Points, pips and tick size in MT5: avoid unit mistakes

Clear units make clear trading software. Before entering a spread limit or stop distance, establish whether the number means points, a price difference or a market convention called pips.

Separate the three ideas

A point is the symbol’s quoted point size. A tick size is its minimum tradable price increment. Pip is a market convention, especially common in forex, rather than a universal MQL5 unit. Decimal digits describe display precision; they do not by themselves establish every valid trading increment.

Convert using the symbol specification

For a hypothetical five-digit EURUSD quote with point size 0.00001, a price difference of 0.00020 equals 20 points and conventionally 2 pips. Do not transplant that conversion into gold or an index. Read SYMBOL_POINT and SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE for the actual broker symbol.

Align prices to valid increments

Rounding a price to the displayed number of digits is not always enough. A symbol may require a larger tick increment. Decide whether rounding must move up or down for the intended order and stop, then recheck distances after alignment. The direction matters when a stop is close to an allowed boundary.

Label your inputs and logs

1. Write the unit in each distance-related input.
2. Log the symbol point and tick size when diagnosing a rejected request.
3. Convert once at a clear boundary in the code.
4. Check the result against the broker’s symbol specification.

Make it yours with MQLume

MQLume lets you go beyond a settings panel and improve the clarity of the implementation itself. Explore Quantum Titan MT5 and our XAUUSD specification guide.

Sources and further reading

• MQL5 symbol properties

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