What it does
| With force stop active | |
|---|---|
| New entries | Blocked |
| Scheduled exits | Blocked |
| Stop loss orders | Blocked |
| Existing positions | Unaffected — they remain open |
| Paper strategies | Unaffected — no real orders involved |
When to use it
- A strategy is behaving in a way you do not understand. Stop first, diagnose after.
- You suspect a credential problem. Blocking order placement while you investigate.
- Market conditions are outside anything you tested. A deliberate decision to sit out.
- You are away and something needs to stop now. One action rather than per-strategy.
What to do immediately after
Check your positions
Decide whether to square off
Read the logs
Fix the cause
Release the stop deliberately
Deciding in advance when you would use it
| Situation | Reasonable response |
|---|---|
| A strategy entered a position you did not expect | Force stop, then read the logs |
| A strategy is losing, as designed | Leave it — this is the strategy working |
| Repeated order rejections you do not understand | Force stop, then diagnose |
| A single rejection with a clear reason | Fix the reason, no force stop needed |
| You are unreachable and something looks wrong | Force stop, then look properly later |
The line that matters
Force stop against stopping a bot
| Control | Scope | Closes positions? |
|---|---|---|
| Stopping one bot | That strategy | No |
| Stopping all bots | Every strategy | No |
| Force stop | All order placement, account-wide | No |
Why force stop is different
What it does not protect against
- Open positions — they remain, and keep moving
- Losses already realised
- Orders already sent and filled before the stop
- Anything placed manually through your broker
The short version
- One switch blocks all order placement for the account
- It blocks exits and stop losses too, not just entries
- It does not close positions — check and square off yourself
- Squaring off through your broker is the fallback that always works
- Find it and understand it before the day you need it
Frequently asked questions
It blocks all order placement for your account, regardless of what any strategy decides. The check happens at the point an order would be sent.
No. It prevents new orders, including exits and stop losses. Whatever is open stays open until you close it yourself.
Stopping bots relies on each one being stopped. Force stop blocks at the point of order placement, so nothing gets through even if a strategy was missed.
Yes. Stop first, then check positions, then read the logs. Watching and hoping is the more expensive option.
Through your broker directly. That fallback works independently of any platform and is worth knowing before you need it.
No. Paper orders are simulated and never reach a broker, so there is nothing to block.
No. It is an emergency control, not a daily routine. Using it habitually means you stop noticing when it is active, which is exactly when it causes a missed exit.
There is nothing to block, so no visible change. Its value is that it catches anything still running that you did not account for, which is the point of an account-wide control.
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