A guard that is not running does not guard. The Prop Firm Guard Plimsoll checks the loss lines on every tick and every second – but only while the terminal runs and is connected. If your computer sleeps while an EA trades at night, while a position runs into the firm's daily reset, or while a Friday position should be closed before the weekend, nobody is watching. This page explains what a guard needs, which hosting fits, and the one big exception: FundingPips forbids a VPS.
What runs where – and what stops when the terminal is off
| Function | Runs where? | When the terminal is offline |
|---|---|---|
| Stop loss and take profit of your positions | at the broker | work as usual |
| Daily and max loss lines, buffer | in the terminal | no check, no close |
| Lock and enforce (closing new trades) | in the terminal | no lock – an EA or the mobile app can trade freely |
| News guard | in the terminal | pending orders are not deleted, positions not closed before the window |
| Weekend guard | in the terminal | positions stay open over the weekend |
| Alerts and breach log | in the terminal | nothing is sent or written |
The firm's rules keep running regardless: the firm measures the loss on its server, around the clock. That is why a guard that is meant to protect against those rules has to run around the clock as well – at least from Monday's open to Friday's close, and as long as any position is open.
Why 24/5 and not only while you trade
- Your EA trades without you. Plimsoll watches every EA on the account. If the EA trades at 3 a.m. and the terminal with Plimsoll is off, the EA's losses are unguarded – unless both run on the same machine that stays on.
- The reset comes at night. FTMO resets at 00:00 Prague time, usually 01:00 server time; most other firms at 00:00 server time. Plimsoll records the reference at the reset. If the terminal is off then, it rebuilds the value from the trade history at the next start and uses the stricter value for equity-based references – safe, but possibly less room than you would have had.
- News is not scheduled around you. Where a news trade is a breach (FTMO funded, FundingPips Zero), Plimsoll deletes pending orders a few minutes before the window and closes positions whose stop or target could fire inside it. That only works if the terminal runs.
- The weekend close comes on Friday evening. Where the firm forbids holding over the weekend, Plimsoll closes each position a set number of minutes before its symbol's last session.
FundingPips: no VPS, no VPN
FundingPips does not permit connecting via VPS or VPN. On a FundingPips account the terminal with Plimsoll therefore has to run on your own PC. What that means in practice:
- Switch off sleep and hibernation while positions are open or an EA trades.
- Put Windows updates into a window outside your trading hours.
- Use a stable internet connection; Plimsoll retries failed closes after 1, 5 and 30 seconds and as long as the session is open, but it cannot close without a connection.
- Check the panel status when you come back. Anything other than PROTECTED (green) deserves a look before you trade on.
In the rules of FTMO, FundedNext, The5ers and E8 Markets checked on 3 October 2026 we found no VPS ban. Rules change; check your firm's current rules. At FundedNext the question whether Plimsoll may run at all comes first: risk tools count as EAs and are allowed only below 50k with the paid EA add-on. Details per firm are in the guide Prop firms for Plimsoll.
Three ways: MQL5 VPS, your own VPS, the broker's free VPS
MQL5 VPS from the terminal
Unlike a signal copier with a companion app, Plimsoll is a plain Expert Advisor: one program on one chart, no second app, no outside connection except the optional Telegram alerts. That is exactly what the MQL5 VPS is built for. You rent it in the terminal, migrate the chart with Plimsoll, and it keeps running on the hosted copy of the terminal.
Two things to know:
- No panel to click. The hosted terminal has no interface. A daily lock ends by itself at the firm's next reset. A max loss lock stays until you unlock it; on the MQL5 VPS you do that with the input Unlock without panel set to today's server date (YYYYMMDD) and a restart of the EA.
- One guard per account. Plimsoll is meant to run once per account. Decide which terminal guards the account – the hosted one or your own – and do not let two copies act on the same account side by side.
Your own Windows VPS
A Windows server at a hosting provider that you log in to via Remote Desktop. You see and click the Plimsoll panel there as at home, and the terminal keeps running when you close the window. That is the most transparent solution: one terminal, one guard, panel and breach log in view. Independent providers start at $6.50 per 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 Windows VPS when you meet a deposit or volume threshold – but that VPS belongs to your broker account, not to your prop firm account. It only helps if you also trade with that broker and may install another terminal there. The conditions per broker, verbatim 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 is behind the thresholds is explained in the guide Brokers with a free VPS.
How big does the VPS have to be?
Plimsoll is light: one EA on one extra chart, a few calculations per tick, a small CSV log. A terminal with Plimsoll next to your trading gets by with 1 vCPU and 2 GB RAM. If a trading EA with heavy indicators runs on the same terminal, size for that EA – the sizes are in the guide VPS for Expert Advisors.
More important than size:
- Guaranteed resources instead of overbooked cores, so that the terminal does not hang when markets move fast – exactly when the guard is needed.
- Proximity to the trading server of your firm. Plimsoll closes with market orders; the shorter the way, the less slippage between the guard line and the actual close. The buffer covers estimated slippage, but less is better.
- Automatic restart: Windows log-on and MT5 in the autostart, so that the guard runs again after an update.
Setting up in five steps
- On the VPS, install MT5 (from your firm or its broker), log in with the challenge or funded account and save the login.
- Install Plimsoll from the MQL5 Market, open one extra chart and drag Plimsoll onto it. Allow Algo Trading.
- Choose profile and phase, enter the account size. Optional: MetaQuotes ID for push notifications, Telegram.
- Check the panel: PROTECTED (green), the lines match your firm's dashboard.
- Close the Remote Desktop session, do not log off – otherwise Windows ends the terminal.
On the move you see your positions in the MT5 app. While the account is locked, trades you open from the app are closed again by Plimsoll – as long as the terminal on the VPS runs.
If you want to move the terminal to another server later, portable mode makes it easy.
Conclusion
A prop firm guard is only as good as its uptime. Plimsoll is a plain EA and runs on the MQL5 VPS, on your own Windows VPS or on a PC that stays on. Where the firm allows a VPS, a small server is the simplest way to keep the guard running 24/5. At FundingPips a VPS is not allowed – there the guard runs on your own PC, and that PC has to stay on.
Read on: Prop Firm Guard Plimsoll – every function · Prop firms for Plimsoll · VPS for Expert Advisors