Test the GER30 Trading Strategy Before You Trade It Live in 2026

The Royal GER30 trading strategy is a free MetaTrader 4 expert advisor that trades the DAX on an H1 chart and holds positions for several hours up to two days. Entry conditions are never published by the developer. What can be documented is how the robot is configured, how it sizes positions, and what it produced across four months on demo followed by a brief live run.

That distinction matters more than it sounds. Plenty of pages describe this robot as a strategy you can learn. You cannot. You can only evaluate its settings and its recorded behaviour, which is what follows.

Updated for 2026. Platform compatibility, broker symbol behaviour and the settings described below were rechecked. Performance figures come from the original test window and have not been reproduced with fresh data; they are labelled accordingly throughout.

GER30 trading strategy: quick facts

Setting	Detail
Market	DAX, quoted by brokers as GER30, GER40 or DE40
Instrument type	Index CFD
Platform	MetaTrader 4 only, no MT5 build located
Timeframe	H1
Entry logic	Not disclosed by the developer
Typical holding period	Several hours to roughly two days
Trade frequency	Low
Default starting lot	2.0
Lot multiplier	1.23
Exit controls	Trailing take profit (two levels), percentage cut loss set at 30
Cost	Free from the MQL5 Marketplace
Reported max drawdown	Below 4% during the recorded demo period

What a GER30 trading strategy actually means

Any rule set applied to Germany’s blue chip benchmark through a CFD or futures product counts as a GER30 strategy. Retail traders reach that benchmark through broker symbols rather than the index itself, so the ticker varies by platform.

Three things distinguish index work from currency pairs. Sessions are shorter and tied to Frankfurt cash hours. Gaps are common and can jump straight through a stop. And spreads widen sharply around the open, the close and German economic releases.

Approaches split into two camps. Discretionary traders read price action near the cash open, usually on five or fifteen minute charts, closing out before the session ends. Automated systems, this robot included, apply fixed conditions on higher timeframes and accept overnight exposure in exchange for fewer decisions. Neither is superior; they fail differently. Manual work fails through inconsistency, automation through conditions the developer never anticipated.

Any automated approach has to survive all three. A robot that never accounts for session gaps will eventually meet one.

GER30 and GER40: the same index, different symbols

Deutsche Börse expanded the DAX from 30 to 40 constituents on 20 September 2021, the largest reform since that benchmark launched in 1988 (STOXX; Deutsche Börse). Many platforms never renamed their ticker, so GER30, GER40 and DE40 frequently point at one underlying index.

The original version of this review said the robot works with either because they are “the exact same asset”. That overstates it. The benchmark is the same; the contract is not necessarily. Contract size, tick value, minimum lot and quoted hours are set by each provider, and a robot with a hard-coded volume of 2.0 behaves very differently at a euro per point than at ten.

Check the symbol specification before this robot touches a chart. Right click that instrument in Market Watch, open Specification, and read size alongside tick value. During testing the robot ran on a ticker that tracked the DAX, which is an observation about one platform, not a guarantee everywhere.

Position sizing is the part nobody mentions

Here is the finding that changes how this robot should be evaluated. Default configuration uses a fixed starting volume of 2.0 with a multiplier of 1.23. Three consecutive positions in the recorded history opened at 2, then 3, then 4.6 lots.

Read that sequence again. Exposure grows as positions accumulate.

That is not inherently disqualifying, and it is not a classic doubling martingale. It does mean the reported drawdown figure describes a window in which no sequence ran far. Any system adding to an open position and then closing the group in profit shows a clean equity line right up until the move that does not come back.

A 30% cut loss setting acts as the counterweight, though its exact mechanism is undocumented. Establish what that parameter does before committing capital, because it is the only visible brake on this behaviour. Our breakdown of expert advisor strategy types covers how scaling systems differ from single-entry ones.

Platform, timeframe and setup

Only a MetaTrader 4 version exists, compiled in 2021. Anyone needing an MT5 build will not find an official port, and MT4 files cannot run on the newer platform without a full rewrite. If you need MetaTrader 4 installed, that guide covers Windows and Mac.

Distribution is free through the MQL5 Marketplace, using the standard flow: sign in with your credentials, download, and the file lands in MetaTrader automatically. Attach it to an hourly DAX chart.

Settings worth reviewing before you start:

• Starting volume. The 2.0 default suits a five-figure balance and nothing smaller.
• Multiplier. At 1.23, each subsequent entry in a sequence is 23% larger.
• Trailing take profit levels. Two are exposed; both affect how gains are locked.
• Percent cut loss. Set at 30 by default, with undocumented behaviour.

Test conditions and what was recorded

Test detail	Demo	Live
Balance at start	$10,000	$1,000
Lot size	2.0	0.2
Timeframe	H1	H1
Broker	Not recorded	Eightcap
Quoted spread	Not recorded	From 1.5 pips on DAX
Account leverage	Not recorded	1:100
Period	9 February to early July	Approximately two weeks
Number of trades	Not recorded	Not recorded
Losing trades	None during the period	None reported
Peak equity dip	Below 4%	Not recorded
Commission and slippage	Not recorded	Not recorded

Half that table reads “not recorded”, and that is the honest state of the evidence. Ten consecutive winning trades were reported in the original review, alongside an account that nearly doubled inside a fortnight, with individual results of $125.82, $64.04 and $126.52. Those numbers appear here as first published rather than independently verified.

No losing trades during the recorded sample

Between 9 February and early July, the demo account closed every position in profit. The equity line tracked the balance closely, and the deepest observed dip took equity from roughly 11,400 to 11,000, which is under 4%.

What does an unbroken winning run tell you? Less than it appears. Systems that add to open positions and exit on a trailing target convert most sequences into modest gains, and the loss arrives when a move extends beyond recovery range. Four clean months are consistent with that pattern rather than evidence against it.

Nobody logged the trade count, which is the missing number that matters most. Ten winners from a dozen attempts and the same tally from four hundred are very different claims. Our note on why backtest results differ from live trading covers the distance between sample behaviour and what follows.

What these results do not establish

They do not establish long-term profitability. Roughly eighteen weeks on demo plus a fortnight live is a short window by any standard, and it covered a single market regime.

They also say nothing about behaviour when a gap opens mid-sequence, performance under widened spreads around German data releases, or output at another provider with different contract specifications. Demo execution is typically kinder than the live equivalent, so moving between them usually costs something.

Three tests would settle most of this. Record how many trades occur and how deep sequences run across a longer forward period. Track the deepest equity dip rather than closed-trade figures, since open groups hide exposure that settled statistics never show. And run the same settings at two brokers simultaneously, which surfaces contract and execution differences faster than any amount of single-platform testing.

When the robot is actually exposed

Index CFDs quote for a limited part of each day, and that shapes risk more than most settings do. Cash trading in Frankfurt runs from 09:00 to 17:30 Central European Time, with many providers extending their CFD quote either side of that. Outside those windows the instrument either stops pricing or trades thinly.

An H1 system holding overnight therefore carries two costs the equity curve does not show until later. Financing is charged on every position held past the daily rollover, which erodes returns on multi-day holds. And the reopening price is not obliged to respect where the previous session closed, so a stop sitting inside a gap gets filled wherever liquidity resumes.

Neither factor showed up in this sample. That is not reassuring; it simply means the test period contained no event large enough to demonstrate them.

Risks of running this GER30 strategy

• Sequence risk. Growing exposure inside an open group is where genuine danger lives.
• Undisclosed logic. You cannot anticipate conditions you cannot see, and you cannot switch it off ahead of an event you know is coming.
• Symbol variation. Contract size differences change effective risk without any settings change.
• Session gaps. Index CFDs stop quoting overnight; the DAX can reopen well away from Friday’s close.
• Spread widening. Costs around the German open and close run materially above any headline figure, and a 1.5 pip quote describes calm conditions rather than the moments when this robot is most likely to be holding.
• Small sample. No trade count, no out-of-sample period, no walk-forward validation.
• Abandonment. A free 2021 build carries no support commitment.

Is the Royal GER30 a scalping strategy?

No, not in any conventional sense. Scalping implies frequent entries and short holds, usually on M1 or M5. This robot runs H1, trades rarely, and can stay in a position for two days.

Hedging on this point in the earlier version was a mistake. Traders arriving from a scalping search want frequent intraday entries, and sending them here wastes their time.

How to evaluate any free index EA

Free robots are worth testing precisely because they cost nothing, provided you evaluate them like paid ones. Four questions do most of the work.

Does the developer disclose entry conditions? Hidden logic is not automatically disqualifying, though it removes your ability to anticipate events. Does volume stay constant? Anything growing exposure inside a sequence needs a longer window than a single-entry system. Is the file maintained? Something compiled in 2021 with no update history carries abandonment risk. Does the reported sample include a losing stretch? A history without losses is simply one that has not yet met its worst case.

Apply those four to any marketplace download before it reaches a funded account.

Frequently asked questions

Is GER30 the same as DAX?

Yes. GER30 is a broker ticker for the German blue chip index, which Deutsche Börse publishes as the DAX. Contracts for difference on the index are labelled differently across platforms, so the same benchmark appears as GER30, GER40, DE40 or DAX40 depending on where you hold an account. The underlying reference is identical. What varies is the contract specification each broker attaches to it, which is why lot sizing needs checking whenever you move the same robot between platforms.

Can the Royal GER30 EA run on MetaTrader 5?

No official MetaTrader 5 build exists. The expert advisor was compiled for MetaTrader 4 back in 2021, and its code will not execute on MT5 without being rewritten in a different language version. Anyone set on MT5 will need a different tool entirely. If MT5 is a requirement rather than a preference, our comparison of cTrader and MetaTrader explains what changes between automation environments and why builds are not portable.

What lot size should I use for a small account?

Scale the default down in proportion to your balance rather than guessing at a figure. Earlier testing used 2.0 lots on $10,000 and 0.2 on $1,000, holding that ratio constant throughout. Remember the multiplier compounds whatever starting value you choose, so a sequence beginning at 0.2 reaches roughly 0.38 by its third entry. Work out the worst case for a complete sequence beforehand, never afterwards, and verify that arithmetic on a demo account first. Position sizing is the one control entirely in your hands here.

How long does the strategy hold trades?

Positions typically stay open from several hours to around two days, which reflects the H1 timeframe and the low trade frequency. That holding pattern carries overnight exposure, so swap charges apply and weekend gap risk is live. Index CFDs stop quoting outside German market hours and can reopen at a materially different level. Traders who need positions closed daily will find this behaviour unsuitable, and no setting in the robot forces an end-of-day exit.

Does the EA work with both GER30 and GER40 broker symbols?

In our testing it ran on whichever ticker that platform used for the German index. Treat this as an implementation observation rather than universal compatibility. The practical check sits in the specification window: open Market Watch, select the ticker, then compare size, point value and minimum volume against wherever you tested. Ten euros per point behaves nothing like one euro at identical volumes, and the robot cannot detect that difference on your behalf. Compare quoted session hours too, since providers differ there.

Should I run it on a demo account first?

Yes, and for longer than feels necessary. A strategy that scales into positions needs enough time for at least several full sequences to complete, including one that goes against you. Two weeks proves very little. Our guide to the differences between demo and real accounts covers execution gaps that only appear with real money, particularly slippage and spread behaviour during volatile sessions. Budget months rather than weeks before drawing conclusions.

How can I test the strategy properly myself?

Run it forward on demo while recording trade count, average holding time, largest sequence size and worst equity dip, none of which the original testing captured. Backtesting an MT4 robot with undisclosed logic has limits, though it still reveals sizing behaviour under stress. Our walkthrough on backtesting an EA in MT4 covers modelling quality and spread settings, both of which distort index CFD results badly when left at defaults.

Where to take this next

If you are weighing up an index robot and want a second opinion on the sizing behaviour or the test design, get in touch with Algo Trading Space. We would rather help you structure a proper forward test than watch another free EA get attached to a live account after a fortnight of demo results.

Before that conversation happens, gather three things: your provider’s contract specification for the DAX, a demo period long enough to contain at least one losing sequence, and a written note of the maximum position size a full sequence could reach from your chosen starting volume. Those three items answer nearly every question worth asking about this robot.

Risk disclaimer. Trading index CFDs carries a substantial danger of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Nothing above is financial advice, and past results, whether from demo or live accounts, do not indicate future performance.