Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator: The Full Lifecycle

Written by Dominic Walsh · Published 2 Jun 2026 · Last updated 9 Sep 2026

The breaker block and order block indicator does not just mark a zone and leave it there. Each block gets tracked through its whole life: created by an impulse, revisited for a mitigation, broken, then flipped into a breaker that price can retest from the other side. Four buffers mark those events.

This build ships as a compiled .ex4 for MT4 and .ex5 for MT5; the screenshots below come from EURUSD H1.

Platforms	MT4 (.ex4) + MT5 (.ex5)
Chart window	Main price chart
Plots	4: OB Mitigation Buy, OB Mitigation Sell, Breaker Flip Buy, Breaker Flip Sell
Alerts	popup, push notification, email, sound
Inputs	19

What the Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator draws on the chart

OB Mitigation Buy marks price returning into a bullish zone that has not broken yet.

OB Mitigation Sell is the same on a bearish zone.

Breaker Flip Buy marks a retest of a bearish zone that already broke, so the level has changed sides.

Breaker Flip Sell mirrors that case.

Rectangle objects draw each zone with InpZoneTransparency shading, and text objects label them.

• OB Mitigation Buy: arrow, lime, width 2, arrow code 233
• OB Mitigation Sell: arrow, tomato, width 2, arrow code 234
• Breaker Flip Buy: arrow, dark green, width 2, arrow code 225
• Breaker Flip Sell: arrow, maroon, width 2, arrow code 226

How the Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator calculates its values

Creating a block

An impulse needs the close to move at least InpImpulseAtrMult times the ATR away from the previous close, with the candle body pointing the same way.

The code then walks back for the last candle closing against that direction. That candle becomes the zone, and its creation time gets stored alongside it.

Mitigation versus a break

Every stored block gets checked against each later bar. Price trading back into an unbroken zone counts as a mitigation, and the matching buffer marks that bar.

A close beyond the far edge is different: the block gets stamped with a break time rather than removed. From then on it is a breaker rather than an order block.

The flip

Once broken, the zone stays on the chart with its role reversed. A bullish zone that broke downward becomes resistance, and price returning up into it marks a Breaker Flip Sell.

InpMaxOpenBlocks caps how many zones stay tracked, and InpLookbackBars caps how far back the scan builds them.

How to read the signals

A mitigation marker and a flip marker mean opposite things about the same zone, so the block state matters more than its price.

Zone colour changes between the order block and breaker colours, which is how you tell the state at a glance.

Every block carries a creation time, so a zone never reacts to bars that came before it existed.

A long run of markers on one zone means price kept revisiting the same level rather than several levels working.

Alert channels in this build: popup, push notification, email and sound, one message per closed bar.

Alerts cover popup, push, email and sound on each mitigation or flip. A bar time check keeps it to one alert per closed bar.

Every Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator input

Core settings

Setting	What it does	Default
InpAtrPeriod	ATR period. InpAtrPeriod is the volatility window the impulse threshold is built from, 14 by default.	14
InpImpulseAtrMult	Impulse threshold (close-to-close move >= mult * ATR). InpImpulseAtrMult is how many ATRs a close has to move to count as an impulse. It defaults to 1.5, and raising it towards 2.5 creates far fewer zones.	1.5
InpMaxOpenBlocks	Max active OBs tracked. InpMaxOpenBlocks caps how many zones stay tracked at once, 12 by default.	12
InpLookbackBars	Lookback bars (recent N closed bars). InpLookbackBars limits how far back the scan builds zones, 600 by default.	600
InpZoneTransparency	Rectangle fill (0=solid, 100=transparent) – informational. InpZoneTransparency shades each rectangle, 80 by default, so the candles stay readable through it.	80
InpObjPrefix	Chart object prefix.	FXMTS_BOB_

Display settings

Setting	What it does	Default
InpShowBullishOB	Draw bullish OB zones.	on
InpShowBearishOB	Draw bearish OB zones.	on
InpBullOBColor	Bullish OB color.	lime
InpBearOBColor	Bearish OB color.	tomato
InpBullBreakerColor	Bullish OB -> Breaker color.	maroon
InpBearBreakerColor	Bearish OB -> Breaker color.	dark green
InpArrowOffsetPts	Arrow offset in points. InpArrowOffsetPts is the cosmetic gap between a marker and its candle, 20 points by default.	20

Alert settings

Setting	What it does	Default
InpEnableAlerts	Master alert switch. InpEnableAlerts gates the message block and defaults to true.	on
InpEnablePopup	Popup alerts.	on
InpEnablePushNotify	Push notifications.	off
InpEnableEmail	Email alerts.	off
InpEnableSound	Sound alerts.	off
InpSoundFile	Sound file.	alert.wav

Settings that fit your chart

The screenshot uses EURUSD H1. Scaling the impulse by ATR lets one InpImpulseAtrMult travel between symbols without retuning. H1 and H4 give zones that stay relevant long enough to be retested. On M1 and M5 the zones pile up around news and most get run through in minutes.

When the Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator fails

The impulse test compares two closes and one candle body, so a gap over a weekend can create a zone nothing actually traded through.

One candle becomes the zone, while a real origin often spans a small cluster of them.

A close a single point beyond the edge breaks a block exactly like a decisive one, since nothing measures how far the break travelled.

With InpMaxOpenBlocks at 12, older zones stop being tracked whether or not price was heading back towards them.

Copy the compiled Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, and the MT5 build into MQL5/Indicators, then restart the terminal and drag it onto a chart. The step-by-step guide with screenshots is at how to install MT4 and MT5 indicators.

Background reading on the method behind the Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator: Block trade on Wikipedia, Flag at Investopedia.

Download the Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator for MT4 and MT5

The zip holds the compiled Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator build for MT4 and MT5, plus a short README. Compiled files only, no source. Enter your email below and the download link arrives in your inbox.

FAQ

What is the difference between a mitigation and a breaker flip?

State. A mitigation is price returning into a zone that has never broken, so the level is doing its original job. A flip is a retest of a zone that already broke, which means the level has changed sides and now acts against its original direction.

What does InpImpulseAtrMult 1.5 require?

The close has to move at least one and a half ATR readings away from the previous close, with the candle body pointing the same way. Anything smaller creates no zone. Raising it towards 2.5 leaves only the strongest moves, and lowering it towards 1.0 fills the chart.

Does a broken block get removed from the chart?

No. It gets stamped with a break time and stays visible with its colour changed to the breaker colour. That is deliberate, because a broken zone is often more useful afterwards than before, once price returns to it from the other side.

Why does InpLookbackBars matter for zone creation time?

So it can never react to bars that came before it existed. Every check compares the bar time against the zone creation time first, which stops the tool reporting mitigations on history that had already happened when the zone formed.

Are results guaranteed?

No. Trading involves risk. Results are not guaranteed; past performance is not indicative of future results. Use the Breaker Block and Order Block Indicator as one input. Always backtest before trading live.