The Short Answer
On DXtrade you place futures orders with four core order types: Market, Limit, Stop, and Stop Limit. Each one solves a different problem.
Market. Fill now, at the best available price.
Limit. Fill only at your price or better.
Stop. Turn into a Market order once price reaches your stop level.
Stop Limit. Turn into a Limit order once price reaches your stop level.
DXtrade XT also offers advanced tools: Trailing Stop, OCO, and attached Stop Loss / Take Profit brackets. Each is covered below.
Where you pick the order type
Every order starts from the order ticket. You open it by clicking Buy or Sell on the chart or watchlist, or by right-clicking an instrument and choosing to open an order for it. The ticket opens ready for you to set the trade up.
In the ticket you set the Order Type (the dropdown), the Side (Buy or Sell), and the Quantity (the number of contracts, not lots). Before you send, the ticket shows the margin impact for your account.
Note on units. On Upcomers Futures you trade in contracts (for example 1 ES, 2 MES, 1 CL), not lots. Set Quantity to the number of contracts you want.
Market order
A Market order tells the platform to fill your trade at the best available price right now. A Market Buy fills at the ask, a Market Sell fills at the bid.
Use a Market order when:
You need to enter or exit immediately.
The market is moving and you do not want to miss it.
The spread is tight, typical for liquid contracts like ES, NQ, and CL during regular hours.
Avoid a Market order when:
The market is thin or the bid-ask spread is wide.
You are trading during low-volume hours or a major news release.
You need exact price control.
On liquid futures, Market orders fill within milliseconds. On thinner contracts or during volatility you can get meaningful slippage. On DXtrade XT a Market order is volume-aware, so a large order can fill in parts against the depth in the book.
Example. ES is trading 5,002.50 bid / 5,002.75 ask. You place a Market Buy of 1 contract. You fill at 5,002.75, the ask. Done.
Limit order
A Limit order fills only at your specified price or better. A Limit Buy fills at your price or lower and sits below the current price. A Limit Sell fills at your price or higher and sits above the current price.
Use a Limit order when:
You want to enter at a specific level (support, resistance, a retracement).
You want to take profit at a specific level.
Spreads are wide and you do not want to pay the market price.
You can wait for the market to come to you.
Avoid a Limit order when:
You absolutely must be in or out right now.
The market is fast and may never trade back to your level.
Example. ES is trading at 5,002.75. You set a Limit Buy at 5,000.00. The order rests in the book. If price drops to 5,000.00 you fill. If price runs to 5,010 first, your order simply does nothing.
A Limit order stays live until it fills, until you cancel it, or until it expires based on your time-in-force setting (for example DAY or GTC).
One catch on the simulator. DXtrade XT fills a Limit order only when the full quantity can be filled against the resting volume at your price or better. Price can touch your level and still leave you unfilled if there is not enough size in the book. This surprises traders coming from platforms that fill on a single touch.
Stop order (Stop Market)
A Stop order is a trigger. When the market trades through your stop price, the order converts into a Market order and fills at the next available price. This is the most common order type for stop losses and breakout entries.
A Buy Stop sits above the current price, a Sell Stop sits below it.
Use a Stop when:
You want a hard exit if price moves against you.
You want to enter on a breakout above resistance (Buy Stop) or below support (Sell Stop).
You need certainty the order will fill once it triggers.
Example (stop loss). You are long 1 ES from 5,000. You set a Sell Stop at 4,995. Price drops to 4,995 and triggers. The order becomes a Market Sell and fills at 4,994.75. You are out.
The trade-off is slippage. In a fast move your fill can be worse than your stop level. On liquid contracts the slippage is usually small. During news releases or thin hours it can be larger. What you get in return is a near-certain fill.
Stop Limit order
A Stop Limit triggers at your stop price just like a Stop, but instead of becoming a Market order it becomes a Limit order. You set two prices: the stop price (where it activates) and the limit price (the worst fill you will accept).
Use a Stop Limit when:
You want stop-style triggering but with price protection.
You would rather the order not fill at all than fill at a bad price.
Avoid a Stop Limit for stop losses in fast markets. If price gaps straight through your limit, the order never fills and you stay in the losing trade.
Example. You are long 1 ES from 5,000. You set a Sell Stop Limit with a stop at 4,995 and a limit at 4,994. Price hits 4,995 and triggers. The order becomes a Limit Sell at 4,994. If price holds at or above 4,994 you fill. If price gaps straight to 4,990, you do not fill at all and your stop did not protect you.
Stop vs Stop Limit: the one thing to remember
A Stop guarantees a fill, not a price. It becomes a Market order, so you get out for sure, but slippage can make the fill worse than your level.
A Stop Limit guarantees a price, not a fill. It becomes a Limit order, so you never fill past your limit, but in a fast or gapping market the order can sit unfilled and leave you in the trade.
For protecting capital, use a Stop. Reserve Stop Limit for the specific cases where price control matters more than a guaranteed exit.
Trailing Stop (advanced)
A Trailing Stop follows price by a distance you set (typically in ticks, points, or dollars). As the trade moves in your favor the stop moves with it, and it never moves against you. It is a hands-off way to lock in profit on a runner.
Example. You buy 1 ES at 5,000 with a 5-point trail. The initial stop is 4,995. Price rises to 5,010, so the stop trails up to 5,005. Price rises to 5,015, the stop is 5,010. Price then drops to 5,010 and triggers. You exit at roughly 5,010 for a 10-point gain.
DXtrade XT supports server-side trailing stops, so the trail is tracked by the platform and keeps working even if you log out. The trade-off: too tight a trail gets you stopped out on normal pullbacks. Size the trail to the contract's typical range.
Heads up. Upcomers Futures runs DXtrade XT (the futures build). If you have used the DXtrade CFD version elsewhere, note that XT carries more order types, so a trailing stop is available here even if it was missing on that version.
Brackets and OCO (advanced)
Brackets (Protection Orders). In the order ticket you can attach a Stop Loss and a Take Profit to your entry. When the entry fills, both protective orders go to work, and when one side fills the platform manages the other. This is the cleanest way to define your risk and target in a single ticket.
OCO (One Cancels the Other). Two linked orders where filling one automatically cancels the other. A common use is placing a Limit below price and a Stop above price so you enter on whichever breaks first, with the other leg cancelled.
Choosing the right order type
Quick decision guide.
Your goal | Use when | Order type |
Enter or exit right now | Speed matters more than price, market is liquid | Market |
Enter at a specific price | You can wait for price to come to your level | Limit |
Take profit at a specific price | You want to exit a winner at a set level | Limit |
Stop loss (most cases) | You need a guaranteed exit if price turns | Stop |
Breakout entry | You want in only if price breaks a level | Stop |
Stop with price protection | You accept no fill over a bad fill | Stop Limit |
Lock in profit on a runner | You want a hands-off trailing exit | Trailing Stop |
Most experienced futures traders enter with Limit orders and protect with Stop orders. That is the cleanest setup.
Common mistakes
Using Stop Limit for stop losses. If price gaps through your limit you never exit. Use a Stop to protect capital.
Setting stops too tight. A stop too close to entry gets hit by routine noise. Size your stop to the volatility of the contract you trade.
Mixing up Buy Stop and Sell Stop. A Buy Stop triggers above the current price, a Sell Stop below it. Get it backwards and you trigger the wrong direction.
Forgetting time-in-force. Limit and Stop orders can expire at session end depending on your setting. If you want an order to persist, set it to GTC.
Order types and your risk rules
Order types are how you enforce the account rules. Your Max Trade Loss on any single open trade is 1.5% of account size, or 2% on Thunderbolt Legacy (on a $50,000 account that is $750, or $1,000 on Legacy). This is a hard rule: a single trade that breaches it triggers an automatic breach and account termination, even if your account is overall profitable. Positions in the same instrument and same direction are counted as one trade for this limit, so you cannot split an oversized position to get around it. A protective Stop on every position is the simplest way to stay inside the limit.
On all three products (Thunderbolt Classic, Thunderbolt Legacy, and Vanguard) the daily drawdown resets at 5:00 PM ET (the futures-industry standard reset), so plan any overnight stops around that reset.
The bottom line
Four core order types, each a tool for a job.
For entries, use Market when you need speed and Limit when you want price control.
For exits, use Stop for a guaranteed exit and Stop Limit only when price control beats certainty.
Trailing Stop, OCO, and brackets add automation once you are comfortable with the basics.
Still not sure which order to use? Start a chat with our support team, we are here to help.