the terminal is logged into. Demo accounts work exactly like live accounts. |
| An mql5.com account | Purchase and activation run through this account. The licence is tied to the mql5 account, not to the trading account. |
| Algo Trading switched on (toolbar button, green) | Without Algo Trading no program may close positions. The guardian would only warn. |
| Optional: MetaQuotes ID for push notifications | Warning, breach and lock arrive as push messages once the ID is entered in the terminal (section 6). |
| Optional: VPS | The guardian protects only while the terminal runs. For 24/5 protection the terminal belongs on a VPS (MQL5 VPS from within the terminal, or your own Windows server). |
No DLLs, no external programs, no internet access beyond the terminal itself. The guardian needs no rights an ordinary expert advisor does not have.
2. Buy and install
- In the terminal: View → Toolbox → Market tab → search "PropGuardian". Or on the website: PropGuardian on the MQL5 Market.
- Buy (79 USD, one-time, no subscription). The product then sits in the terminal under Navigator → Expert Advisors → Market → PropGuardian. One licence allows ten activations; every terminal installation counts once.
- Before buying you can download the free demo: it runs only in the strategy tester, but that is exactly where PropGuardian shows its scripted losing day (section 7).
Updates arrive automatically through the Market tab (Purchases → Update). Existing buyers get every new version free of charge.
3. Drop it on one chart
PropGuardian belongs on exactly one chart. Symbol and timeframe do not matter; it watches the whole account, not the chart symbol. A second chart with PropGuardian would try to close the same positions twice; that is unnecessary and produces error messages.
- Open a chart (EURUSD H1, for example), Navigator → Market → drag PropGuardian onto the chart.
- Set the inputs in the dialog (sections 4 to 6), OK.
- Check: the panel in the top left shows PROTECTING in green, below it equity, balance, the daily loss consumed in percent, the stop-out equity (the level at which it will act today) and the drawdown floor. If the panel shows "ALGO TRADING OFF" or a red line, the Algo Trading button is off.
The state (day anchor, lock) is stored per account number in the terminal's global variables. A terminal restart or a VPS reboot does not reset the protection; an active lock survives both. Only removing the EA from the chart clears the stored state.
4. Choose a preset or set your own limits
The most important input is Rule preset. Every preset sets daily loss, max drawdown, the daily basis (initial balance or day start), the drawdown model and the correct reset time for that firm, and it does so 0.5 points below the firm's daily limit and 1 point below its max drawdown. A firm with 5% / 10% gets 4.5% / 9%. The reason is mechanical: detection runs on ticks, and in fast markets the realised loss at the close sits a few points above the configured level. That overshoot should land in your reserve, not in a breach.
| Preset | Firm rule (daily / max) | Preset sets | Daily basis | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO style | 5% / 10% static | 4.5% / 9% | day start | midnight CE(S)T, DST automatic |
| FundedNext style | 5% of initial / 10% | 4.5% / 9% | initial balance | broker midnight |
| The5ers High Stakes style | 5% / 10% | 4.5% / 9% | day start | broker midnight |
| FundingPips 2-Step style | 5% / 10% | 4.5% / 9% | day start | broker midnight |
| Alpha Capital Pro 10% style | 5% / 10% | 4.5% / 9% | day start | broker midnight |
| Goat Funded 2-Step style | 5% / 10% | 4.5% / 9% | day start | 5 PM New York, DST automatic |
| Maven 2-Step style | 4% / 8% | 3.5% / 7% | day start | 00:00 UTC |
| Trailing firm | 5% / 8% trailing | 4.5% / 7% trailing | day start | broker midnight |
| Conservative | free | 3% / 6% | day start | broker midnight |
| Custom | your values | your values | selectable | selectable |
Day start means the higher of balance and equity at the reset instant, which is how most firms measure. Initial balance is detected automatically from the deposit at first start; after withdrawals set the input "Initial account balance" by hand.
Firms change their rules. The presets reflect the state of September 2026. Verify your firm's current rules and, when in doubt, use "Custom" with the values from your dashboard, also as a fixed money amount if you prefer.
Deliberately without a preset: firms with trailing drawdown on an end-of-day basis (E8, FTMO 1-Step, FundingPips Zero, Alpha One and similar). PropGuardian's trailing models are tick-based and would be stricter than the firm; they could close positions the firm would never have counted. If you accept that: Custom plus "Trailing (from highest balance)".
5. Reset time
Your firm's daily loss does not reset at broker midnight but at the firm's time. Four modes:
- Broker server midnight, if the firm measures by the broker day.
- Midnight Central European time, CET/CEST automatic (FTMO and other European firms).
- 5 PM New York, EST/EDT automatic (some US firms).
- Midnight at GMT offset, a fixed offset without daylight-saving automation.
The presets select the matching mode. The panel shows the active reset rule at all times; a wrong value is visible before it does harm.
6. Action on breach and notifications
Action on limit breach:
- Close all + lock (recommended): closes all positions, deletes all pending orders and locks the day. While locked, every new position, from any EA or by hand, is closed within milliseconds; the journal shows the reaction time.
- Close all: closes everything, does not lock.
- Alert only: warns only, never closes. For tests, or if you want to be informed only.
Early warning: default at 70% of the limit, once per day, as popup, push and/or e-mail. For push: Tools → Options → Notifications tab → "Enable push notifications", enter the MetaQuotes ID from the MetaTrader mobile app, press "Test". For e-mail: same dialog, Email tab, SMTP details.
Every transition (warning, breach, lock, release at the reset) is one journal line and one push message, never more. There is no flood.
7. Before going live: the strategy-tester run
PropGuardian ships with a scripted losing day. This is how you see the whole ladder before relying on it:
- Open the strategy tester (View → Strategy Tester), Expert: Market\PropGuardian, symbol EURUSD, timeframe M5, any period of a few weeks, Visual mode on, inputs at default (input "Scripted demo day in the strategy tester" = true).
- Start. In the journal and on the panel: the demo trade opens, WARNING at 70%, DAILY LIMIT BREACHED and close-all with latency in milliseconds, DAY LOCKED, a position opened during the lock is closed immediately, then the reset. Three cycles, after that your own inputs take over.
- To test your own configuration set the demo input to false. On a live or demo account the scripted day never runs.
Also recommended: on a demo account, set the daily limit as a small fixed money amount, open a position and watch the sequence from warning to lock once for real.
8. Operation on a VPS
- Log the terminal on the VPS into the same mql5 account (Tools → Options → Community), otherwise activation fails. Every installation counts one activation.
- PropGuardian on one chart, Algo Trading on, leave the terminal running. With the MQL5 VPS (Navigator → VPS) the chart environment including PropGuardian is migrated.
- After a reboot the terminal starts with the stored state; a lock stays active, the day anchor is kept.
- Privacy mode (input) masks the account number in the journal if you take screenshots or stream.
9. What PropGuardian cannot do
- It cannot switch Algo Trading off (not allowed on the Market). It closes positions that appear during the lock as fast as possible; each such attempt costs a spread.
- Detection is tick-based. In fast markets the loss at the close sits a few points above the limit. That is why the presets arm below the firm's limits.
- It does not model consistency rules, news-trading bans, minimum trading days or strike systems of your firm.
10. Help
Questions belong in the Comments on the product page on the MQL5 Market; every question gets an answer. The detailed changes of every version are in the blog: setup guide, what is new in 1.20.