MT5 stop out and margin call explained

How margin level, margin call and stop out relate, why the thresholds belong to your broker, and how a forced close looks in your history.

Margin level, margin call and stop out are three phrases that traders hear together and rarely see defined. They describe one chain of events: your free margin shrinks, your broker warns you, and eventually the platform closes positions for you. The thresholds are not set by MetaTrader 5 itself. They are set by your broker, which is why one account can survive a move that ends another. This page explains the chain, shows the arithmetic with invented numbers, and covers how a forced close appears in your trade history so you can recognise it in a journal.

Margin level: the number everything hangs on

Margin level is shown in the Trade tab of the Toolbox as a percentage, and it is equity divided by used margin, times 100. Equity is your balance plus or minus the floating profit or loss on open positions. Used margin is the amount the broker holds to keep those positions open. Because equity moves with every price tick, margin level moves too. For the field-by-field explanation of that tab, see MT5 margin level explained.

A high margin level means plenty of room. A falling one means that either your floating loss is growing or you are holding more margin than your equity comfortably supports. Nothing happens to your positions just because the number falls. Consequences begin when it crosses the thresholds your broker has set.

Margin call and stop out are two different levels

• Margin call level. A warning threshold. When margin level falls to it, the broker's system flags the account, and many brokers send a notice or show a warning. Depending on the broker, it may also stop you from opening new positions. It does not by itself close anything.
• Stop out level. The point where the platform starts closing positions automatically. It is lower than the margin call level. One broker's published help page, for example, describes a stop out at 50% for retail accounts and a different value for professional accounts, and describes closing beginning with the largest losing position. Another broker will use other numbers. Always read your own account terms.

Two cautions about those figures. First, the numbers above are an example of what some brokers publish, not a rule of MetaTrader 5. Second, how the platform picks which position to close, and how many it closes, depends on the account type and the server's rules, so do not assume the order from a general article, including this one. Your broker's account terms or support can tell you.

The arithmetic, step by step (hypothetical)

Suppose an account has a balance of $2,000, no floating profit at the start, and open positions that need $400 of margin. Margin level is 2,000 / 400 = 500%. Now the positions move against you by $1,000. Equity falls to $1,000 and margin level to 1,000 / 400 = 250%. If the move continues until floating loss is $1,600, equity is $400 and margin level is 100%, which means equity just equals the margin held. If the broker's stop out is 50% in this account, the platform would begin closing positions when equity reaches $200, a floating loss of $1,800 against used margin of $400, assuming nothing else changed.

The point is not the specific numbers. It is that margin level falls fast once the account is carrying a large position relative to its equity, and that a forced close usually happens at a worse moment and price than a closing you chose. Closing a position reduces used margin and can lift the margin level, which is why traders reduce size when the number worries them. This is general information, not a recommendation on what to do with a position.

What a stop out looks like in your trade history

When the platform closes a position because of a stop out, the closing deal carries a reason and a comment. The comment commonly starts with 'so:' followed by the margin level at that moment, and the deal's reason is recorded as stop out. You can see the comment column on the History tab if it is enabled for your view. Our guide to MT5 history comments (sl, tp, so) explains these markers in full.

This matters for a journal, because a stop out is not a normal exit. You did not choose the price, the timing or sometimes even the size. A useful journal separates forced closes from planned exits, so the statistics for your strategy are not distorted by an event that came from account size, not from the setup. In AI Trading Journal the closed position appears like any other entry with its net result, and you can tag it and write a note about what led to it. The app records the trade; it does not label the reason for you, so the tag and the note are yours to add.

Ways traders keep margin level healthy

• Size from the stop, not from the margin available. Risk a fixed small share of equity per trade, and let that set the lot size. The position size calculator does the arithmetic.
• Count total exposure. Five positions that look small together can use more margin than one large one. Check used margin in the Trade tab.
• Watch leverage. Higher leverage lowers margin per lot and so makes oversized trades easier to open. It raises the risk of a rapid slide in margin level.
• Know your broker's levels before you need them. Look them up once, and write them in your journal's account notes.
• Mind swap and commission. They reduce equity too, though slowly.

Limits of this page

• Margin call and stop out values, and the order of closing, are set by your broker. Verify them in your account terms.
• The numbers in the examples are invented for illustration.
• Nothing here is financial advice or a recommendation to hold or close any trade.

Closing everything yourself looks different from a stop out: see close all positions in history.

Frequently asked questions

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