Order Blocks and Breaker Blocks (SMC) - No Repaint, with Mitigation and Alerts

Related: Price Action Volumetric Order Blocks MT5 - another powerful indicator for MetaTrader 5 traders.

Order Blocks and Breaker Blocks Explained

An order block (OB) is defined as the last candle of the opposite color immediately preceding a significant price movement that breaks market structure. Traders utilizing Smart Money Concepts (SMC) and ICT methodologies closely monitor these candles, as price often revisits them before continuing its trend.

Also recommended: Pending Order Inspector MT5: Pre-Trade Analysis Tool - similar indicator with strong performance on MetaTrader 5.

Bullish Order Block: A bullish order block forms when a candle closes above a preceding swing high. Within the price leg leading to this break, the final down candle at or just before the lowest point is considered the bullish order block, acting as a support zone.

Bearish Order Block: A bearish order block is identified when a candle closes below a preceding swing low. The final up candle at or just before the highest point of that leg is the bearish order block, functioning as a resistance zone.

A swing high is characterized by a high point exceeding the highs of N candles on either side, where N represents the swing strength (default is 10). A swing low is the inverse of this definition.

Indicator Features

Active order blocks are displayed as colored boxes to the right of the chart: green for bullish blocks and red for bearish blocks. By default, the three most recent blocks in each direction are shown.

Breaker blocks are depicted in blue. When a candle's close extends beyond the far side of an order block, that order block is considered to have failed. A failed bullish block transforms into a resistance level (bullish breaker), and a failed bearish block becomes a support level (bearish breaker), remaining in effect until price closes back through it.

Utilized and broken blocks are shown as grey boxes that terminate at the candle that either used or broke them, providing visual reference of price reaction to these zones.

Hovering over any box reveals its specific type and price range.

Block Utilization Criteria (Configurable Input)

Touch: A block is considered utilized as soon as price re-enters its zone. This setting ensures only fresh, unmitigated blocks remain active.

Half: A block is considered utilized when price reaches the 50% mark of its range.

Break: A block remains active until a candle closes decisively through its zone.

Indicator Mechanics

Confirmation of a swing requires N closed candles on each side, and a structure break necessitates a closed candle. Consequently, an order block never appears prematurely and does not repaint.

Zone Definition: The indicator can consider either the entire candle range (high to low) or only its body (open to close) for block identification.

Optional Size Filter: An optional filter requires the move from the order block to the breaking candle's close to be at least X times the Average True Range (ATR) of the past 14 periods (0 disables this filter).

The calculation process is incremental; after the initial scan, only new candles are processed, enhancing efficiency. The indicator has been tested on M1 to D1 timeframes for EURUSD, GBPUSD, and XAUUSD.

User Adjustable Inputs

Swing strength (default 10), Block zone definition (whole candle / body), Block utilization criteria.

Minimum breaking move size multiplier based on ATR(14).

Bars to scan (default 2000).

Display settings for active blocks per direction, utilized and broken blocks (on/off and quantity), and breaker blocks (on/off and quantity).

Options to display names on active blocks and customize colors.

Alerts: Configure alerts for new block formation and when price returns to a block. Supports push notifications and email alerts.

Expert Advisor Integration (iCustom Buffers)

The indicator provides buffers for Expert Advisors (EAs) for programmatic access, without visual drawing:

Buffer 0 / 1: Top / Bottom of the newest active bullish order block.

Buffer 2 / 3: Top / Bottom of the newest active bearish order block.

EMPTY_VALUE is returned when no corresponding block is found.

Example Usage: double top[]; CopyBuffer(handle, 0, 1, 1, top); This command retrieves the top price level of the newest active bullish order block on the last closed candle.

Additional Information

Utilizing a smaller swing strength value (e.g., 5) will reveal more numerous and smaller blocks, often indicating internal market structure. Conversely, a larger value (e.g., 20) will identify fewer, larger blocks.

The indicator is compatible with any trading symbol and timeframe.

This indicator is designed solely for drawing and calculation purposes; it does not execute trades.

You may also like: Order Block Detector for MT4/MT5 - excellent alternative for indicator users on MetaTrader 5.

#property copyright "RobotFX"
#property link "https://robotfx.org"
#property version     "1.00"
#property description "This code is educational. Feel free to use, modify and upgrade as you wish. Visit ROBOTFX.ORG for professional trading tools"
#property indicator_chart_window
#property indicator_buffers 4
#property indicator_plots   4
#property indicator_type1   DRAW_NONE
#property indicator_label1  "Bullish OB top"
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.......

• This tool is provided for educational and testing purposes only.
• Past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Use on a demo account first.
• Results may vary depending on market conditions, broker, and settings.
• We recommend thorough backtesting and forward testing before using with real funds.