Point vs Pip in MetaTrader 5: Which Unit an EA Setting Uses

A point is the unit MetaTrader uses for price distances on a symbol. A pip is a convention among traders. On a forex quote with five decimals the two differ by a factor of ten, and an EA setting does not always say which one it means.

The MetaQuotes documentation was checked on 1 October 2026. AI assisted with research and drafting. RoboXpert develops its own trading software, so we have a commercial interest in this subject; see our editorial standards and commercial disclosure.

What a point is in MetaTrader 5

Every symbol has a number of digits, which the symbol specification defines as the “number of decimal places in the price of the symbol”, and a point value. The MQL5 variable _Point “contains the point size of the current symbol in the quote currency.” On a EURUSD quote such as 1.10000, with five digits, the point is 0.00001.

The word “pip” does not appear among the symbol properties of the MQL5 reference. MetaTrader calculates with points and with the tick size, the “minimal price change” of the symbol.

Point vs pip on common quotes

The table puts the two units side by side for three quote formats. The last column is the factor between an input in points and the same distance in pips.

The prices are illustrations. Your broker’s digits decide which row applies. For indices, metals and other symbols there is no single pip convention, so read the specification and work in points.

Where MetaTrader uses points

The quotations come from the symbol specification and the MQL5 reference.

• Spread. The specification shows the “spread in points”.
• Stops level. The minimum distance for stop loss, take profit and pending orders is a “channel of prices (in points) from the current price”.
• Deviation. A trade request states “the maximal price deviation, specified in points”; see slippage.
• Swap. One of the swap types charges swaps “in points”; see swap.

A script can print the values for the chart’s symbol:

Print("Digits: ", _Digits, ", point: ", DoubleToString(_Point, _Digits), ", tick size: ", SymbolInfoDouble(_Symbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE));
Print("Spread in points: ", SymbolInfoInteger(_Symbol, SYMBOL_SPREAD));

These lines come from our read-only script, which compiled with zero errors and zero warnings on 1 October 2026. We did not run it on an account, so we show no output.

A typical mistake: a point input read as pips

Take a hypothetical EA with the input StopLoss = 200 on five-digit EURUSD. If the developer meant points, the stop is 0.00200 away, which is 20 pips. If you assume pips, you expect a stop ten times as far.

In money, with the figures from our lot size guide: 0.10 lots on a contract size of 100,000, on a USD account, lose $20 over 20 pips and $200 over 200 pips. A stop that is ten times as far makes the loss per trade ten times as large. Before changing such an input, read the EA’s documentation or test the value on a demo chart and measure the distance of the stop it places.