Small Inside Bar Indicator for MT4 and MT5

Written by Dominic Walsh · Published 9 Jul 2026 · Last updated 24 Sep 2026

An inside bar is a pause; a small one is a tight pause. The small inside bar indicator dots every bar that sits inside the previous one and spans at most 70% of its range. It then marks it buy or sell depending on whether it closes above or below a 50-bar exponential average.

This build ships as a compiled .ex4 for MT4 and .ex5 for MT5.

Platforms	MT4 (.ex4) + MT5 (.ex5)
Chart window	Main price chart
Plots	4: Trend EMA, Buy, Sell, Small Inside Bar
Alerts	popup, push notification, email, sound
Inputs	10

What the build actually draws

One line, dots and two marks on price.

`Trend EMA` traces dodger blue at width 2.

`Small Inside Bar` dots gold above qualifying bars.

`Buy` prints lime with arrow 233.

`Sell` prints red with arrow 234.

`ArrowGapPips` `3.0` spaces marks and dots.

• Trend EMA: line, dodger blue, width 2
• Buy: arrow, lime, width 2, arrow code 233
• Sell: arrow, red, width 2, arrow code 234
• Small Inside Bar: arrow, gold, width 1, arrow code 159

From price to plot

Inside

The bar’s high must sit below the mother bar‘s high and its low above the mother bar’s low.

Small

`SmallRatio` `0.70` caps the inside bar’s range at 70% of the mother bar’s range.

Direction

`EmaPeriod` `50` decides the side. A close above the line marks a buy, below it a sell. `MinBarsBetween` `3` spaces the marks.

What matters on screen

Gold dots show every small inside bar.

Lime marks, however, sit above the trend line.

Red marks, by contrast, sit below it.

Still, a mark is a pause, not a break.

So watch the mother bar’s range for the break.

Warm-up needs about fifty bars.

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

Each marked inside bar sends one message. `EnableAlerts` passes it on, with the popup the single route enabled out of the box.

Every Small Inside Bar Indicator input

Core settings

Setting	What it does	Default
EmaPeriod	Trend EMA period (reference line). Trend line length, `50`.	50
SmallRatio	Inside-bar range <= ratio * mother-bar range. Largest inside range versus mother, `0.70`.	0.70
MinBarsBetween	Cooldown bars between arrows. Bars between marks, `3`.	3

Display settings

Setting	What it does	Default
ArrowGapPips	Arrow / dot offset from bar (pips). Mark and dot gap in pips, `3.0`.	3.0

Alert settings

Setting	What it does	Default
EnableAlerts	Master alert switch, `true`.	on
EnablePopup	Popup, `true`.	on
EnablePushNotify	Mobile route, `false`.	off
EnableEmail	Email route, `false`.	off
EnableSound	Speaker, `false`.	off
SoundFile	Speaker clip, `”alert.wav”`.	alert.wav

What to load it on

Small inside bars show up daily on hourly charts. EURUSD H1 is the reference chart. On M15 they appear through quiet sessions. On D1 they are the classic compression setup before a range break.

What it misses

The mark shows a pause, not a direction change.

Breaks of inside bars often fail both ways.

The 50 EMA side can flip quickly in ranges.

Only a popup reports until you change it.

Copy the compiled Small Inside Bar 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.

Download the Small Inside Bar Indicator for MT4 and MT5

The zip holds the compiled Small Inside Bar 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 does SmallRatio 0.70 require?

The inside bar’s range must be no more than seventy percent of the mother bar’s range. Inside bars that nearly fill the mother bar are dotted out.

Why read the Buy side from a 50 EMA?

An inside bar has no direction of its own. The build borrows one from the trend line, so a pause above the line counts as a buy setup.

What is the gold Small Inside Bar dot for?

It marks every qualifying bar, including those blocked by the three-bar spacing rule. The arrows then show which of those dotted bars the build turned into signals.

How should a Small Inside Bar be traded?

Commonly by waiting for a close beyond the mother bar’s high or low. The mark only flags the compression; the build does not track the break.

Are results guaranteed?

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