MT5 accounts come in two position-accounting modes: netting and hedging. The mode decides what happens when you already hold a position in a symbol and open another one in it. It sounds like a technicality, but it changes how orders behave, and an EA written for one mode can misfire on the other. MT4 only ever used hedging, so this is a distinction that arrives with MT5.
Netting: one position per symbol
In netting mode you can hold only one position per symbol. Open a second order in the same symbol and it nets against the first:
- Buy 1 lot EUR/USD, then buy another 1 lot — you hold one 2-lot position at the average price.
- Buy 1 lot, then sell 1 lot — they cancel and you hold nothing.
There is one net position and one average entry price per symbol. This is how most share and futures accounts work, and it keeps the account tidy: one line per instrument.
Hedging: many positions per symbol
In hedging mode each order is its own position. You can hold a buy and a sell in the same symbol at once, and several of each:
- Buy 1 lot EUR/USD, then buy another 1 lot — two separate 1-lot positions, each with its own entry, stop and take-profit.
- Buy 1 lot, then sell 1 lot — you now hold both, open together, one long and one short.
This is MT4's only behaviour, so any strategy that opens layered or opposing trades — grids, some martingale and basket systems — expects it.
Why it matters for EAs
An EA carries assumptions about how positions behave, and the wrong mode breaks them quietly:
- A grid or martingale EA that stacks orders needs hedging. On a netting account its second order averages into the first instead of standing alone, so its exit logic and lot maths are wrong.
- An EA that tracks each trade by ticket can lose the thread when netting merges two orders into one.
- Hedging has a margin cost. Some brokers charge margin on both sides of a locked buy-and-sell, so a "market-neutral" pair still ties up capital.
Most retail forex EAs are written for hedging, because they were born on MT4. Read the EA's requirements before you assume.
A grid or martingale EA built for MT4 assumes hedging. Put it on a netting MT5 account and its stacked orders quietly merge into one averaged position — the robot keeps trading, but not the strategy you paid for.
How to check which mode you have
The broker sets the mode when the account is opened; you cannot flip it yourself. The position list gives it away: netting shows one row per symbol, hedging shows a row per order. If you need the other mode, you open a different account with the broker.
A worked example
You buy a £250 grid EA with a clean equity curve in its MT4 screenshots and run it on a netting MT5 account. Its first buy opens fine. Its second buy, meant to be a separate grid level £30 lower, instead averages into the first — one position, one price. The EA's take-profit is set for two positions that no longer exist, the basket never closes where it should, and the drawdown it was built to recover from just deepens. Nothing errored. The mode did the damage.
The Karnek note
Karnek reads whichever mode your MT5 account runs in and reports the positions as they actually stand, netted or separate, over a read-only connection. It reflects what the account did; it can never open a hedge, net a position or place any order itself.
Written and reviewed by the Karnek Research team. Last updated August 2026.
Educational content only - not financial advice. Past performance does not predict future results. Trading carries significant risk.