AtoZMarkets – Have you ever noticed that MetaTrader 4 trading terminal is not capable of running two Expert Advisors on the same chart? If not, don’t worry – you are not alone, there are a lot of Forex traders that did not pay attention to this.
Running multiple EAs on MT4 trading terminal
However, what is the reason for this limitation? The MT4 introduced this limitation by itself, and this implies that you are not able to attach multiple EAs on the same chart.
But how others manage to run multiple EAs on the same Mt4 terminal?
They simply open new chart window for each EA they want to run. Today, we will focus our attention on this particular topic. We will look into the specifics of using Expert Advisors for Forex trading.
Metatrader 4 is created in the way so that only one Forex robot (EA) or script can be attached to a single chart. Yet, in reality, MT4 provides an opportunity to run up to 128 EAs on the same trading terminal – you just need to open different chart windows. This allows you to simultaneously run a number of EAs by attaching each of them to a different chart.
Moreover, it is possible to have multiple charts of the same currency pair and time frame and have the Forex robot run each of them. You can also have different charts of various currency pairs and time frames while having any other trading instrument at the same time.
It is worth to note that with indicators, it is the other way around. You can attach different indicators to one single chart.
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Running the same Expert Advisor on multiple charts
Let’ s see an example. In case you want to run the same EA on 4 different trading instruments, you need to open 4 chart windows and attach an EA to each of them.
Can something go wrong, while running multiple EAs on MT4 trading terminal?
When you have the same EA running on different charts, some issues may occur. The chart might conflict with each other since everything depends on the EA and how the Forex robot is programmed.
For instance, in case EA was not created to run on multiple charts, it may assume that the trades on the GBPUSD belong to it, while it is actually running on EURUSD or any other currency pair. When the EA on GBPUSD get a signal to close the trades, it may happen that MT4 will close all the trades on your account, including those that were manually opened and the trades from other EAs.
In case you experience such issues, you need to contact the EA creator for help. Bear in mind, well-programmed EAs will not intervene into the trades from other EAs or even from the same EA on a different instrument.
Running two different Expert Advisors on the same instrument
Let’s see another example. What if you want to run two different EAs on the same instrument?
You need to open two different chart windows for the pair you intend to trade. You will be able to attach both MT4 robots. Attach the first EA to the first chart and the second EA to the second opened chart.
However, remember that the trades that opened on the first chart will be visible on the different chart on the same MT4 account. Even though these charts might have different time frames, the same instrument (currency pair) will make both display all trades.
This implies that the EAs will have the access to both of the trades from both of opened charts. So how do you know which trades come from which EA?
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Expert Advisors magic number
Each EA is using a special ID to identify its trades, it is called Magic Number. Each trade on your chart will have a Magic Number. This ID exists for identification of the trades by the EA.
Thus, when you are running multiple EAs on the same MT4 account, you should always have different Magic Number for each EA order. There is also a way to use the same Magic Number in case you run each EA instance on a different instrument, but this can get too complex. Moreover, you need to be sure that your EA can handle trading using the same Magic Number on different instruments.
It is also very important to understand how each of your EAs operates when multiple instances of the same EA exist. The same goes when the multiple instances of other EAs – you need to know how your EAs perform.
In case EA is ill-programmed, it might conflict with other instances of the same or other EAs. In order to make sure your EA is perfectly coded, check if it uses Magic Number to identify the right trades.
How to install many Expert Advisors on the same MT4 terminal
For running multiple EAs on MT4 trading terminal, you will need to install a number of EAs beforehand. Installing multiple EAs is no different from installing a single EA. Follow the next steps:
- Copy the Expert Advisor file (.ex4 or .mq4) into the MQL4Experts folder.
- You can find this folder inside of the “Data Folder” of your MT4 trading terminal.
- To find “Data Folder”, go to “File -> Open Data Folder“.
While it is possible to have the unlimited number of EAs on any of the MT4 terminals, only 128 EAs can effectively run on 128 chart windows simultaneously.
Bear in mind, that each EA you install might require custom indicators to function properly. In case you run an EA that uses the custom indicator and your MT4 does not feature this indicator, the EA will not work adequately.
Before you rush to running multiple EAs on MT4 trading terminal, I recommend studying the instruction manuals of the EAs you are going to use. In case the manual is not informative enough, contact the EA developer and ask about the properties and limitation of a particular EA.
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