MT5 symbol specification explained: the fields that decide your results

Contract size, tick value, margin, stops level, swap and sessions: what each field means and how to keep a checklist for the symbols you trade.

Every symbol in MetaTrader 5 comes with a Specification window that lists how that instrument behaves on your broker’s server: how big a lot is, how profit and margin are calculated, how many digits the price has, which stops distance is allowed, what swap is charged and when the market is open. Most traders open it once, if ever, and then wonder later why a gold trade paid differently on a second account or why a stop was refused. This page walks through the fields that matter for a trading journal, explains what each one controls and shows how to turn them into a short checklist you can keep next to your notes. The wording of individual fields can differ slightly between brokers and terminal builds, so treat the names below as a guide and confirm them in your own terminal.

How to open the Specification window

Open Market Watch (View, then Market Watch, or press Ctrl+M), right-click the symbol and choose Specification. A table opens with a long list of parameters. If the symbol is not in the list, right-click inside Market Watch, choose Symbols or Show All, and add it first. The window is read-only: you are looking at settings your broker chose, not changing them. If you trade the same instrument on two brokers, open the window on both and compare the rows; it is the quickest way to explain a difference in profit, margin or swap.

The fields that decide your results

Field	What it controls	Why a journal cares
Digits	Decimal places in the price	Defines what one point is; gold and index symbols vary by broker
Contract size	Units of the asset in one lot	Directly scales profit and loss per price move
Tick size and tick value	Smallest price step and its money value	The base for profit per point; see the tick page
Profit currency	Currency in which profit is first calculated	Explains conversion differences on non-matching accounts
Margin currency	Currency in which margin is calculated	Matters for cross pairs and CFDs priced in other currencies
Calculation mode	Formula used for profit and margin (forex, CFD, futures, exchange)	Different modes give different results from the same move
Volume min, max, step	Smallest lot, largest lot, increment	Limits how finely you can size a position
Stops level and freeze level	Minimum distance for stops, and a zone where orders cannot change	Explains refused or rejected modifications
Swap type, long and short	How overnight financing is calculated and its rates	Explains positive or negative swap on held trades
Trade mode and execution	Whether trading is allowed and how fills happen	Explains why an order type was refused
Sessions	Quote and trade hours	Explains gaps, thin periods and daily breaks

Contract size, tick size and tick value

These three describe the money value of a move. The contract size tells you how many units one lot represents. The tick size is the smallest change the price can make, and the tick value is how much that step is worth per lot in the profit currency. If you know the tick size and tick value you can work out the value of any move without remembering anything about the instrument. Our pages on lot size and contract size and tick value and tick size go deeper, and how MT5 calculates profit shows the formula in use.

Margin fields

The margin rows tell you how much of your account is set aside when a position is open. They include the margin currency, the calculation mode and, for many CFDs, the initial and maintenance values. Leverage is usually set per account or per instrument group by the broker, so the same symbol can require a different margin on a different account. When free margin gets low, the margin level falls and a broker may close positions; see margin level explained and stop out and margin call. For planning a size before entering, the position size calculator uses the contract size and pip value you enter.

Stops level, freeze level and filling

Two rows trip up traders who place stops close to the price. The stops level is the minimum distance, in points, between the current price and a stop loss, take profit or pending order. The freeze level is a distance around the price inside which the server will not accept changes to orders or positions. A broker can set both to zero. The filling policies and the execution mode describe how an order is matched, for example whether it can be partially filled. If a trade is rejected with a message about invalid stops, compare your distance with these rows. Our page on stops level and freeze level explains the messages.

Swap rows and the three-day rule

The swap rows show the swap type, which can be in points, in money or as a percentage, plus separate values for long and short positions. Many symbols also show a day of the week on which swap is tripled to cover the weekend. Because that day and the values are set by the broker, the specification is the only reliable place to read them. Read MT5 swap explained for how a charge ends up in your history, and swap-free accounts if your account has no swap.

Sessions and trading hours

The sessions section lists quote and trade hours for each weekday, in the broker’s server time. Indices and metals often have a short daily break, and a symbol can stop accepting orders before the quote ends. The times are server times, which may differ from your local clock; MT5 server time explained shows how to convert. If you compare your results by hour of the day, you need to know which clock produced the hour.

Turn the specification into a one-page checklist

Per symbol you trade often: contract size, tick value, profit currency, minimum lot, stops level.
Per account: leverage, margin currency, whether swap-free, commission model.
Per broker: server time offset, the day of the triple swap, holiday notices.
When something looks wrong: screenshot the Specification window and paste it into the trade’s notes.

A screenshot of the specification next to a trade is cheap evidence if you later ask your broker why a figure differed. The journal’s notes and screenshots fields exist for exactly this kind of record; see screenshots of trades for your journal.

A worked example (hypothetical)

A trader runs the same gold strategy on two accounts. On Account A the specification shows a contract size of 100 and a tick value of 1.00 for a tick size of 0.01. On Account B the contract size is 100 as well, but the stops level is 30 points and the swap type is in money with a larger negative value for long positions. A 0.10 lot trade that moves 4.00 pays the same 40.00 on both. The difference shows up elsewhere: a tight stop is refused on B, and a three-day hold costs more on B. Without the specification the trader would only see a mismatch between two history lists and might blame the strategy.

Where a journal fits

AI Trading Journal does not change or read your broker’s settings. It reads each closed position from MetaTrader 5, combines profit, commission and swap into the result, merges partial closes, and dates the entry by the last exit on the broker’s clock. You add the context: setup, emotion, whether you followed your plan, a rating, tags, notes and screenshots. The specification tells you why a result looks the way it does; the journal helps you spot patterns across many trades. The app runs on Windows with MetaTrader 5, is read-only, and keeps its file on your own PC.

Limits of this page

Field names, units and availability differ by broker, symbol type and terminal build.
The example figures are hypothetical and do not describe any broker.
Specification values can change when a broker updates its settings, so re-check before relying on an old note.
This is not trading advice.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find the symbol specification in MT5?

Open Market Watch, right-click the symbol and choose Specification. If the symbol is missing, add it through the Symbols option first.

Why do two brokers show different contract sizes?

Brokers set their own symbol parameters. A different contract size changes the profit and margin per lot for the same price move.

What is the stops level?

It is the minimum distance in points between the price and a stop, take profit or pending order. A broker can set it to zero.

Is the specification the same on every account?

Not always. Leverage, commission and some symbol settings can differ by account type, so check each account.

Does AI Trading Journal read the specification?

No. It reads closed positions from MetaTrader 5 and you add notes. Use the specification to understand why a result looks the way it does.

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