# Stop-loss settings and the group's follow-up messages

What Relay2Trade does with a signal that has no stop-loss, the default stops per kind of instrument, your own stop-loss, moving the stop to the entry, and how the group's later messages ("close it", "SL to BE", "close half", "move TP") are followed or ignored.

## Where they are

Settings → "Stop-loss" and Settings → "The group's messages after a signal", in the Desk and in the app. A listener can have its own value for most of them under "Settings of its own".

## "Require stop-loss"

This decides what happens to a signal that comes without a stop-loss. A stop the signal gives in pips or in percent counts as a stop.

- **On:** the signal is skipped and nothing is placed. Its story says: "The signal has no stop-loss and Require stop-loss is on. To trade such signals, turn it off: they get the default stop for their kind of instrument, or none."
- **Off (the default):** the signal gets the default stop for its kind of instrument. That stop protects the trade at the broker, and it is the distance "Risk % of equity" and "Fixed cash" size from. Where the default for that kind is "No stop", the trade goes in without a stop, at your fixed lots.

Example: "BUY EURUSD 1.1000 TP 1.1050" with no stop. With "Require stop-loss" on, it is skipped. Off, with the forex default at 30 pips, the stop goes at 1.0970; on 1% of 10,000 with the price at 1.1000, that is 0.33 lots.

The default stop is measured from the entry the signal wrote, or from the current price when it wrote none. If the price has already passed that point, the stop would land on the wrong side of the price, and the signal is skipped.

A signal skipped because it had no stop can still be placed once with "Force placement". It then goes in with no stop-loss at all, and the app tells you at once to put one on yourself in MetaTrader.

## The default stops per kind of instrument

Shown while "Require stop-loss" and "Own stop-loss" are both off. Each is the stop a signal without one gets, and "No stop" lets such a signal trade without one.

| Setting | Default | Example |
|---|---|---|
| "Default stop · forex (pips)" | 30 pips | A EURUSD buy at 1.1000 gets its stop at 1.0970; a USDJPY buy at 150.00 at 149.70 |
| "Default stop · gold and metals (pips)" | 50 pips | On gold a pip is 0.10: a buy at 2400 gets its stop at 2395; on silver a pip is 0.01 |
| "Default stop · indices (points), oil (cents)" | 60 | A US30 buy at 42,000 gets its stop at 41,940; on oil the 60 are cents, 0.60 |
| "Default stop · crypto (% of the price)" | 1.5% | A BTC buy at 80,000 gets its stop at 78,800 (at most 50%) |

How the kind is recognised, from the symbol's name with any broker prefix or suffix:

- **Metals:** XAU or GOLD, XAG or SILVER, XPT or PLATINUM, XPD or PALLADIUM.
- **Indices and energy:** the common index names (US30, NAS100, US500, GER40, UK100, JP225 and their other spellings) and WTI, BRENT, XTI, XBR, OIL, NGAS and similar.
- **Coins:** BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, LTC, ADA, DOGE, BNB, DOT, LINK, AVAX, MATIC, TRX, XLM, BCH, SHIB and TON.
- **Forex:** everything else, including stocks and symbols with unusual names. Its pip follows the symbol's digits: on a stock quoted at 185.20, 30 pips is 0.30.

Check each default against the stops your groups usually post. One number serves every index, and they move very differently: 60 points is a small move on NAS100 and a larger one on UK100. Natural gas quoted around 3.00 gets the same 0.60, a fifth of its price, so lower the value or require a stop if your groups trade gas. Gold can move several dollars in minutes; 50 pips is 5.00.

The four default stops belong to the profile; a listener cannot have its own. "Set up with a few questions" asks what you trade, whether your signals always give a stop and what to do when one is missing, and suggests a default stop for each kind you trade.

A profile may also show "Default stop, any symbol (points) — older setting": one number of points for every symbol. "Not used" leaves the four stops per kind in charge; above 0 it wins over them on every symbol. Leave it on "Not used" unless you trade a single market.

## "Own stop-loss"

With "Own stop-loss" on, every trade gets your own stop at the distance in "Own stop-loss (pips)", whatever stop the signal gives, and signals without a stop are traded too. "Require stop-loss" and the default stops are then hidden and not used. Off by default.

- The stop goes that many pips from where the order goes in: the current price for a market order, the order's price for a limit or stop order.
- Everything that depends on the stop follows yours: the lots under "Risk % of equity" and "Fixed cash", the trailing moves, and the R a runner is measured in.
- The signal's story shows both, for example "Your own stop-loss: 30 pips → 1.0972 (the signal's stop 1.095 is not used)".
- "Own stop-loss (pips)" must be above 0 while it is on.

A pip is what the market calls one: 0.0001 on most forex, 0.01 on JPY pairs, 0.10 on gold, 0.01 on silver, 1 on the indices the app knows and on BTC and ETH. So 30 pips is 0.0030 on EURUSD, 3.00 on gold, 30 points on US30 and 30 USD on BTC. If your groups trade different markets, give each listener its own value under "Settings of its own".

Examples:

- 30 pips, "BUY EURUSD 1.1000 SL 1.0950" at market with the ask at 1.1002: the stop goes at 1.0972. On 1% of 10,000 that is 0.33 lots; with the signal's stop it would have been 0.19.
- 30 pips, "SELL XAUUSD 2400" with no stop: the stop goes at 2403.00 and the signal trades.

With risk sizing a tight stop means big lots: 5 pips at 1% of 10,000 on EURUSD is 2.00 lots, so keep "Max lots per signal" sensible. On a market buy the stop is measured from the ask and triggers on the bid, so leave room above the usual spread.

## Moving the stop to the entry

Two things can move a stop to your entry (break-even):

- **Your "Trailing stop"** (Settings → "Take-profits & trailing"): with "To the entry" or "To the take-profit before" (the default), the stop of what is still open moves to the entry when TP1 is reached. "Room behind the stop (pips)" puts it a little further back so a dip to the entry does not close the rest. See https://relay2trade.com/help/take-profits-trailing-runners.md.
- **The group's "SL to BE" message**, when "Exits and stop moves" is on "Follow them" (below). It uses the entry the signal stated, or each trade's own open price for a market signal.

## The group's messages after a signal

Groups often write about a trade that is already open: close it, cancel it, move its stop or target, close part of it. The app reads these like signals and can act only on this group's own trades. Two settings decide what it does with them, and both start on "Ignore them".

### "Exits and stop moves"

Instructions that protect a trade already open:

- close it ("close", "exit", "stop the trade"); a close also cancels that signal's orders still waiting;
- cancel an order that has not filled yet ("cancel the pending");
- move the stop-loss to the entry ("SL to BE") or to a tighter price;
- have the stop follow the price ("trail your SL 100 pips behind the price"): from then on the stop of every trade of that signal follows the best price at that distance, and only moves closer.

"Follow them" carries them out on this group's trades. "Ignore them" notes them and leaves the trade to your settings. Follow them for a group you trust to look after its trades: a group that says "close now" usually sees something coming.

Example: you hold a gold buy from the group and it posts "Close gold now". Followed: the app closes that trade and cancels its orders still waiting. Ignored: the trade stays open with its stop-loss and take-profit.

### "Partial closes and target moves"

Instructions that manage the profit: close part of it ("close 20%", "take half") or move its take-profit. Your own settings already decide this (how a signal is shared across its take-profits, how the stop moves at each one, runners), so leave these ignored unless you trust the group's management more.

- A partial close takes that share of the signal's open lots, rounded down to the broker's lot step. Whole trades go first, the one with the nearest take-profit first and the runner last. It never closes more than asked, and a trade closed in part keeps at least the broker's smallest lot.
- A target move changes the take-profit and keeps the stop.
- Example: three trades of 0.02 lots on gold and "close half": half of 0.06 is 0.03, so the TP1 trade closes whole and 0.01 comes out of the TP2 trade.

Both followed at once can surprise you: a group's "close 20% at TP1" comes on top of the share your settings already close at TP1. With the defaults, "TP1 hit, close 20% and move SL to breakeven" changes nothing. With only "Exits and stop moves" followed, it moves the stop to the entry and closes nothing more.

### Which trade a message is about

1. **A reply.** A message that replies to the signal acts on that signal's trades. This is the surest link, so groups that reply to their own signal give the best results.
2. **A named symbol.** Otherwise, the one open trade from this group on the symbol it names.
3. **No symbol.** Otherwise, the only trade open from this group.

If more than one trade could fit, nothing changes and the app says why: "2 open trades on XAUUSD from this listener — not guessing which one, nothing was changed."

### What the app never does

- **It never widens a stop.** A stop only moves closer to the price. "SL 1.0950" for a trade whose stop is at 1.0970 is refused. A trade with no stop takes any stop, since any stop tightens it.
- **It moves nothing given only in pips.** "SL 20 pips" or "move stop 20 pips into profit" is left to your trailing stop and runner settings. The trail instruction above is the one exception.
- **It never closes a trade by moving a stop.** If the price is already past the new stop ("SL to BE" on a trade in loss), the stop stays and the app says so: close the trade if that is what the group means.
- **The broker's minimum distance.** A stop asked too close to the price goes as close as the broker allows, when that still protects more than the current stop.

### Other things to know

- Messages such as "close it" or "SL to BE" with no number are read while the group has a trade open or an order waiting, the only time they can act.
- A listener on "Watch — record only" only records the instruction. A Manual listener applies it without asking.
- A message older than "Max signal age (min)" when the app reads it is not applied.
- Every instruction shows in Activity and in the signal's story, followed or not, with its reason. Follow-ups never count toward your daily signals.
- Changing a stop or closing part of a trade needs MetaTrader 5 running and connected to the app.

## When the group posts the stop-loss later

Some groups post the entry first and the stop in a later message.

- **"Require stop-loss" on:** the first message is skipped because it has no stop, so the later stop has no trade to act on.
- **"Require stop-loss" off:** the trade goes in with the default stop for its kind of instrument, sized from that stop. When the group then posts its stop:
  - with "Exits and stop moves" on "Follow them", a stop closer to the price than the default is applied, which lowers the risk; a stop further away than the default is never moved to;
  - with "Ignore them", the message is noted and the trade keeps the default stop.
- **A trade that went in with no stop** (default "No stop") has no protection at the broker until the group or you set one. With "Follow them", the group's stop is applied when it comes.
- **"Own stop-loss" on:** every signal trades with your stop from the start, and the group's later stop follows the same rules.

For such a group, a common setup is "Require stop-loss" off, a default stop that matches the group's usual stops, and "Exits and stop moves" on "Follow them" for that listener.

Calls with no numbers at all ("GOLD BUY NOW") are read only when the listener's "Read calls without a number" is on, and a call with no stop-loss is refused while "Require stop-loss" is on.

## A group with its own stop rules

Under a listener's "Settings of its own", a group can have its own "Require stop-loss", "Own stop-loss", "Own stop-loss (pips)", "Exits and stop moves" and "Partial closes and target moves". The four default stops per kind stay the profile's. See https://relay2trade.com/help/settings-overview.md.

## If something goes wrong

- **A signal without a stop traded with no stop at all.** "Require stop-loss" is off and the default stop for that kind is on "No stop". Type a distance for that kind under "Stop-loss", or turn "Require stop-loss" on.
- **Every signal from one group is skipped for "no stop-loss".** The group posts its stop later, or never. Turn "Require stop-loss" off for that listener and check the default stops.
- **The stop the app placed is far from what the group meant.** The default stop came from the wrong kind: a symbol the app does not recognise counts as forex. Use "Own stop-loss" for that listener, or require a stop.
- **The group said "close" and the trade stayed open.** "Exits and stop moves" is on "Ignore them" (the default), the listener is on Watch, or the message did not say which trade and several were open. The signal's story gives the reason.
- **"SL to BE" did nothing.** The price was already past the entry, the stop was already there, or the broker's minimum distance allowed no better stop. The story says which.
- **The app closed half my trade.** "Partial closes and target moves" is on "Follow them", for the profile or that listener.
- **"Refused: a stop at … would risk more on position … than the trade was sized for."** The group's new stop was further from the price than the current one. The app only tightens.
- **The group's "SL 20 pips" was not followed.** Moves given only in pips are left to your trailing and runner settings.

## Related

- https://relay2trade.com/help/take-profits-trailing-runners.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/sizing-and-risk.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/listeners-and-modes.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/why-a-signal-was-skipped.md
- https://relay2trade.com/features/settings