> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.metacopier.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.metacopier.io/features/basic-features/overall-target.md).

# Overall target

The overall target feature defines a profit target and a loss limit for the whole life of an account. In contrast to the daily, weekly and monthly [profit targets](/features/basic-features/profit-targets.md) and the period based [risk limits](/features/basic-features/risk-limits.md), this feature is never reset. Both values are always measured against one fixed reference balance, which makes it the right choice for a prop firm challenge phase or any goal that has to be reached over an unlimited number of days.

Because the target is attached to the account, every account can have its own target regardless of which copier delivered the trades. A slave account that has to make 8% while its master keeps trading simply closes out on its own once the 8% are reached.

## Why the period targets are not enough

The daily, weekly and monthly profit targets measure the gain against a reference balance that is re-anchored at the start of every new period. After a losing period, the reference moves down together with the account, so the next target is measured from the new lower balance instead of from the original starting balance. Over several periods the goal drifts along with the account and never represents the total gain you actually wanted.

The overall target keeps one anchor for the whole run, so 8% always means 8% above your starting balance.

## Settings

* **Overall profit target in percent:** The profit target as a percentage of the reference balance. When it is reached, all positions are closed and no new positions are copied. Because fees, swap and slippage are charged on top of the market result, we recommend setting the value slightly above your real goal, for example 8.1% instead of 8%. Set to 0 to deactivate.
* **Overall profit target amount:** The same target expressed as an amount in your account currency, measured as the gain above the reference balance. Set to 0 to deactivate. If the percentage and the amount are both active, whichever is reached first triggers the target.
* **Overall loss limit in percent:** The maximum loss as a percentage of the reference balance. It uses the same anchor as the profit target, which means it behaves as a static drawdown and does not follow the account upwards. Set to 0 to deactivate.
* **Overall loss limit amount:** The same limit expressed as an amount in your account currency, measured as the loss below the reference balance. Set to 0 to deactivate.
* **Reference mode:** Selects which account value is compared against the reference balance.
  * **Equity** includes open positions, swap and accrued costs. The target can therefore trigger while trades are still running, which locks in the result at the moment the level is touched.
  * **Balance** only counts closed trades. All fees are already realized before the target can trigger, so the number you see is final, but open floating profit is ignored until the trades are closed.
* **Reference balance:** The fixed starting balance that both the target and the limit are measured against. Leave it at 0 to capture the current account balance automatically when the feature is activated. Set it manually if you want to anchor to a specific value, for example the official starting balance of a challenge account. Changing this value also re-arms a target that has already been reached, which is the way to start a new run without removing the feature.
* **Adjust reference on balance change:** If enabled, deposits and withdrawals shift the reference balance by the same amount, so your target and limit stay intact after a funding change. If disabled, the reference balance is never touched and a deposit counts towards the profit target. This only applies while the reference balance is captured automatically, a manually entered reference balance is never moved.
* **Pause instead of close:** If enabled, reaching the target or the limit only pauses the copier so that no new positions are opened, while the open positions keep running. If disabled, all open positions are closed.

## Example

A challenge account starts with 100,000 USD and has to make 8% to pass phase one, with a maximum static drawdown of 10%.

| Setting                            | Value                                 |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Overall profit target in percent   | 8.1                                   |
| Overall loss limit in percent      | 10                                    |
| Reference mode                     | Equity                                |
| Reference balance                  | 0 (captured automatically at 100,000) |
| Adjust reference on balance change | Enabled                               |
| Pause instead of close             | Disabled                              |

The account now closes all positions as soon as equity reaches 108,100 USD, and it stops trading if equity falls to 90,000 USD. Losing trades along the way are fully counted, so the target only fires when the account is genuinely 8% up in total.

## Per symbol configuration

Next to the account wide values you can add an entry per symbol. A symbol entry is measured on the result of that symbol alone, counted from the moment the reference balance was anchored: the closed trades of that symbol plus the floating result of its currently open positions.

Symbol entries are **additive**, they do not replace the account wide values. Both are evaluated at the same time, and the account wide values still apply to the whole account.

Only these fields are read from a symbol entry:

* Overall profit target in percent and Overall profit target amount
* Overall loss limit in percent and Overall loss limit amount
* Pause instead of close

The percentages of a symbol entry are still measured against the account wide reference balance, so 2% on XAUUSD means 2% of your starting balance made on XAUUSD.

*Reference mode*, *Reference balance* and *Adjust reference on balance change* are always account wide and are ignored inside a symbol entry.

When a symbol entry fires, only that symbol is affected: its open positions are closed (or kept, if *Pause instead of close* is enabled for that entry) and no new positions are copied for it. Every other symbol keeps trading until the account wide target or limit is reached.

**Example:** the challenge account above additionally wants to stop trading gold after it has lost 2% of the starting balance on gold, while everything else keeps running.

| Symbol | Setting                       | Value    |
| ------ | ----------------------------- | -------- |
| XAUUSD | Overall loss limit in percent | 2        |
| XAUUSD | Pause instead of close        | Disabled |

As soon as XAUUSD has lost 2,000 USD in total, all gold positions are closed and gold is blocked for the rest of the run. The 8.1% target and the 10% limit of the account are unaffected.

## Relation to other features

* [Profit targets](/features/basic-features/profit-targets.md) remain the right choice when you want a recurring goal per day, week or month.
* [Risk limits](/features/basic-features/risk-limits.md) remain the right choice for period based drawdown rules, for example a daily loss limit that a prop firm evaluates per trading day.
* [Risk per trade](/features/pro-features/risk-per-trade.md) works in a similar way but on a **single position**: it limits how much one trade may risk and can also be configured per symbol. The overall target instead looks at the accumulated result of the account (or of one symbol) over the whole run. The two combine well, risk per trade keeps every single trade small while the overall target decides when the run is over.
* [TP/SL Management](/features/pro-features/tp-sl-management.md) is a different thing: it sets a Take Profit and a Stop Loss in points on each individual copied position. It does not know anything about the overall result of the account.

## Important

The overall target monitors the account from our side and closes the positions when the level is reached. It does not place Take Profit or Stop Loss orders at your broker. The account therefore has to be connected for the target to be evaluated. If you need protection that survives a connection loss, combine this feature with a Stop Loss on the individual positions.