Right-click a symbol in MetaTrader's Market Watch and choose Specification and you get a table of terms — digits, contract size, stops level, tick value, swap long… These numbers decide how your orders behave and what each pip is worth, yet most beginners never open the window. This page explains each field. Exact names differ slightly between MT4, MT5, cTrader and broker web platforms, and the values are set by each broker, so always read your own platform's specification.
Price format: digits, point and pip
| Field | Meaning | EUR/USD example |
|---|---|---|
| Digits | Number of decimal places in the quote. | 5 (1.08503) |
| Point | Smallest price increment = 10−digits. Platform settings like stops level are given in points, not pips. | 0.00001 |
| Pip | Not a platform field. By convention 0.0001 (0.01 for JPY pairs), i.e. 10 points on a 5-digit quote. | 0.0001 = 10 points |
| Tick size | Minimum price change used for profit calculation (usually equal to the point for forex). | 0.00001 |
| Tick value | Profit or loss per lot for a one-tick move, in the account currency. | $1.00 per lot (USD account) |
| Contract size | Units of the base currency in 1.00 lot. | 100,000 |
Points vs pips — the most common confusion
On a 5-digit EUR/USD quote, a stop "100 away" in the platform means 100 points = 10 pips. Expert advisors and scripts written for 4-digit quotes often break on 5-digit brokers for exactly this reason.
Order distance limits: stops level and freeze level
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Stops level (Limit & Stop level) | Minimum distance, in points, between the current price and a new stop-loss, take-profit or pending order. With a stops level of 20 on EUR/USD you cannot place a stop closer than 20 points (2 pips) to the market. 0 means no fixed minimum (the spread still applies). |
| Freeze level | Distance in points within which existing orders can no longer be modified or deleted because they are about to trigger. |
| Spread | Current or fixed difference between bid and ask, in points. "Floating" means it varies with market conditions. |
An "invalid stops" error when placing an order usually means the stop or limit is inside the stops level, or on the wrong side of the price. See order types.
Size limits
- Minimal volume — the smallest order, commonly 0.01 lot (1,000 units).
- Volume step — the increment between allowed sizes, commonly 0.01.
- Maximal volume — the largest single order.
These matter for small accounts, where the correct size may be below the minimal volume.
Swap (rollover) fields
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Swap type | How the swap is expressed: in points, in money, or as an annual interest percentage. |
| Swap long / swap short | Amount credited (positive) or charged (negative) per lot for holding a long or short position past the daily rollover. It reflects the interest-rate difference between the two currencies plus the broker's markup, so both sides can be negative. |
| 3-day swap | The weekday on which three days of swap are applied — usually Wednesday for forex, because spot trades settle two business days later (T+2) and a Wednesday rollover covers the weekend. |
Margin and calculation fields
- Calculation mode — e.g. Forex (margin = lots × contract size ÷ leverage), CFD or Forex No Leverage.
- Margin currency — the currency the margin is calculated in, normally the base currency.
- Profit currency — the currency P/L is calculated in, normally the quote currency, then converted to your account currency.
- Hedged margin — the margin charged on opposite positions in the same symbol (where hedging is allowed).
- Execution mode — Instant, Request, Market or Exchange execution, which affects requotes and slippage.
- Sessions — the quoting and trading hours for the symbol, in server time.
With these fields you can reproduce every number on our calculators: pip value = tick value × (pip ÷ tick size), margin = lots × contract size × price ÷ leverage (converted into the account currency). Try them with the pip value and margin calculators.
Last reviewed: October 4, 2026