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This is a quick “how-to” guide to backtesting EAs on a renko chart created as a Custom Symbol on Metatrader 5. You can generate renko charts for backtesting using the Renko Generator for Metatrader 5.

The settings

When you start the renko generator (Renko GenX) EA, you need to make sure that you use the following settings (outlined in red). All of the remaining inputs can be set according to your preference. The “show wicks” inputs should always be set to “yes”. This way, the tested EA will not miss a tick.

Once the chart generates, you can close the EA. The renko custom symbol will be available as a symbol in the strategy tester. Please note that you need to use M1 as the renko price action is recorded on that timeframe.

Of course, you also need to select the EA you wish to test from the “Expert” dropdown, and you may start the backtesting process.

The backtest process

At first, you may notice that the renko chart is a bit strange looking, but this is what we want. We want to capture the entire price action for each renko brick, and only the settings above will enforce this.

As you can see, the EA utilizes the correct renko price action in the backtest. You may use the “Every tick” modeling, as well as the “Open prices only” model. The latter, only if your EA does not use the movement inside a forming renko brick.

Is live trading possible on mt5 custom symbols?

Native live trading on custom symbols is not possible on MT5 by design. Custom symbols are synthetic instruments therefore they don’t exist in real life. However, there is a way around this restriction for charts such as renko, range bars, tick charts, and other custom symbols based on one tradeable asset.

The easiest way is to utilize a trade panel or EA that will place trades directly on the tradeable asset used to create the custom chart (such as GBPUSD).