Forex to Futures Trade Copying

How to copy MT4 trades to a Tradovate futures account

You can keep MetaTrader 4 as the place where you trade and still have a Tradovate futures account take every position. This guide sets that up with TradeCopier.cloud: the MT4 account is the master, the Tradovate account follows it, a symbol alias tells the copier which contract stands in for each CFD, and every copy is placed in whole contracts. Both accounts are connected from the cloud, so nothing has to be installed or left running on your computer.

Master-to-Slave Sync

Source / Master

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

The master is the MT4 account you already trade, at a forex/CFD broker or a prop firm. Orders can come from you or from an Expert Advisor: the copier reads the account itself, connected with its login, password and broker server.

Open Positions

Sizing

Lots

Latest Event

E01

OPEN#12847593

BUY US30 @ 2.00 lot

Opened #12847593 at 42150. TP 42180 / SL 42128.

Master execution confirmed and queued for copy.

Log History

OPEN#12847593

E01

BUY US30 @ 2.00 lot

Opened #12847593 at 42150. TP 42180 / SL 42128.

Relay

Destination / Slaves

Tradovate

The follower is a Tradovate login connected through Tradovate's own sign-in, so your password stays with Tradovate. Any Tradovate login works here, whether it's a NinjaTrader brokerage account, a prop evaluation or a funded account, and it only ever trades whole contracts.

Route Layout

1 master -> 1 destination

Follower Sizing

Per account

Slave 1

Tradovate

Tradovate mirror route

Synced

OPEN#12847593

BUY 2 MYM contracts

Opened #12847593 at 42150. TP 42180 / SL 42128.

Why add a Tradovate account to an MT4 setup?

Plenty of FX prop traders run an Expert Advisor or a manual plan on MT4 and later add a futures account, such as a prop evaluation or NinjaTrader brokerage, that runs on Tradovate. Placing every trade twice, on two platforms with different symbols and sizes, is slow and easy to get wrong. With the Tradovate account set up as a follower, MT4 stays your only trading screen and the futures account takes the same direction on the matching contract.

How it works

The copier watches the MT4 master and, when a position opens or closes there, places the matching order on Tradovate. Two things differ from copying MT4 to another forex account: the Tradovate follower needs an alias naming the contract for each CFD, and the size is converted from lots to whole contracts. The setup:

Add your MT4 account as a master with its login, password and broker server.
Sign in to Tradovate from the dashboard. Tradovate's page opens in a popup and lists the login's active accounts once you're in.
Add the Tradovate account as a follower and pick the MT4 account as its master. Forex/CFD masters are listed next to futures ones.
Add a symbol alias for each CFD you trade, written exactly as MT4 shows it, suffix included: US30=YM for the E-mini Dow, or US30=MYM for the micro. The alias names the contract root, and the copier trades the current front-month contract.
Pick a sizing mode. With Contract Multiplier, lots × the multiplier gives the number of contracts, rounded to a whole number; Fixed Contracts always opens the number you set. Equity-to-Equity and Risk Multiplier are there too.
Place a test trade on MT4 that works out to one contract, and check that the Tradovate account opens and closes it.

Things to consider

A CFD lot and a futures contract rarely carry the same exposure: one YM contract is worth $5 per index point and one MYM contract $0.50, while a US30 lot depends on your broker's contract size, so work out the multiplier before you copy at full size. Each copy is rounded to whole contracts, and when the rounding gives zero, as it does for a 0.1-lot trade at a multiplier of 1, nothing is opened; use Fixed Contracts if you trade small lot sizes. If you scale out on MT4, the follower cuts its contracts in proportion, to the nearest whole contract, and if that rounds to zero it keeps the position until a later close. CME futures and your broker's CFDs don't keep the same hours, so a copy can be rejected while the futures market is shut. Check both firms' rules on copying between accounts before you start.

Frequently asked questions

Can MT4 copy trades to Tradovate?

Yes. Add the MT4 account as the master and the Tradovate account as a follower, give the follower an alias for each CFD, and each MT4 trade is placed on Tradovate in whole contracts.

Which CFD maps to which futures contract?

Whichever contract you name in the alias. Common pairings are US30 to YM or MYM, US2000 to RTY or M2K, XAUUSD to GC or MGC, US500 to ES or MES and NAS100 to NQ or MNQ. The CFD half has to match your MT4 symbol exactly, so include any suffix your broker adds.

Can I use micros?

Yes. Point the alias at the micro contract, such as US30=MYM or XAUUSD=MGC. The alias builder has presets for the usual micro pairings, which you can edit to match your broker's symbol names.

Do MT4 or NinjaTrader have to stay open?

No. TradeCopier.cloud connects both accounts from its own servers, so neither MT4 nor NinjaTrader has to run on your computer. If an Expert Advisor places your MT4 trades, that EA still has to keep running wherever you host it.

What if my CFD position is too small for one contract?

Then nothing is opened on Tradovate. The lot size is converted to contracts and rounded to a whole number, and a result of zero means no copy. If you trade small sizes such as 0.1 lots, choose Fixed Contracts so each trade opens a set number of contracts.

More ways to copy from MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

Copy to Tradovate from other platforms

Copy Tradovate to Tradovate

Copying from futures to forex/CFD instead? Read the Tradovate to MT5 guide.

Platform guides: Tradovate copy trading · NinjaTrader copy trading · MT4 on TradeCopier.cloud

See every platform and combination on the supported platforms page.

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