MT4 & MT5 Journal Log Guide (2026): Decode 'Off Quotes', 'Invalid Stops', Requotes & Fill Latency

Detailed Explanation

When a trade fails to open, closes at an unexpected price, or rejects a stop-loss modification, most retail traders stare at the candlestick chart. That is like trying to diagnose an aircraft fault by looking out the passenger window.

Every MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 client terminal maintains two distinct plain-text log streams on your local storage drive (File → Open Data Folder):

1. The Terminal Journal (.../Logs/YYYYMMDD.log): Records connection handshakes, server ping changes, manual order transmissions, dealer/server responses, fill prices, and execution duration in milliseconds.
2. The Experts Log (.../MQL4/Logs/ or .../MQL5/Logs/): Records output from Expert Advisors (EAs), custom indicators, and automated OrderSend() return codes documented in the MQL5 Trade Server Return Codes reference.

As the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the FCA Best Execution rules (COBS 11.2A) note, electronic FX execution involves a chain of timestamps: client order generation → network transit → broker gateway → liquidity book matching → client confirmation. Your local Journal log captures the exact boundaries of that loop.

Detailed Explanation

Use this diagnostic matrix whenever an order is rejected in MT4 or MT5:

Detailed Explanation

Many traders confuse Off quotes and Requote, but they tell you two completely different things about your broker's execution engine:

1. Why Requote (138 / 10004) Happens: On an Instant Execution account, you click Buy at 1.08500. Your order takes 110 milliseconds to reach the server. In those 110 ms, the market ticks to 1.08504. Because Instant Execution promises "fill at my exact clicked price or ask me first," the server halts execution and sends a Requote popup.
2. Why Off quotes (136 / 10021) Happens: Off quotes occurs when the server cannot match a valid quote within the allowed execution window. There are three distinct causes:
   • Liquidity Vacuum (LP Quote Pull): In the 2 seconds before and after Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), CPI, or at the 17:00 NY rollover, upstream liquidity providers briefly pull top-of-book quotes or reject orders under "last-look" windows. If no valid executable price exists for your volume tier, the server returns Off quotes.
   • Maximum Deviation Breach Without Requote Fallback: On certain bridged setups, if price gaps beyond the liquidity bridge's protection threshold while your packet is in flight, the bridge drops the order as Off quotes rather than filling you 40 pips away.
   • Client-Side Packet Loss / High Ping: If you trade over congested mobile data or unstable Wi-Fi, your order packet arrives after the quote tick ID has already expired on the server.

Compare how execution modes handle fast markets in our ECN vs STP vs Market Maker broker guide.

Detailed Explanation

Whenever MT4 throws Error 130 or MT5 throws Invalid stops (10016), the server is enforcing a mathematical distance rule published inside the symbol's Contract Specification (Ctrl+U → Specification):

1. Stops Level (Minimum Distance in Points): Every symbol defines a Stops Level in points (the 5th decimal on EUR/USD, or 2nd decimal on XAU/USD), not standard pips. If Stops Level = 30 points (3.0 pips on EUR/USD), you cannot place a Stop-Loss, Take-Profit, or pending order within 3.0 pips of the current execution price. Read our dedicated guide on pips vs points in MetaTrader stop-loss settings.
2. Freeze Level (Modification Lock Zone): If a symbol has a non-zero Freeze Level (e.g., 20 points), once live price comes within 20 points of an open position's Stop-Loss, Take-Profit, or pending order, the order is frozen—you cannot modify or delete it until price moves out of the freeze zone or the order triggers.
3. The Bid vs. Ask Reference Rule (The #1 Culprit):
   • For a Buy position, your Stop-Loss and Take-Profit trigger on the Bid price—so they must be at least Stops Level points away from the current Bid.
   • For a Sell position, your Stop-Loss and Take-Profit trigger on the Ask price—so they must be at least Stops Level points away from the current Ask.

Detailed Explanation

When a funded, verified trader sees Trade is disabled (133 / 10017) or Not enough money (134 / 10019), the cause is rarely a broken terminal:

• The Symbol Suffix Trap (Trade is disabled): Multi-account brokers keep several price feeds on the same MT4/MT5 server:
  • Standard account: EURUSD
  • Micro / Ultra Low / Cent / Raw account: EURUSDm, EURUSD#, EURUSD.r, or EURUSDc If you log into an Ultra Low or Micro account and open a chart for bare EURUSD, the chart displays prices so EAs and indicators can read it, but trading on that symbol is disabled for your account group (Trade mode: Disabled in Contract Specifications). Always right-click Market Watch → Show All, and look for the symbols rendered in bold/dark text rather than greyed-out text.
• The Investor Password Trap (Trade is disabled): If you logged in using your Investor (read-only) password instead of your Master trading password, the Buy/Sell buttons are locked and the Journal logs Trade is disabled. See our how to log into MT4 and MT5 server and password guide.
• Dynamic Margin & Tiered Leverage (Not enough money): Many brokers reduce maximum leverage automatically during the 15 minutes before and 5 minutes after high-impact news or before the Friday weekend close (for example, capping leverage at 1:200 instead of 1:1000). A lot size that worked at 10:00 AM can return Not enough money at 1:20 PM right before US CPI. Read our balance, equity, free margin, and margin level explainer.