Setting up sim account

[dtaylor]

Any one know how to set a sim account so it only allows as many contracts to be bought as you can buy with the initial cash in your account?
Like if you set the account at 10K you would only be able to buy 20 contracts.

[NinjaTrader_Clayton]

Hello dtaylor,

Thank you for writing in.

Within NinjaTrader, the platform will let you know if there are not enough funds in the simulated account to hold a position on an instrument.

As well, you may add a Risk Template to have the platform watch for Margin Violations as well.

• Go to the Control Center > Accounts tab
• Right-click on the Sim101 account > Click Edit Account...
• Risk > Choose the Risk Template that most closely matches your live account > Click OK

If you are unsure of what the Margins on your account are, please reach out to your broker directly to verify the values.

If you need to modify the Risk Template, please read through the Help Guide article below for more information:

• https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...ngHourTemplate

Finally, please see the following link for more information on how to customize and reset a Simulation account:

• https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...01_account.htm

[dtaylor]

Thank you for the reply. My sim account will let me take unlimited contracts. I have seen it before where it would match the money that's in the account but not sure how I did it. I can't seem to get it to work like that.

[NinjaTrader_Clayton]

Hello dtaylor,

Thank you for the update.

Looking at the screenshot provided, I can see that the "Risk" setting is set to <None>

• Adding the Risk Template will bring margins into the equation and more accurately reject orders you do not have the cash value to take.

If the Margins defined for the "Default" Risk Template are not in line with your Live account, you would want to go in and manually update them yourself.

• Go to the Control Center > Tools > Risk
• Click the Template > Modify as desired

Please see the following link for more information on setting up, using, and modifying the Risk Templates:

• https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...isk_window.htm

[dtaylor]

Thanks for pointing that out. Like you pointed out that does solve this issue of contracts matching the money in the account. One other issue I had is that once I have the account all in, I'm unable to scale out. My ATM takes 2 contracts at a time & I like to scale out in 2's but I get the error message in the pic when I try to scale out if all the account is in the trade. Any pointers would be apricated thank you.

[NinjaTrader_Clayton]

Hello dtaylor,

Thank you for writing in.

Since you are at the edge of your Margin, you would have to use a Buy Market or Sell Market order to scale out of the position. (depending on if you were long or short)

Using an ATM Strategy would cause another order to be placed that utilizes part of the margin and causes you to hit the error.

If you would like a more detailed explanation of how the orders and your margin correlate when scaling out, you would need to reach out to your broker directly.

[dtaylor]

Perfect, when I'm at the edge, I'll turn off my ATM to scale out. Great! problem solved.

[dtaylor]

Im having some trouble setting up sim accounts. I want to set up 2 accounts that match a ninja trader live lifetime account with $500. & $2,500. I should be able to grab 4 on ES & 8 on MES right? I can't seem to make that work None of the risk templates in the defaults are allowing me to buy at all says not enogh margin. I couldn't figure out how to edit the risk template. Thanks for the help.

[dtaylor]

With it se like this it does not limit buying power.

[dtaylor]

...........

[dtaylor]

I'm wondering how I can set it up to match my live account perfecly.

[dtaylor]

If I could figure out the setting that limits the buying power that would be great.

[NinjaTrader_Clayton]

Hello dtaylor,

Thank you for the follow-up question.

If the Risk Template you are currently using doesn't line up exactly as desired, you could create a copy of the Risk Template you are using and then modify the copy to match your Margins exactly.

• It is suggested to make a copy instead of modifying the Original one so that if the Original Risk Template is updated on the backend, it wouldn't modify your Custom Risk Template.

To Modify or Customize the Risk Templates:

• Go to the Control Center > Tools > Risk
• Copy the desired Risk Template on the left side of the window and then make modifications as desired
  • Please see the following link for more detailed information on setting up and modifying a Risk Template:
    • https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...ngHourTemplate

If you are unsure of your exact Margin Values, please reach out to your broker to get those values so you can adjust the Risk Template accordingly.