Live Account Banner Guard
It is easy to lose track of which chart is pointed at a demo account and which is pointed at a live one, especially with several terminals open. This EA checks ACCOUNT_TRADE_MODE on attach: on a demo or contest account it does nothing but leave a quiet Comment() note; on a real account it draws a full-width banner across the top of the chart naming the account number, currency and broker, with an "I understand - acknowledge" button. Until that button is clicked the banner stays at full height and, if InpAlertOnAttach is on, a popup Alert() also fires the moment the EA attaches. After acknowledgement the banner shrinks to a slim reminder strip that stays visible for the rest of the session rather than disappearing entirely - the point is a permanent, low-noise reminder, not a one-time popup that gets dismissed and forgotten. The acknowledgement is intentionally per-session: reattaching the EA or restarting the terminal resets it, so the warning cannot be silenced once and then forgotten for months. Notes and limitations This tool only detects and displays; it never blocks trading, closes positions, or enforces anything beyond visual reminder. It reads ACCOUNT_TRADE_MODE once at OnInit - it does not re-detect an account change mid-session, because MQL4 does not change the underlying account without a terminal reconnect/restart, which already re-runs OnInit for every attached EA. The banner width is re-measured on a 2-second timer and on CHARTEVENT_CHART_CHANGE so it keeps spanning the window after a resize, but there can be a brief visible lag between resizing and the redraw.
Expert advisor · MT4 · v1.0 · Free
About Live Account Banner Guard
Live Account Banner Guard is a script for MetaTrader 4. It can alert you with a pop-up, sound, email or push message. It has 5 settings, such as Banner color, Strip color and Banner height. MQL source code included.
Files in the download: LiveAccountBannerGuard.ex4, LiveAccountBannerGuard.mq4, LiveAccountBannerGuard.txt.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Banner color | clrFireBrick | Background colour of the full warning banner |
| Strip color | clrDarkRed | Background colour of the shrunk reminder strip |
| Banner height | 34 | Height in pixels of the full warning banner |
| Strip height | 16 | Height in pixels of the shrunk reminder strip |
| Alert on attach | true | Fire a popup Alert() the moment a live account is detected |
How to install
- Download the ZIP from your PolyMaria library and unzip it.
- In MetaTrader 4 open File → Open Data Folder, then go to MQL4 → Scripts.
- Copy the .mq4 file(s) there. Put any .mqh files in MQL4 → Include.
- Open the .mq4 file in MetaEditor and press Compile (F7) if MetaTrader does not show it.
- Drag the script onto a chart to run it once.
Tags: Trading Sessions · Alerts · MT4 Expert Advisor · MQL4 Source Code