Drawdown Minimizer does not trade, but it does work around the clock: it watches the closed trades of the whole account, keeps the savings book up to date and closes old losing positions of your target EAs as soon as the book can pay for a slice. For that it has to run where your EAs run – on the same account, in the same terminal, all the time.
Why it belongs next to your EAs
The savings book is filled by the closed trades of every EA on the account, and the positions it pays off belong to the EAs you list. Both sides live on one account. Put Drawdown Minimizer on one chart in the terminal that already runs those EAs, and run one instance per account.
If your EAs already run on a VPS, the answer is simple: the tool goes onto the same VPS, into the same terminal. If they run on your home PC, the same reasons that speak for a VPS for your EAs apply to the tool as well.
What happens when the terminal is offline
| While the terminal is offline | Effect |
|---|---|
| Closing slices | does not happen – the old positions stay as they are |
| Swap on old positions | keeps being charged every night |
| Your EAs | are offline too, so no new profit is booked |
| START / PAUSE, push notifications | not available |
An outage does not do damage of its own – the tool simply stops working, and the old load keeps costing swap. Once the terminal is back, it carries on. Pausing is always possible: PAUSE always wins, whatever the start triggers say.
Three options: MQL5 VPS, your own VPS, the broker's free VPS
MQL5 VPS from the terminal
MetaTrader 5 offers its own virtual hosting that you rent right inside the terminal. Your charts and programs are migrated there and keep running on a copy of the terminal. For EAs you start and leave alone, that is convenient.
For Drawdown Minimizer it is less clear: the virtual terminal has no interface you can click, so START and PAUSE on the panel are not available there, and we have not tested the tool on the MQL5 VPS. If you want to watch the panel and press PAUSE when needed, a Windows VPS you reach via Remote Desktop is the safer choice.
Your own Windows VPS
A Windows server at a hosting provider, running your terminal, which you connect to via Remote Desktop. You see the panel just as you would at home – except the terminal keeps running when you close the window. For Drawdown Minimizer this is the cleanest setup: one terminal with your EAs and the tool, every function.
Independent providers start at $6.50 a month (Hyonix, Windows licence included). Which providers we recommend for MetaTrader is in the forex VPS comparison.
The broker's free VPS
Many brokers provide a free VPS once you meet a deposit or volume threshold. Technically that is your own Windows VPS (see above), just tied to that one broker account. Whether your EAs trade enough volume to reach the threshold depends on them. The conditions per broker, word for word from our fact boxes:
| Broker | Rating | VPS per fact box |
|---|---|---|
| IC Markets | 4.6 | yes (IC VPS from 15 lots FX/metals per month, Global entity) |
| Axi | 4.4 | yes (15 lots in the previous month or 500 USD starting deposit, on request) |
| BlackBull Markets | 4.4 | yes (from 2,000 USD deposit & 20 lots/month, otherwise 25 USD/month) |
| Fusion Markets | 4.4 | yes (more than 20 lots FX/metals within 30 days — fee is charged up front and refunded) |
| FxPro | 4.4 | VIP accounts only (typically from ~50,000 USD deposit), otherwise 30 USD/month |
| IC Trading | 4.4 | yes (IC VPS from 15 lots FX/metals per month) |
| Pepperstone | 4.4 | pro clients with minimum volume only (EU/DE: ≥ 1M USD notional in 60 days) |
| Darwinex | 4.3 | no — VPS via partner BeeksFX (LD4, cross-connected) |
| RoboForex | 4.3 | yes (from 300 USD equity + 3 lots/month; otherwise 5 USD/month) |
| Vantage Markets | 4.3 | yes (from 1,000 USD deposit + 0.5M USD monthly volume: up to 25 USD refund; from 1M USD: up to 50 USD) |
| Admirals | 4.2 | yes, from 5,000 EUR equity in the live account (Equinix data centres) |
| Tickmill | 4.2 | via partner / volume-based (no permanent in-house free VPS) |
| Eightcap | 4.1 | no (no proprietary free VPS documented) |
| FP Trading | 4.1 | available (London data centre, sign-up via form; costs/free-use conditions not stated) |
| IG | 4.1 | yes, from 6,000 EUR MT4 account balance (otherwise 50 EUR/month), hosted by Beeks in London |
| VT Markets | 4.1 | refund from 1,000 USD deposit: ≥ 0.5M USD monthly volume up to 25 USD, > 1M USD up to 50 USD |
| Ultima Markets | 4.0 | yes (from 1,000 USD deposit + 1M USD monthly volume, refund up to 50 USD) |
| XM Group | 4.0 | free from 500 USD balance + 2 round-turn lots within 30 days, otherwise 28 USD/month – VPS terms of XM Global Ltd (version 11/2024, still published unchanged on 30 Sep 2026); the EU website does not advertise a VPS |
What lies behind the thresholds, and when a paid VPS is the better deal, is explained in the guide brokers with a free VPS.
How big does the VPS need to be?
Drawdown Minimizer is light: one chart, at most one close per interval (30 seconds by default), no heavy indicators. The size of the VPS is decided by your EAs and the number of terminals, not by the tool. The sizes for that are in the guide VPS for Expert Advisors.
More important than size:
- Guaranteed resources rather than oversold cores, so the terminal does not freeze in hectic markets.
- Proximity to your broker's trading server. Each slice is closed with a market order. Where the brokers' servers are is shown in our overview of broker server locations.
- Stability: put Windows updates into a maintenance window and let the terminal start automatically after a reboot.
Setting it up in six steps
- Open the terminal that runs your EAs on the VPS (or install your broker's MT5 there and log in with the trading account, saving the login).
- Install Drawdown Minimizer from the MQL5 Market in that terminal and drag it onto one chart. Allow Algo Trading in the terminal and in the program's settings.
- Enter the magic numbers of the EAs whose old losers you want to reduce, and choose the start trigger: age of the oldest target position, account drawdown in percent, or the START button.
- Leave dry run on at first. Read in the Experts journal what the tool would close (
DRY RUN: would close …) and watch how your EA reacts before you switch dry run off. - Switch on push notifications so you see on your phone what the tool does.
- Close the Remote Desktop session, do not log off – otherwise Windows ends the terminal.
If you want to move the terminal to another server later, portable mode makes it easy. Keep one rule when you move: one instance per account, so switch off the old one.
Bottom line
Drawdown Minimizer runs where your EAs run: same account, same terminal, around the clock. If your EAs are already on a VPS, it simply joins them; if not, a small Windows VPS or your broker's free VPS is enough. The provider comparison is under best forex VPS, the matching brokers in the guide brokers for Drawdown Minimizer.
Read next: Drawdown Minimizer – how it works · VPS for Expert Advisors