MT5 EA Daily Monitoring Checklist — 5 Things to Check Every Day

Once you've set up your EA on a VPS, it's tempting to think "it runs itself now." It doesn't. EAs can stop silently due to errors, broker issues, or VPS reboots — and if you don't catch it, you lose trading days. This guide shows the daily routine that keeps your EA running safely for the long term.

Recommended Check Frequency

What to check	Frequency
Expert tab log review	Daily (morning)
Open positions	Daily (1–2 times)
Margin level	Daily (more if margin is tight)
Weekly P&L	Every Monday
VPS uptime	Weekly
MT5 updates	Monthly

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Check 1: Expert Tab Error Log

The Expert tab in MT5 (bottom panel) shows every EA's runtime log in chronological order.

Normal log example

2026.05.18 09:00:01 GOLD EMA ATR EA: No signal. ATR=1245, EMA50=1998.23
2026.05.18 10:00:01 GOLD EMA ATR EA: BUY SIGNAL confirmed. Lot=0.02, SL=1996.00, TP=2003.50
2026.05.18 10:00:02 GOLD EMA ATR EA: Order placed successfully. Ticket #12345678

Logs that need attention

ERR_NO_MONEY (134)        → Insufficient margin — can't open position
ERR_TRADE_DISABLED (4109) → AutoTrading is OFF in MT5
ERR_MARKET_CLOSED (132)   → Outside trading hours (weekends, holidays)
ERR_INVALID_STOPS (130)   → SL/TP too close to current price

See our MQL5 / MT5 Error Code Reference for a complete list and fixes.

Recommended check workflow

1. Open MT5 → click "Expert" tab at the bottom
2. Search for "Error", "ERR_", or "Failed" in today's entries
3. If errors are present, check the Error Code Reference and apply the fix
4. After fixing, restart the EA or remove and re-attach it to the chart

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Check 2: Open Positions

Open the "Trade" tab and confirm:

• Number of open positions: Are there positions that didn't close as expected?
• Holding duration: Are positions held longer than the EA's strategy timeframe?
• Floating loss: Is any single position showing unusually large unrealized loss?
• Stop-loss / take-profit: Are SL and TP correctly set on every position?

Stale position warning

If a position has been open for more than ~3× the EA's typical holding period (e.g., H1 EA holding more than 4–6 hours), one of these may have happened:

• TP wasn't reached and the EA waits for stop-loss
• TP was set too far away (parameter issue)
• Manual stop-loss hit but the EA didn't close (rare)

When unsure, close the position manually rather than letting unlimited drawdown accumulate.

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Check 3: Margin Level

Margin level = (Equity ÷ Used Margin) × 100

Margin level	Status	Action
1000% or higher	Safe	Continue running
500–1000%	Normal	Monitor
200–500%	Caution	Reduce lot size or close some positions
Below 200%	Danger	Manual close to avoid stop-out
Below 100%	Critical	Broker may auto-liquidate

Margin level alert

We strongly recommend EAs that ship with UseMarginEmergencyClose=true (default 150% in our distributions). This auto-closes all positions before broker margin call, protecting from forced liquidation.

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Check 4: Weekly P&L Review

Run this every Monday morning.

Reports tab

1. MT5 → "Reports" tab → set date range to the last 7 days
2. Check:
   • Net P&L: Realistic compared to backtest expectation?
   • Trade count: Roughly matching the EA's typical weekly count?
   • Win rate: Within ±10pt of backtest figure?
   • Maximum drawdown: Within 1.5× backtest max DD?

Weekly comparison template

Week of: YYYY-MM-DD

EA:                  GOLD EMA ATR EA
Trade count:         12
Win rate:            58.3% (BT: 56.5%)
Profit factor:       1.43 (BT: 1.41)
Net P&L:             +$48.50 (+0.49%)
Max drawdown:        2.1% (BT max: 14.5%)
Notes: 

When weekly figures are within reason, do nothing. Performance fluctuates — the goal is to spot structural problems, not chase noise.

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Check 5: VPS Uptime (Weekly)

For VPS-hosted EAs, do this weekly:

• VPS uptime: Has the server rebooted unexpectedly?
• MT5 auto-start: Did MT5 launch automatically after reboot?
• AutoTrading button: Is the green "AutoTrading" button still on?
• Smiley face: Is each chart showing the smiley face (EA active) icon?

After a VPS reboot, verify

1. MT5 is running
2. AutoTrading toolbar button is ON (green)
3. Each chart shows a smiley face icon in the top-right
4. "Algo Trading" is enabled in Tools → Options → Expert Advisors

If any of these are off, the EA stopped. Re-enable and check that the Expert log shows recent entries.

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Monthly Maintenance Checklist

In addition to daily/weekly checks, do these monthly:

• MT5 update check — Help → Check Updates. Restart MT5 after updates so EA picks up the new binary
• VPS Windows updates — Apply security patches during low-trading hours (weekends)
• Account password rotation — Change MT5 investor password (read-only) and main password
• Backup MQL5/Experts/ folder — Save your EA .ex5 files in case of VPS failure
• Review monthly P&L vs backtest expectation — Big deviation = investigate, don't blindly change parameters

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Common Trouble Patterns

Pattern 1: "EA was running yesterday but no trades today"

Most likely causes:

• AutoTrading button got switched off (often by accident)
• MT5 was restarted but didn't auto-relaunch
• The pair's market is closed (holiday)
• Spread filter (MaxSpread) was triggered by widening spreads

Check Expert log for messages like Spread too wide or AutoTrading disabled.

Pattern 2: "Same loss happens repeatedly"

Most likely causes:

• The market entered an environment the EA wasn't optimized for
• Broker spread widened significantly (check your broker's spread history)
• News event impact (was there a major release recently?)

Don't change parameters reactively — wait for 30+ trades of data before deciding.

Pattern 3: "Profitable in backtest, losing in live"

Common causes:

• Slippage worse than backtest assumed (especially for scalping EAs)
• Spread in live broker wider than backtest setting
• Latency to broker server is high (VPS too far from broker DC)

Solutions:

• Tighten MaxSlippage parameter
• Switch to a broker with lower spreads (Exness Raw, IC Markets, etc.)
• Choose a VPS in the same region as your broker

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Summary

Daily EA monitoring isn't optional — it's how you catch problems before they cost you trading days or capital.

The 5-minute morning routine:

1. Expert tab → search for errors
2. Trade tab → confirm no stale positions
3. Margin level → check headroom
4. Smiley face → confirm EA is active
5. AutoTrading button → confirm green

Add the weekly P&L review and the monthly maintenance checks, and your EA will run reliably for the long term.

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Related Articles

• MQL5 / MT5 Error Code Reference — ERR_NO_MONEY, ERR_TRADE_DISABLED & more
• Best VPS for MT5 EA in 2026
• How to Backtest MT5 EAs Properly
• EA Drawdown Management