You operate a trade panel yourself while you sit at the computer. A Telegram signal copier like Semaphore, on the other hand, has to be ready whenever the channel posts – at three in the morning, at work, on holiday. That is why a VPS is not an option for advanced users here but the normal case. This page explains what has to run on the server, why the MQL5 VPS is not enough and how to set it up.
What has to run – and what happens if it doesn't
Semaphore has two parts that must run together: the EA in the terminal and the Windows app Semaphore Link, which reads your Telegram channels and hands the signals to the EA through a shared folder.
| What is off? | What happens |
|---|---|
| Computer or VPS | New signals are missed. Open positions keep their stop and targets at the broker. |
| Only the Link app | The panel shows "LINK OFFLINE". The EA gets no signals and no updates; open positions keep stop and target at the broker. |
| Only the terminal | The app keeps reading, the EA cannot execute anything. At the next start, older signals have expired. |
| Internet briefly down | The app catches up missed messages: updates and closes are applied, new entries are not. |
Semaphore places stop and take profits at the broker. During an outage your position stays protected; what is missing are only the channel's follow-ups – break-even, partial close, early close – and the daily loss limit, which is calculated in the terminal.
Why the MQL5 VPS is not enough
MetaTrader 5 offers its own virtual hosting that you rent directly in the terminal. For an EA without outside dependencies that is convenient. For Semaphore it does not work: only programs inside the terminal run there, no second Windows app. Without Semaphore Link the EA gets no signals.
So you need a Windows VPS with Remote Desktop access on which you can install programs.
Two ways: your own Windows VPS or the broker's free VPS
Your own Windows VPS
A Windows server at a hosting provider. You log in via Remote Desktop, install MT5 and Semaphore Link and close the window – both keep running. 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. Check beforehand that you may install your own programs there – Semaphore Link has to run next to the terminal. 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?
Semaphore is light: one EA on one chart, a small app, a few files per signal. A terminal with Semaphore and Semaphore Link gets by with 1 vCPU and 2 GB RAM. If several accounts run along, add roughly 0.5 to 1 GB per extra terminal – Semaphore Link serves all terminals of the same Windows user and only needs to run once.
More important than size:
- Proximity to your broker's trading server. Signals are traded by many subscribers at once; Semaphore skips an entry when price has moved more than 15 pips against the signal. Every millisecond less helps. Where the servers are is shown in our overview of broker server locations.
- Guaranteed resources instead of overbooked cores.
- Automatic restart: put Windows updates into a maintenance window and make sure everything runs again by itself after a restart (see below).
Setting up in six steps
- On the VPS, install your broker's MT5 installer, log in with your trading account and save the login.
- Install Semaphore from the MQL5 Market in the terminal, drag it onto one chart, allow Algo Trading.
- Copy Semaphore Link to the VPS (with the VPS browser, from the download link in the Semaphore blog post), start it, connect Telegram, tick the channels – dry run on.
- Autostart for the app: Task Scheduler → Create Task → trigger "At log on" → start Semaphore Link.
- Set up automatic log-on for Windows so that terminal and app run again after a restart. Start MT5 via autostart as well.
- Close the Remote Desktop session, don't log off – otherwise Windows ends terminal and app.
On the move you see open positions in the MT5 app on your phone. The Semaphore panel and log are only visible via Remote Desktop on the VPS; Semaphore sends alerts as push notifications to the MT5 app if you set that up in the terminal.
If you want to move the terminal to another server later, portable mode makes it easy.
Conclusion
For a Telegram signal copier a VPS is the normal case, not the exception. Semaphore needs a real Windows server, because the companion app has to run next to the terminal – the MQL5 VPS is not enough. A small Windows VPS close to your broker's server is sufficient, as long as terminal and app start again by themselves after a restart. The provider comparison is at Best forex VPS, the matching brokers in the guide Brokers for a Telegram signal copier.
Read on: Semaphore – every function · VPS for Expert Advisors