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Symbol Specification in MT5 and MT4: The Figures Behind the Lot

Your broker gives every symbol a spec sheet: how much one lot holds, the smallest price step, what that step is worth, and the smallest and largest lot you may trade. Read one row wrong and your lot can be ten times too big. Here is how to read it, on real screenshots.

  • Real MT5 and MT4 screenshots
  • Tap a row to read it
  • Worked sums
  • A quick quiz

Read the Window

Market Watch (Ctrl+M) › right-click the symbol › Specification

MetaTrader 5 Specification window for XAUUSD, Gold vs US Dollar: digits 2, contract size 100, spread floating, stops level 0, profit currency USD, tick size 0.01, tick value 0.1, minimal volume 0.01, maximal volume 100, volume step 0.01 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
MetaTrader 5, XAUUSD on MetaQuotes' demo server, 20 October 2026. The zigzag cuts mark rows left out. Your broker's window shows the values set for your account; another broker, or another account type, can show different ones.

1Digits Here: 2

The decimal places of the price. One point is the last digit.

  • 5 digits EURUSD: a point is 0.00001
  • 3 digits USDJPY: a point is 0.001
  • 2 digits this gold: a point is 0.01

Your lot: every stop distance is counted in points. Gold quoted with three decimals has a point ten times smaller.

2Contract Size Here: 100

The units in one lot: 100,000 of the base currency on a currency pair, 100 ounces of gold at most brokers, often 1 on an index contract.

1 lot = 100 ounces on this server. Each coin is one ounce.

Your lot: every price move is multiplied by it. Twice the contract is twice the money per tick, so half the lot for the same risk.

3Stops Level Here: 0

The distance in points from the current price inside which you cannot place a stop loss, a take profit or a pending order.

Your lot: it does not change the lot. It sets how close your stop may sit: too close and the server answers Invalid Stops. Try it with a 30-point stops level.

4Profit Currency Here: USD

The currency the profit is worked out in: the quote currency for a pair, USD for gold and oil, the index's own currency for an index contract. MetaTrader 4's window has no such row.

gold movesProfit in USD
at the current rateYour currency

Your lot: the tick value is in this currency, not yours. In an account kept in another currency it is converted at the current rate.

5Tick Size Here: 0.01

The smallest step the price can move. Usually one point, but some symbols move in larger steps. Listed for gold, index and oil contracts; a currency pair moves one point.

Your lot: the stop distance divided by the tick size is the number of ticks your stop costs.

6Tick Value Here: 0.1

What one tick is worth on one lot, in the profit currency (not your account currency), as the broker publishes it. Listed for gold, index and oil contracts; a currency pair has no such row.

Listed0.1

Booked: 100 × 0.011.00 USD

Your lot: when the two disagree, size the lot from Contract size × Tick size. See why.

7Minimal Volume, Maximal Volume, Volume Step Here: 0.01, 100, 0.01

The smallest lot, the largest lot and the step between lots.

Your lot: the lot you trade is a whole number of steps from the minimum. Round down, never up; a sum below the minimum means no trade at that risk.

By Brendon, a trader for 15 years and the maker of Stopline Trade Manager. Updated .

From the Window to the Lot

Two numbers are yours: the money you risk and the stop. The window gives the rest. Press Play for gold in a USD account, 100 USD of risk, the stop 5.00 away.

  1. 1Contract Size100 ounces a lot (row 2)
  2. 2Stop in Ticks5.00 ÷ 0.01 = 500 ticks (row 5)
  3. 3Value of One Tick100 × 0.01 = 1.00 USD a lot
  4. 4Loss per Lot500 × 1.00 = 500 USD
  5. 5Lot for 100 USD100 ÷ 500 = 0.20 lots
Lot = risk in money ÷ (stop in ticks × tick value)Then round down to the volume step (row 7), so the lot never risks more than you set.

The free lot size calculator shows every figure it assumes on its Symbol Figures tab, so you can type your broker's values in place of the typical ones.

Currency Pairs Have No Tick Rows

On a currency pair, MetaTrader 5's window lists no Tick size or Tick value. The tick is one point, worth the contract size times the point, in the profit currency.

MetaTrader 5 Specification window for EURUSD: digits 5, contract size 100 000 EUR, stops level 0, profit currency USD, volume 0.01 to 500 in steps of 0.01, and no tick size or tick value rows

100,000 × 0.00001 = 1.00 USD

a tick on one lot, in the profit currency USD. Ten points make a pip: 10.00 USD.

MetaTrader 5 Specification window for USDJPY: digits 3, contract size 100 000 USD, stops level 0, profit currency JPY, volume 0.01 to 500 in steps of 0.01

100,000 × 0.001 = 100 JPY

a tick on one lot. The profit currency is the yen: an account in US dollars converts it at the current USDJPY rate.

EURGBP moves one tick100,000 × 0.00001 = 1.00 GBP
at a GBPUSD rate of 1.333× 1.333
in your USD accountabout 1.33 USD

The window lists no tick value for a pair. In a USD account the 1.00 GBP is converted at the current GBPUSD rate, so the value of a tick moves as the rate moves.

MetaTrader 5, EURUSD and USDJPY on MetaQuotes' demo server, 20 October 2026.

When the Listed Tick Value Looks Wrong

Unless the Calculation row says Futures, MetaTrader books the price move times the contract size, whatever the Tick value row says. MetaQuotes' own MetaTrader 5 demo shows the gap on gold:

MetaTrader 5 Specification rows for XAUUSD: contract size 100, tick size 0.01, tick value 0.1
Listed: 0.1. Booked: 100 ounces × 0.01 = 1.00 USD per tick on one lot.

Sized From the Tick Value Row

0.1 USD a tick

100 ÷ (500 × 0.1) = 2.00 lots

At the stop: 1,000 USD, ten times the 100 you meant.

Sized From Contract Size × Tick Size

1.00 USD a tick

100 ÷ (500 × 1.00) = 0.20 lots

At the stop: 100 USD, what you meant.

When the two disagree, size the lot from Contract size × Tick size.Same gold, same 100 USD of risk, same stop 5.00 away.

Three Brokers, Three Golds

The specification belongs to the broker, not to MetaTrader. Gold is 100 ounces per lot at most brokers, but some use 10 or 1. Same 100 USD of risk, same stop 5.00 away:

Broker A: 100 oz a Lot

Contract size100

5.00 × 100 = 500 USD a lot at the stop

0.20 lots

Broker B: 10 oz a Lot

Contract size10

5.00 × 10 = 50 USD a lot at the stop

2.00 lots

Broker C: 1 oz a Lot

Contract size1

5.00 × 1 = 5 USD a lot at the stop

20.00 lots

Some brokers also quote gold with three decimals instead of two, which changes what a point is. A lot worked out for one broker's gold can be ten or a hundred times wrong at another.

Index Contracts, Oil and Volume Limits

Index contracts differ even on one server. On MetaQuotes' MetaTrader 5 demo, one index point on one lot is worth:

MetaTrader 5 Specification rows for UK100, FTSE 100 Index: digits 1, contract size 10, stops level 0, profit currency GBP
10 GBP on UK100: contract size 10
MetaTrader 5 Specification rows for EUSTX50, Euro Stoxx 50: digits 1, contract size 1, stops level 100, profit currency EUR
1 EUR on EUSTX50: contract size 1
MetaTrader 5 Specification rows for JPN225, Nikkei 225: digits 0, contract size 100, stops level 100, profit currency JPY
100 JPY on JPN225: contract size 100

Index Contracts

One lot of US30 can be worth 1, 10 or 100 units of the quote currency per index point, depending on the broker.

Oil

100 or 1,000 barrels per lot. Same price move, ten times the money.

Volume Limits

Some accounts allow 0.01 lots, some only 0.1, and the step can differ from the minimum.

Read It Once per Symbol

Open the specification once for each symbol you trade, on the account you trade it on.

The Stops Level and Your Stop

If the stops level is 30 points, MetaTrader refuses a stop loss, a take profit or a pending order closer than 30 points to the current price. The server answers Invalid Stops.

Right after an entry, when the stop sits close to the price.

Moving a stop to breakeven while the price is still near the entry.

A pending order placed close to the price.

On MetaQuotes' demo servers, 20 October 2026: XAUUSD 0 EUSTX50 100 JPN225 100 EURGBP in MetaTrader 4 4

The order types tool shows where each pending order may sit.

MetaTrader 5 Against MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4's window is shorter: no profit currency, and on the demo's pairs and gold no tick rows.

MetaTrader 5 Specification window for EURUSD with the rows digits, contract size, spread, stops level, profit currency and the three volume rows
MetaTrader 5, EURUSD
MetaTrader 4 contract specification window for EURGBP: spread floating, digits 5, stops level 4, contract size 100000, minimal volume 0.01, maximal volume 100000.00, volume step 0.01
MetaTrader 4, EURGBP
  • In both: Digits, Contract size, Spread, Stops level and the three volume rows.
  • MetaTrader 5 only: Profit currency, and Tick size and Tick value for gold, index and oil contracts.
  • MetaTrader 4: its help calls the tick figure Tick price, in the symbol's quote currency, not your account currency. The currency pairs and gold on MetaQuotes' MetaTrader 4 demo list no tick figures at all.

MetaTrader 5, EURUSD, and MetaTrader 4, EURGBP and XAUUSD, on MetaQuotes' demo servers, 20 October 2026. The zigzag cuts mark rows left out.

Test Yourself

1. Gold, 100 ounces per lot, tick size 0.01. What is one tick worth on 1.00 lot?
2. A broker's gold is 10 ounces per lot. You risk 100 USD with the stop 5.00 away. Which lot?
3. The stops level is 30 points. You place a stop 20 points from the price. What happens?
The Info tab of Stopline Trade Manager for XAUUSD: point cost and tick value 1.0000 / 1.0000 USD (tick 0.01), contract 100.00 XAU, stop level and freeze level 0 / 0 pts, volume 0.01 to 100.00 step 0.01

Both editions read these figures for you. Stopline Trade Manager and Stopline Trade Manager EZ read the symbol's figures themselves, size the lot from the tick value the account books, round it down to the volume step, and say so when the broker's published tick value differs. The full edition's Info tab, pictured, shows the point, the tick value, the contract size and the volume limits.

From the MetaTrader 5 help (Viewing Symbol Specification), the MetaTrader 4 help (Contract Specification), the profit rules in MetaQuotes' MQL5 reference and both terminals on MetaQuotes' demo servers (EURUSD, USDJPY, XAUUSD, UK100, EUSTX50 and JPN225 in MetaTrader 5; EURGBP and XAUUSD in MetaTrader 4), read 20 October 2026.

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