Pass or Breakeven (POBE) — Settings Guide
[P] = Prop Firm terminal [B] = Broker terminal [P & B] = Both terminals
Enter your prop firm’s challenge rules exactly as stated in your challenge agreement. The lifecycle map display and lot sizing calculations are only as accurate as the values you enter here. Refer to the User Guide for setup steps, broker account requirements, and display box explanations.
Hedge your prop firm challenge across two accounts. Every lifecycle outcome — pass or fail — produces a defined, calculated result rather than a binary win or loss.
Quick Start — Minimum Settings to Change
Most settings have sensible defaults for a standard refundable prop firm challenge. For a first run, you only need to change these three:
- Prop Firm Type (Section 1) — select your prop firm from the list. This controls when the daily drawdown counter resets each day.
- Phase (Section 1) — set to Phase 1 when starting a new challenge.
- Challenge Cost ($) (Section 1) — enter the exact fee you paid for your challenge.
Everything else can be left at default for a first Strategy Tester run. Once you have verified the lifecycle map display looks correct for your configuration, work through the remaining sections to match your prop firm’s exact rules before going live.
Section 0 — Mode [P & B]
Current Mode — sets whether this terminal is the prop firm side or the broker side.
- Prop Firm Mode — use this on the terminal connected to the prop firm challenge account. This terminal opens trades, tracks all challenge limits, and shows the lifecycle map display.
- Broker Mode — use this on the terminal connected to the hedging broker account. This terminal copies trades in the opposite direction and shows the broker account status.
Both terminals must run on the same machine simultaneously. Set this first before configuring any other setting.
Section 1 — Prop Firm [P]
Prop Firm Type
Prop Firm Type — controls how the EA determines when a new trading day begins at your prop firm. The new day calculation affects when the daily drawdown counter resets. An incorrect setting will cause the daily limit to reset at the wrong time.
- FTMO — Prague-based. Uses Central European Time with automatic summer (CEST, UTC+2) and winter (CET, UTC+1) adjustment.
- FundedNext Stellar — fixed GMT+2 offset, no seasonal adjustment.
- Others GMT+2/3 Prop Firm — for any prop firm operating on GMT+2 or GMT+3. Reloading the EA also triggers a new day, which suits firms that count each session as a fresh trading day.
- Others UTC Prop Firm — for prop firms on UTC (GMT+0). Same reload behaviour as above.
If unsure, start with Others GMT+2/3 Prop Firm and check the Expert tab to confirm the new day fires at midnight in your prop firm’s local time.
Phase
Phase — sets the current evaluation phase. The EA does not advance phases automatically. Change this manually each time you pass a phase and restart the EA.
- Phase 1 — Phase 1 (Challenge). Set when starting a new challenge.
- Phase 2 — Phase 2 (Verification). Change after passing Phase 1.
- First Funded — Funded phase. Change after passing Phase 2.
- Second Funded — for advanced traders hedging between two prop firm accounts, a prop firm and broker account, two broker accounts, or other custom setups. Not fully tested — leave at First Funded for standard use.
Account Size
Initial Deposit Detection — how the EA reads the starting account balance.
- Auto — reads the balance automatically when the EA loads. Use this for a fresh challenge account.
- Manual — enter the balance yourself using Initial Deposit Amount. Use this if the account had previous trades before POBE was attached.
Challenge Cost ($)
Challenge Cost ($) — the fee you paid for this challenge. Default: 515. Used to calculate the POBE Index and all lifecycle map display figures. An incorrect value will produce wrong breakeven calculations across all phases. Enter the exact fee shown on your prop firm invoice.
Daily DD Cap (%)
Daily DD Cap at (%) — a safety buffer applied to the daily drawdown limit before the EA halts trading. Default: 90. At 90, the EA stops at 90% of the configured daily limit, giving a 10% buffer between the EA’s halt point and the actual prop firm boundary.
Example: prop firm daily limit is 5%, Daily DD Cap is 90 — EA halts at 4.5%.
Phase Starting Type
Phase Starting Type — controls when the phase start date is recorded.
- Phase Start Date as loading — uses the date and time the EA was attached to the chart. Suitable for most cases.
- Specify Phase Start Date — lets you enter an exact date using Phase Starting Date. Use this for backtesting from a specific point or if the EA was reattached mid-challenge.
Section 2 — Symbol [P]
Prefix and Suffix — if your prop firm uses a non-standard symbol name, enter the prefix or suffix here. Leave both blank if the prop firm uses standard names like XAUUSD.
- Example: symbol shown as XAUUSD.i — set Suffix to .i
- Example: symbol shown as mXAUUSD — set Prefix to m
Section 3 — Trades [P]
Type of Entry
Type of Entry — controls how and when the EA opens trades on the prop firm account. The broker account always mirrors every trade automatically in the opposite direction regardless of which mode is selected.
- Open Trade by Trend (Trade_EMA) — the EA opens automatically when EMA crossover conditions are met within the configured time window. Direction is determined by the EMA crossover filtered by the EMA3 trend filter.
- Open Trade by Click Button (Trade_Click) — you open trades manually using the Buy or Sell button on the chart. Use this when you want full manual control over trade timing and direction.
- Open Trade by Time (Trade_Time) — the EA opens one trade per day at the configured time. Direction is fixed by the Buy=false, Sell=true setting.
- Random Open of Trade (Trade_Random) — direction is chosen randomly. For testing and backtesting only.
Trade Time Window
Applies to Trade_EMA and Trade_Time modes. The EA only opens trades when the broker server time falls within this window.
- Time Hour Open / Time Minute Open / Time Second Open — start of the window. Defaults: 1:18:10
- Time Hour Close / Time Minute Close / Time Sec Close — end of the window. Defaults: 12:45:40
A random offset of up to 240 seconds is applied to both edges each day to avoid opening at the same second every session.
Reverse EMA Entry
Reverse EMA Entry — when enabled, the EA opens in the opposite direction to the EMA crossover signal. A bullish crossover opens a sell, a bearish crossover opens a buy. Default: false.
Buy=false, Sell=true
Buy=false, Sell=true — applies to Trade_Time mode only. Sets the fixed direction for the daily trade. Default: true (Sell). Set to false to always open a Buy.
Section 3a — EMA Settings [P]
Three EMAs are used. EMA1 is the fast line, EMA2 is the slow line, EMA3 is the trend filter.
EMA1 Period (default 5) and EMA2 Period (default 10) — the crossover pair. A trade signal fires when EMA1 crosses EMA2 on the previous completed bar.
EMA3 Period (default 50) — trend filter. A buy signal is only valid if the Ask price is above EMA3. A sell signal is only valid if the Bid price is below EMA3.
EMA Timeframe (default M30) — all three EMAs are calculated on this timeframe regardless of the chart timeframe the EA is attached to.
EMA Shift (default 1) — which historical bar is used for the crossover check. A value of 1 uses the most recently completed bar, preventing repainting. Do not set to 0 — this would use the currently forming bar and produce unreliable signals.
Volatility Filter
Volatility Check — adds a volatility gate on top of the EMA crossover signal. Three options:
- Off — no volatility check. The EA opens trades on EMA crossover alone. Default.
- On — requires the market to be above the minimum volatility threshold set by Volatility Level before a trade is opened. Filters out low-volatility, choppy conditions where EMA crossovers are less reliable.
- On with trend — same as On, plus a directional confirmation check. The trade must open in the direction of the dominant trend. A buy signal requires the trend to be bullish. A sell signal requires the trend to be bearish.
Volatility Level (default 4.5, range 0.0 to 10.0) — the minimum volatility threshold required to open a trade when Volatility Check is On or On with trend. Higher values require stronger trending market conditions before a trade is opened. At 0 there is effectively no filter. At 10 only strongly trending conditions will qualify.
Section 4 — Position Sizing [P]
Stop loss and take profit distances are calculated from the Average Daily Range of the symbol. The lot size is calculated so that a stopped-out trade consumes exactly the effective daily drawdown budget — making one stopped-out trade per day the worst case before the daily halt activates.
ADR SL Factor (default 0.5) — the stop loss is placed at this multiple of the ADR from the entry price. At 0.5, the SL sits half an average daily range away.
ADR TP Factor (default 0.51) — the take profit distance. At 0.51, TP is slightly wider than SL, giving a risk-reward ratio just above 1:1.
ADR Period 1 (default 50) — primary lookback period for ADR calculation, smoothed over 50 days.
ADR Period 2 (default 3) — shorter period for recent range context.
Section 5 — Hedge Ratio [P]
The hedge ratio determines the broker lot size relative to the prop firm lot size. The lifecycle map display figures are only accurate if the correct ratio is applied at each phase.
Auto Hedge (default true) — calculates the ratio automatically from the challenge fee, drawdown limits, and phase parameters. This is the recommended setting for all standard challenges.
When Auto Hedge is disabled, enter ratios manually. A ratio of 0.1 means the broker opens 0.10 lots for every 1.00 lot on the prop firm account.
- Phase 1 Hedge Ratio (default 0.1)
- Phase 2 Hedge Ratio (default 0.4)
- Phase 3 Hedge Ratio (default 0.5)
- Other Phase Hedge Ratio (default 0.3)
Section 10 — Challenge / Phase 1 [P]
Enter the Phase 1 rules exactly as stated in your challenge agreement.
Phase 1 Profit Target (%) (default 10%) — when reached, the EA closes all trades and stops opening new full-size trades. If the minimum trading day count has not been met, it switches to minimum-lot clocking trades automatically.
Phase 1 Daily DD (%) (default 5%) — maximum daily loss. The EA applies the Daily DD Cap multiplier — at 90% cap, a 5% limit becomes a 4.5% effective halt.
Phase 1 Max DD (%) (default 10%) — maximum overall drawdown from the phase starting balance. Breaching this ends the challenge and triggers the BREAKEVEN outcome on the broker account.
Phase 1 Minimal Trading Day (default 4) — minimum number of days with a trade before the phase is considered complete. If the profit target is hit before this count, the EA opens minimum-lot clocking trades on remaining days. The broker account does not copy clocking trades.
Section 11 — Verification / Phase 2 [P]
Same structure as Phase 1 but for the verification phase. Enter Phase 2 rules from your challenge agreement.
Phase 2 Profit Target (%) (default 5%)
Phase 2 Daily DD (%) (default 5%)
Phase 2 Max DD (%) (default 10%)
Phase 2 Minimal Trading Day (default 4)
Section 12 — First Funded / Phase 3 [P]
Phase 3 Profit Target (%) (default 10%) — profit target for the funded account before requesting a payout.
Phase 3 Daily DD (%) (default 5%)
Phase 3 Max DD (%) (default 10%)
Phase 3 Minimal Trading Day (default 1) — most funded accounts have no minimum day requirement.
Phase 3 Fee Refund (default true) — enable if your prop firm refunds the challenge fee on the first funded payout. FTMO does this. When enabled, the fee is added back into the funded phase net outcome in the lifecycle map display, improving the displayed result for the funded pass scenario.
Phase 3 Bonus (default 0) — any signup bonus or promotional credit received. Reduces the effective cost of the challenge in the lifecycle calculation.
Phase 3 Payout Rate (default 80%) — your profit split percentage. For FTMO standard accounts this is 80%. A higher payout rate improves the POBE Index since more of the funded profit offsets the accumulated hedge costs from earlier phases.
Section 13 — Other Phase / Hedge [P]
For advanced traders hedging between two prop firm accounts, a prop firm and broker account, two broker accounts, or other custom setups. Not fully tested — leave at First Funded settings for all standard single-challenge use.
Other Phase Profit Target (%) (default 5%)
Other Phase Daily DD (%) (default 5%)
Other Phase Max DD (%) (default 10%)
Other Phase Minimal Trading Day (default 4)
Other Phase Payout Rate (default 90%)
Hedge Amount (default 2000) — configure to match your custom arrangement.
Section 20 — Daily Close [P]
Close All Trade (default false) — when enabled, the EA force-closes all open positions at a specific time each day regardless of profit, loss, or any halt state.
Close Trade Hour / Close Trade Minute / Close Trade Second — the exact server time at which positions are closed. Defaults: 23:15:20.
Use this to close all positions before the weekend to avoid Sunday gap risk, before major news events where the two accounts may fill at very different prices, or to avoid overnight swap fees. Set the close time to before your broker’s Friday market close to ensure both accounts are flat over the weekend. Refer to the User Guide for guidance on news event handling.
Section 30 — Simulated Broker [P]
The simulated broker runs entirely within the prop firm terminal and models what a real broker hedge account would look like in parallel. It is active even when no real broker terminal is connected, and it is how the EA runs in the MT5 Strategy Tester.
Show POBE Lifecycle Map (default true) — show or hide the lifecycle map display and POBE Index on the chart.
Show Simulated Broker (default true) — enable or disable the simulated broker. Leave enabled during testing and Strategy Tester runs. Disable only if you want to run the prop firm terminal without the simulated broker overhead.
Simulated Broker Account Size Mode — controls how the simulated broker starting balance is set.
- Auto — the EA reads the Equity Needed figure directly from the lifecycle map display for the current phase and uses that as the simulated broker deposit. This means the simulated broker is always funded to exactly the recommended level without any manual input. Recommended for most users.
- Manual — uses the fixed value entered in Manual Simulated Broker Account Deposit ($). Use this if you want to model a specific deposit amount regardless of what the lifecycle map recommends.
Manual Simulated Broker Account Deposit ($) (default 5000) — only active when Simulated Broker Account Size Mode is set to Manual. Set this to at least the Equity Needed figure shown in the lifecycle map display for the current phase. If set too low, the yellow box will show NO FUNDS or LOW MARGIN.
Simulated Broker Account Leverage (1:500) (default 500) — leverage of the simulated account. Set to match your intended real broker leverage. Higher leverage means less margin required for the same position size.
Simulated Broker Margin Call (%) (default 100%) and Simulated Broker Stop Order (%) (default 50%) — set these to match the real broker you intend to use. When the simulated margin level falls to these thresholds the EA displays a warning.
Broker Spread (point) (default 0) — simulated spread applied to each broker-side trade. Setting a realistic value (20 to 30 points for XAUUSD) gives a more accurate picture of real-world hedge costs. A value of 0 applies no spread friction.
Prop Firm Commission Type — how commission is charged on the prop firm account.
- DoubleSide — commission charged on both entry and exit. The most common model.
- SingleSide — commission charged on entry only.
Check your prop firm’s fee schedule to confirm which applies.
Prop Firm Commission Per Lot ($) (default 0) — commission rate in dollars per lot. Set to 0 if your prop firm charges no commission.
Estimated Slippage (default 30 points) — assumed execution slippage applied to simulated broker trades. Higher values give a more conservative estimate of hedge performance.
Section 31 — More on Prop Firm [P]
PropFirm Magic Number (default 0) — the magic number applied to trades opened by the EA on the prop firm account. Leave at 0 unless you need to distinguish POBE trades from other EA trades running on the same account. If set, enter the same value in the broker terminal’s Magic Number settings in Section 53.
PropFirm EA Comment (default blank) — the text comment attached to each trade opened on the prop firm account. Visible in the MT5 trade history. Leave blank unless you need to identify POBE trades for reporting purposes.
Section 32 — Backtest [P]
Winter GMT Offset (default 2) and Summer GMT Offset (default 3) — the GMT offset of your broker’s server during summer and winter respectively. Used to convert broker server time to prop firm local time during backtesting, where live GMT functions are not available.
Note: the labels in the MT5 settings dialog appear as Winter GMT Offset and Summer GMT Offset. Enter your broker’s summer offset under Winter GMT Offset, and your broker’s winter offset under Summer GMT Offset.
Example: broker server runs on GMT+2 in summer and GMT+3 in winter — enter 2 for Winter GMT Offset and 3 for Summer GMT Offset. If unsure, compare your broker’s server time to a world clock during both summer and winter periods.
These settings have no effect on live trading — the EA uses the broker’s live GMT functions in live mode.
Section 50 — Broker Terminal Settings [B]
All settings in this section are configured on the terminal running in Broker Mode.
Symbol Mapping
The prop firm and broker accounts often use different names for the same instrument. POBE handles this automatically in most cases using AutoFix detection.
Ignore Symbol and Session Check (default true) — keep this enabled. Prevents the EA from rejecting trades due to session time mismatches between the two accounts.
Symbols Mappings — for cases where symbol names are completely different between the two accounts. Enter mappings in the format XAUUSD=GOLD, US30=WS30. Leave blank if AutoFix handles it correctly.
Prefix and Suffix — if the broker adds a prefix or suffix to the standard symbol name, enter it here.
- Example: broker uses XAUUSDm — set Suffix to m
- Example: broker uses aEURUSD — set Prefix to a
Leave blank to rely on AutoFix. To confirm symbol mapping is working, open a trade on the prop firm account and verify the broker opens an opposing trade. If it does not, check the Expert tab — a symbol not found error will be reported there.
Execution Tolerance
Open Slippage (point) (default 10000) and Close Slippage (point) (default 10000) — the maximum allowed slippage when the broker opens or closes a trade. The defaults are intentionally wide to allow execution under most conditions. Tighten these only if your broker has consistently precise execution and you want to avoid fills at extreme prices.
Section 53 — Magic Number [B]
Magic Number Type — controls how trades are labelled on the broker account.
- Leave Blank — default. Works for most setups.
- Copy from Master — copies the prop firm magic number to the broker trades.
- Manual Entry — lets you specify a magic number directly using the MagicNumber field.
MagicNumber (default 2026) — the numeric label applied to all trades opened on the broker account. If running multiple POBE instances on the same machine, each pair must use a different magic number. Since POBE is designed to run one instance per machine, this is only relevant if you have a specific reason to change it.
Section 54 — EA Comment [B]
Comment Type and Comment — controls the text label attached to each broker trade. Leave Blank is sufficient for most users. The comment is visible in the MT5 trade history and does not affect EA behaviour.
Section 55 — Retry [B]
Number of Attempt (default 3) — how many times the EA retries a failed trade operation before giving up. Trade failures can occur due to requotes, busy server conditions, or margin checks. Three attempts is sufficient for most brokers.
Wait in mSecond per Attempt (default 250) — pause between retry attempts in milliseconds. 250ms is fast enough to catch a price refresh without flooding the broker with requests.
Fast Execution First (default true) — when enabled, the EA attempts a fast market order on the first try before falling back to the standard retry logic. Recommended for brokers with fast execution.
Two-terminal hedge EA for two-phase prop firm challenges. Opposing positions on a broker account produce a calculated result across all four possible lifecycle outcomes.
Always Test on Demo First
Before running on any real challenge, test the full setup on a prop firm demo account paired with a broker demo account. Run it through at least one complete challenge — either to the profit target or to the drawdown limit — and verify that both accounts behave as expected. Although POBE is designed to handle a wide range of configurations automatically, edge cases in symbol naming or broker specifications may require manual adjustment.
Always check the Expert tab and Journal tab in MT5 during testing. Most configuration errors are silent on the chart but produce clear error messages in those tabs.
