Lot size calculator for MT5.
Pick the symbol and your account currency, set the risk and the stop — get the position size in lots, units and money at risk. The pip value comes from the symbol's contract and the ECB exchange rate, so USDJPY, gold, the DAX or a EUR account are sized right, not with a flat $10 pip. Prop-firm mode checks the total against your daily loss limit.
Advanced: contract size, digits, lot step
{"action":"buy","symbol":"EURUSD","sl":20}
The sl is in pips the way the SignalForge EA counts them (SL/TP mode Pips, the default). With position size type Risk % in your dashboard and no lot in the alert, the EA sizes the order itself from your live balance. Use your broker's exact symbol name if it has a suffix.
Formula: lots = money at risk / (contract size × stop distance in price, converted to the account currency). Rounded down to your lot step. Exchange rates: ECB reference rates, refreshed daily, served from our own API; if it cannot be reached the calculator uses a built-in table and says so.
How the lot size is calculated
The question is always the same: how many lots can I trade so that my stop loss costs exactly my chosen risk? The calculator answers it in four steps.
- Money at risk = balance × risk %. With $100,000 at 1%, that is $1,000.
- Stop in price = pips × pip size. A pip is 0.0001 on EURUSD and 0.01 on USDJPY and on gold, so 20 pips on EURUSD is a move of 0.00200.
- Loss per 1.00 lot = contract size × stop in price, in the currency the symbol is quoted in, converted to your account currency. On EURUSD: 100,000 × 0.00200 = $200.
- Lots = money at risk / loss per lot, rounded down to the lot step: $1,000 / $200 = 5.00 lots.
Step 3 is where flat “$10 per pip” calculators go wrong. On USDJPY the loss is in yen, on GER40 it is in euros, and on a GBP or EUR account every dollar figure has to be converted. The same 20 pips cost different money on different symbols.
Worked examples (ECB rates of 30 October 2026)
| Symbol | Account | Risk | Stop | Loss per lot | Lots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD | USD 100,000 | 1% = $1,000 | 20 pips | $200.00 | 5.00 |
| USDJPY | USD 100,000 | 1% = $1,000 | 20 pips | ¥20,000 = $127.19 | 7.86 |
| EURGBP | EUR 50,000 | 1% = €500 | 15 pips | £150 = €179.90 | 2.77 |
| XAUUSD | USD 50,000 | 1% = $500 | $5.00 | $500.00 | 1.00 |
| GER40 | USD 100,000 | 0.5% = $500 | 30 points | €30 = $33.52 | 14.91 |
XAUUSD with a 100-ounce contract; GER40 with 1 EUR per index point per lot (check your broker's specification). Exchange rates move every day, so the yen, pound and euro rows shift slightly with them.
Pips, points and price distance
A point is the smallest step of the price, the last digit. On 5-digit forex quotes (EURUSD 1.08450) and 3-digit JPY quotes, one pip is 10 points. On gold, most indices and crypto, quoted with 2 or 1 digits, a pip and a point are the same thing — which is why the calculator lets you type the stop as a price distance for those: a $5.00 stop on gold or a 30-point stop on the DAX means the same on every platform.
Prop-firm accounts: size for the daily limit, not just the stop
The formula is correct and still not safe on a prop-firm account. Prop-firm daily limits are measured on equity across all open positions at once. Three trades at 1% each, all underwater in the same dollar-correlated move, is a 3% floating drawdown — deep into the 5% daily limit of FTMO's 2-Step Challenge (or right at the 3% limit of the 1-Step) before a single stop fires. Prop-firm mode divides a buffered daily limit (80% of the firm's, leaving room for spread spikes) across your maximum simultaneous trades and warns you when your per-trade risk exceeds it. The full rulebook, verified against FTMO's own pages, is in our FTMO rules guide for EA traders.
Sizing consistency is also a rule now
In FTMO's 1-Step Challenge, your best day cannot exceed 50% of your positive days' profit (Best Day Rule) — a direct argument for the same fixed risk percentage on every trade instead of doubling up when you feel confident. Pick one number here and leave it alone.
Daily loss limits (5% and 3%), the equity definition and the Best Day Rule: FTMO trading objectives (verified 5 October 2026).
Automating it
The box under the result gives you the alert message ready to paste into TradingView. With SignalForge you pick the position size type in your dashboard (fixed, risk % or the signal's lot); with risk % and an alert without a lot field, the EA sizes each MT5 order with this same math from the stop you send in sl (fields in the docs). On prop-firm accounts, Prop Firm Shield (Trader plan and up) watches the daily loss and the profit target and closes positions when they are hit — the part no calculator can do for you at 3 a.m. It does not enforce the firm's max drawdown. Test your alert format in the webhook tester or read the 4-step setup guide.
FAQ
THE SIZING QUESTIONS THAT COME UP MOST, FROM GOLD PIPS TO FUNDED ACCOUNTS.
What lot size for a $100,000 FTMO account?
At 1% risk and a 20-pip stop on EURUSD: 5.00 lots. But check prop-firm mode: with 3 simultaneous trades against a 5% daily limit, keep per-trade risk near 1.3% or below — at 3% per trade you can breach the daily limit with open floating losses alone.
How do I calculate lot size for gold (XAUUSD)?
On the usual 100-ounce contract, every $1.00 the gold price moves is worth $100 per 1.00 lot. Risking $500 with a $5.00 stop: 500 / (5 × 100) = 1.00 lot. Pip conventions for gold differ between platforms, so enter the stop as a price distance. The SignalForge EA counts one gold pip as 0.01 on a 2-digit quote, so that $5.00 stop is 500 pips in an alert.
What is a pip in MT5?
On 5-digit forex quotes (EURUSD 1.08450) one pip is 0.0001, which is 10 points; on 3-digit JPY quotes it is 0.01, also 10 points. On 2- and 1-digit symbols such as gold, most indices and crypto, one pip equals one point, the last digit of the price. That is also how the SignalForge EA reads the sl field in pips mode.
Where do I find the contract size in MT5?
In Market Watch, right-click the symbol and open Specification. Contract size, Digits, the minimal volume and the volume step are listed there. Index and crypto CFDs differ between brokers, so check them before trusting any calculator.
Does my account currency change the lot size?
Yes, whenever the symbol is quoted in another currency. The calculator converts the loss per lot into your account currency with the European Central Bank reference rates, refreshed daily. Your broker converts at its live price, so expect differences of a few cents.
Why round down and not to the nearest?
Rounding up increases risk beyond what you chose; rounding down keeps you inside it. Brokers step lots at 0.01, so 5.278 becomes 5.27.
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SignalForge AI is an order-execution tool. We do not provide investment advice. Trading involves risk of loss. This calculator is for information only; your broker's contract specification and live prices are what count.