> 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/pro-features/trailing-stop.md).

# Trailing stop

## Overview

A **Trailing stop** automatically updates your stop-loss level as a position gains profit. Once the trade reaches a specific **activation threshold**, the stop-loss will follow the price at a specified distance (or step), ensuring you lock in profits without needing to manually update your stop-loss each time.

By using a Trailing stop, you can:

* **Protect Gains**: Secure partial profits as the market moves in your favor.
* **Limit Risk**: Prevent placing a stop-loss too close, avoiding premature exits.
* **Automate Risk Management**: Reduce the need for constant monitoring and manual adjustments.

<figure><img src="/files/YQTkDtVJUkdNdeoiHLAo" alt=""><figcaption><p>Trailing Stop</p></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="warning" %}
You have to use this feature at the correct level:

* For a master account or an account where you place trades manually, you have to set it at the account level.
* For an account that receives trades through a copier (such as a slave account), you have to set it on the copier.
  {% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
We use points rather than pips for our break even and trailing stop functions because points provide a consistent, absolute measure of price movement across different assets. This approach simplifies setting stop levels since points represent a fixed unit regardless of an asset’s decimal format.

*Examples:*

* **XAU/USD (Gold):**\
  One pip is typically 0.10 (10 cents). So a 40-pip movement equals 4.0 points. Using points standardizes the stop level regardless of the pip value.
* **EUR/USD:**\
  One pip is generally 0.0001. In pairs quoted with four decimals, 1 pip equals 1 point, so a 40-pip move equals 40 points.
  {% endhint %}

## How It Works

* **Initial Stop Loss (optional):** Set an initial stop loss in points from the entry price. A value of **0** means no stop loss will be applied until the trailing logic activates.
* **Activation Threshold (points):** The number of points in profit needed before the trailing stop kicks in. The position has to exceed this profit threshold for trailing adjustments to begin.
* **Activation Threshold (percent):** Defines the activation threshold as a percentage of the take profit. For example, if TP is 1000 points and this is set to 50, trailing stop activates at 500 points profit. A value of 0 means this activation method is deactivated. Requires TakeProfit to be set on the trade. If both `activationThresholdPoints` and `activationThresholdPercentage` are active (>0), the maximum (most conservative) value will be used.
* **Trailing Step (points):** Defines how much the stop-loss moves each time the price moves further in your favor. For example, if your trailing step is 10 points, every time the price advances by 10 additional points, the stop-loss will shift accordingly. A value of 0 means this method is deactivated.
* **Trailing Step (percent):** Defines the trailing step as a percentage of the take profit. For example, if TP is 1000 points and this is set to 10, the trailing step equals 100 points. A value of 0 means this method is deactivated. Requires TakeProfit to be set on the trade. If both `trailingStepPoints` and `trailingStepPercentage` are active (>0), the maximum (most conservative) value will be used.
* **Minimum Distance:** Prevents the stop-loss from getting too close to the market price (which might trigger early). This sets a buffer to avoid tight stops.
* **Symbol-Specific Overrides:** You can configure each symbol with its own **initialStopLossPoints**, **trailingStepPoints**, **trailingStepPercentage**, **minimumDistancePoints**, **activationThresholdPoints** or **activationThresholdPercentage** if you need a different approach for each instrument.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Why use percentages on slave / portfolio accounts?**

When the same trailing stop configuration is applied across positions of very different sizes (e.g., a portfolio of slave accounts receiving trades with different Take Profit levels), a fixed value in points is rarely appropriate for all of them. Using `activationThresholdPercentage` and `trailingStepPercentage` lets you express both the activation threshold and the trailing distance as a fraction of each trade's own Take Profit distance, so the trailing stop scales automatically with the size of each trade. Points and percentages can also be combined: when both are set (>0), the most conservative (larger) value is used.
{% endhint %}

## Configuration

### Enabling the Feature (Account-Level)

1. Navigate to your **Account** settings in MetaCopier.
2. Locate the **Features** section and click **Add Feature** (or edit if already existing).
3. Select **Trailing stop** from the feature options (or use the feature ID if you configure via API).
4. Enter your desired values:
   * **Initial Stop Loss Points**
   * **Trailing Step Points** and/or **Trailing Step Percentage**
   * **Minimum Distance Points**
   * **Activation Threshold Points** and/or **Activation Threshold Percentage**
5. Click **Save** to apply changes.

### Enabling the Feature (Copier-Level)

1. Go to **Copiers** under the selected account.
2. Open the **Features** list for the chosen copier.
3. Either create or edit a **Trailing stop** feature.
4. Fill in the fields (same as above) and **Save**.

### Per-Symbol Configuration

1. If you want to **override** any of the above settings on a symbol-by-symbol basis, you can add **symbol-specific** entries under the **Symbols Configuration** section.
2. Click **Add Symbol Configuration** and specify:
   * **Symbol** (e.g., `EURUSD`)
   * **Initial Stop Loss Points**
   * **Trailing Step Points** and/or **Trailing Step Percentage**
   * **Minimum Distance Points**
   * **Activation Threshold Points** and/or **Activation Threshold Percentage**
3. Save your changes. MetaCopier will apply this custom logic **only** to that symbol; all other symbols will use the default account or copier settings.

## Example Use Cases

### 1. Basic Trailing stop (points)

* **Initial Stop Loss Points:** 0 (No stop loss initially)
* **Trailing Step Points:** 10
* **Trailing Step Percentage:** 0 (disabled)
* **Minimum Distance Points:** 20
* **Activation Threshold Points:** 30
* **Activation Threshold Percentage:** 0 (disabled)

**Behavior:** Once the position is **30 points** in profit, the trailing stop sets a stop-loss that **trails** by 10 points (but never moves closer than 20 points from the current price).

### 2. Percentage-based Trailing stop (portfolio / slave accounts)

* **Initial Stop Loss Points:** 0
* **Trailing Step Points:** 0 (disabled)
* **Trailing Step Percentage:** 10
* **Minimum Distance Points:** 20
* **Activation Threshold Points:** 0 (disabled)
* **Activation Threshold Percentage:** 50

**Behavior:** Both the activation threshold and the trailing distance scale with the take profit of each individual trade:

* If a trade has a Take Profit of 1000 points: trailing activates at **500 points** profit (50% of TP) and trails by **100 points** (10% of TP).
* If another trade has a Take Profit of 200 points: trailing activates at **100 points** profit and trails by **20 points**.

This way the same copier-level configuration adapts to every trade size automatically, which is the recommended approach for slave accounts in a live portfolio setup.

### 3. Combined points + percentage

* **Trailing Step Points:** 10
* **Trailing Step Percentage:** 5
* **Activation Threshold Points:** 30
* **Activation Threshold Percentage:** 50

**Behavior:** For each trade, the larger (most conservative) of the two values is used both for the activation threshold and for the trailing step. This is useful when you want a safety floor in points but also want the configuration to scale on trades with larger Take Profit distances.

### 4. Symbol Override

* **Global Setting**
  * **Initial Stop Loss Points:** 50
  * **Trailing Step Points:** 10
  * **Minimum Distance Points:** 20
  * **Activation Threshold Points:** 30
* **Symbol-Specific Override (e.g., EURUSD)**
  * **Initial Stop Loss Points:** 20
  * **Trailing Step Points:** 0
  * **Trailing Step Percentage:** 5
  * **Minimum Distance Points:** 15
  * **Activation Threshold Points:** 0
  * **Activation Threshold Percentage:** 40

In this scenario, **EURUSD** uses a percentage-based configuration to better match its volatility relative to the take profit of each trade, while other symbols use the global points-based settings.