【Development Behind the Scenes】One of the common topics on the MQL5 Forum: the issue of an MTF tool being heavy/slow
Last time on the MQL5 Forum I talked about a global concern: the tool slows down operation once an indicator is added, and
the “design philosophy of subtraction” to solve it.
And as the first installment, I introduced the Trade_Toolbox_Lite - Japan Time & Sessions, which lets you experience a comfortable operation for a single coin.
This time, it’s about “that tool” which drew especially many screams in the forum.
Reports in the forum that MTf (Multi-Time-Frame) makes it extremely heavy
In market environment awareness, the MTF tool that displays higher-timeframe candlesticks on lower-timeframe charts is a very popular indicator.
However, when you examine threads on the MQL5 Forum, many traders complained as follows.
“As soon as I added the MTF candlesticks, the chart update started stuttering for a moment.”
“When applied to multiple currency pairs, MT5 itself froze.”
“It interferes with other order EAs or indicators and causes malfunctions.”
The latest MT5 is originally very fast at reading data.
Nevertheless, why does inserting an MTF tool slow things down?
The reason is simple: “it tries to read a large amount of data at once and redraw a lot of graphics, causing a processing queue (congestion).”
No matter how fast MT5 is, if you try to process thousands of past data all at once, processing becomes congested like a queue at a cashier and can cause a freeze.
A shift in thinking: narrowing down to only the necessary few instead of “all past data”
So I chose a design that eliminates useless processing: subtraction.
Typical MTF tools try to read and render thousands of past higher-timeframe data at once, which even MT5’s fast processing can cause data processing congestion.
However, considering the display range on the screen, even 50 bars (about two days for an hourly chart) is enough to cover a general monitor.
Therefore, Trade_Toolbox_MTF_Candle implements the following design principles.
Filter the number of drawings to only what is needed for the most recent N bars (1–50)
By not loading a vast amount of past data at once and processing only the specified number of bars, data processing congestion never occurs.
Differential updating: redraw only changed bars
Rather than recreating all graphics on every tick, update only the parts where price movement occurred with minimal effort—an efficient mechanism without waste.
MT5-specific design & independent management per chart
Designed to fit MT5’s framework rather than forced conversions from MT4; even when run on multiple charts simultaneously, processes do not clash and slow each other down.
In conclusion (please first experience its lightness for a coin)
If you have given up because you want to overlay higher-timeframes but don’t want your chart to be heavy, this is the tool I especially want you to try.
This ‘MTF Candle’ is also offered at a single coin (500 yen) to easily test the comfortable operating environment of the series.
As with the first installment, the Japanese Time indicator, please first experience the lightweight design tailored for MQL5 with a single coin.
Try it and feel it in practice
As I’ve written so far, what I value most is not only that functions work, but how they feel in actual trading environments.
That being said, there are parts that cannot be understood from text alone.
Therefore, the Trade Toolbox series includes:
free-to-try options
trial versions that you can thoroughly check
official paid versions
Please use them to see how they work in practice.
“What will it be like when used in my own environment?”
That is what I want you to confirm first.
If you’re curious, don’t feel forced to buy—start with the free or trial versions and actually try them.
And if you actually use them, please share your honest impressions in a review, such as:
“This was convenient,”
“This part could be improved a bit,”
“It was lighter than I expected,”
“This is how I use it.”
I would be glad to hear your candid feedback.
I don’t expect only positive reviews.
The honest voices of those who actually used it will be the most valuable input for future development.
There are times when I realize something new myself from what you notice.
Going forward, I will keep improving to avoid interfering with trading and to make the environment even easier to use.
Trade Toolbox Series
▼ Here you can view free versions, trial versions, and paid versions.
If you’re curious, please first check the product page details and supported environments.
And if you try it and feel that “this is usable,” please choose the official version at that time.
Thank you for reading to the end.