A trade panel like Sextant is not an Expert Advisor hunting for signals around the clock. You trade yourself, so the terminal is running anyway while you sit at the computer. The question is what happens after the click – when you close the laptop with trades still open. This page separates what sits at the broker from what sits in the terminal, and shows when a VPS is worth it.
What sits at the broker and what in the terminal
The difference is simple: whatever sits at the broker is executed even when your computer is off. Whatever sits in the terminal only works while the terminal is running and connected.
| Function | Runs where? | If the terminal is offline |
|---|---|---|
| Real stop and real target (HIDDEN off) | at the broker | work as usual |
| Safety stop for hidden stops | at the broker | works as usual |
| Hidden stop and hidden target | in the terminal | do not trigger |
| Break-even, partial close | in the terminal | do not happen |
| Trailing stop | in the terminal | the stop stays where it was last set |
| Guard: daily limit, block, enforce | in the terminal | no check, no block, no closing |
For trailing this means: the last stop set (without HIDDEN) sits at the broker and keeps protecting you. It just stops moving. With the guard, the protection is gone completely. If you rely on the daily loss limit – on a prop-firm account, say – the terminal has to be running.
What the safety stop covers – and what it does not
With hidden stops, Sextant can place a safety stop at the broker: a real stop, wider than the hidden one (an adjustable multiple of the stop distance), that follows the hidden stop when that one trails.
It covers: the worst case when the terminal goes down. The loss stays limited, just at the wider distance. At twice the stop distance you would lose roughly 2 R instead of 1 R in that case.
It does not cover: the hidden target (offline, no profit is taken), break-even, partial close, trailing and the guard. It is a backstop, not a substitute for a running terminal.
Our recommendation for hidden stops: keep the safety stop on and run the terminal on a VPS. If you do not want a VPS, leave HIDDEN off – then stop and target sit at the broker, and only the management is lost during an outage.
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 an EA you start and leave alone, that is convenient.
For a panel you operate actively it fits less well: the virtual terminal has no interface you can click – you keep trading on your local terminal, and two Sextant instances (local and hosted) would manage the same positions. We have not tested whether every panel state, such as the hidden stops stored in the terminal, survives the migration. We therefore advise against it for Sextant until that is clear.
Your own Windows VPS
A Windows server at a hosting provider, running your terminal, which you connect to via Remote Desktop. You click the panel on the VPS just as you would at home – except the terminal keeps running when you close the window. For Sextant this is the cleanest setup: one terminal, one instance, 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. For Sextant it is usually enough. 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?
A panel is light: one program per chart managing a handful of positions, no optimisation, no heavy indicators. One terminal with the panel on a few charts gets by with the smallest plan a reputable provider offers: 1 vCPU and 2 GB of RAM. You only need more when further terminals or EAs run on the same VPS – 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. The panel closes hidden stops with a market order when price touches them; the shorter the route to the server, the less time passes before execution. Where the brokers' servers are is shown in our overview of broker server locations.
- Stability: put Windows updates into a maintenance window outside your trading hours and let the terminal start automatically after a reboot.
Setting it up in five steps
- Install your broker's MT5 installer on the VPS and log in with the trading account (save the login).
- Install Sextant from the MQL5 Market in the terminal on the VPS and drag it onto the charts. Allow Algo Trading in the terminal and in the program's settings.
- Let only one terminal per account run Sextant. If the panel also runs at home on the same account, two instances manage the same positions.
- Close the Remote Desktop session, do not log off – otherwise Windows ends the terminal.
- On the go you can watch open positions in the MT5 app. The panel itself is not available there; with Enforce switched on, trades opened from the app during a guard block are closed again.
If you want to move the terminal to another server later, portable mode makes it easy.
Bottom line
With real stops at the broker you do not need a VPS for Sextant – an outage only costs you the management. As soon as you use hidden stops or rely on the guard, the terminal belongs on a VPS, and the safety stop stays on. 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 the Sextant Trade Panel.
Read next: Sextant Trade Panel – every function · VPS for Expert Advisors