Surely you have ever wanted to share one of your MT4 programs with a friend or with a potential partner or client. However, you are afraid that your program may be shared with third parties or may even be marketed without your consent. Learn to solve this in a very simple way even without being an MT4 programmer.
Code snippet to bond a program to a single MT4 Forex account
Here we show you a very simple way to limit the use of your MT4 program to a single MetaTrader account. This way you can send your Expert Advisor, Indicator or Script to whoever you want with the guarantee that it will not work on any other account except the one you previously authorized.
Simply follow the following steps:
1. Open your MT4 program (Expert Advisor, Indicator or Script) in MetaEditor (press F4 in MetaTrader platform).
2. Copy the following code.
//--- code begin
int AcctNbr = 0;
if(AcctNbr > 0 && AcctNbr != AccountNumber())
{Print("Account not allowed"); return(-1);}
//--- code end3. Modify the second line of the code replacing ‘0’ (zero) with the number of the account authorized to use your MT4 program.
//--- code begin
int AcctNbr = 52068425; // <-- write here the authorized account number
if(AcctNbr > 0 && AcctNbr != AccountNumber())
{Print("Account not allowed"); return(-1);}
//--- code end
4. Paste the above code between the brackets of ‘OnInit’ or ‘init’ (in old files) function of your MT4 program. It would look as follows.
5. Make sure you have this line of code (#property strict) at the start of the program as shown in the image below. If not, add it. Otherwise the code will not work.
6. Compile the MT4 program.
7. Share only the executable file (‘ex4’).
Download a sample of an Expert Advisor bond to a single MT4 Forex account
The EA is linked by default to the fictitious MetaTrader 4 forex account 52068425. Change this number to the account you want to allow use of the program.
Code snippet to set a trial period
With this simple piece of code, you will be able to limit the use of your MT4 trading tool from a certain date. This is, the MT4 EA or Indicator will work until the date you set in the code. From this date on, the MetaTrader 4 program will stop working.
Follow the points above just replacing points 2 and 3 with the following ones:
2. Copy the following code.
//--- code begin
datetime TrialEndDate = 0;
if(TimeCurrent() > TrialEndDate)
{Print("Trial period has expired!"); return(-1);}
//--- code end3. Modify the second line of the code replacing ‘0’ (zero) with the date you want the MT4 program to stop working.
//--- code begin
datetime TrialEndDate = D'23.07.2020'; // <-- write here the date when you the MT4 program stops
if(TimeCurrent() > TrialEndDate)
{Print("Trial period has expired!"); return(-1);}
//--- code end
Download a sample of an Indicator with a trial period
The indicator trial is limited by default to work until December 31, 2020 (format D’31.12.2020′). Change it to the date to which you want to limit the use of the program.
Adding an extra layer of protection with MQL5 Cloud Protector
The MetaTrader 4 trading platform contains a tool that adds an additional layer of protection to the programs. This important tool is MQL5 Cloud Protector.
MQL5 Cloud Protector is actually a free service that adds a high degree of protection to MT4 programs. In fact, this is the same protection system used with the trading apps marketed in MQL5 market.
It is advisable to always use this protection, especially for those cases where a high degree of protection is desired in the MT4 program that you want to share or sell. From our point of view, MQL5 Cloud Protector significantly reduces the need to use DLL files in program protection.
MQL5 Cloud Protector was launched at the end of 2017 on MT5 build 1700. You can see the details of this version in the post “MetaTrader 5 Build 1700: Synthetic Instruments, Shared Projects and MQL5 Cloud Protector“. Consequently, the tool was also available for MT4 sometime later.
Chicco says
Thank you! It works perfectly 🙂 I really appreciate your wworks.
What if I want to add 2 or more accounts. Should I use a comma or semi colon to separate multiple accounts?
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi Chicco,
Find below a simple example:
//--- code begin
int AcctNbr1 = 52068425; // 0 && AcctNbr1 != AccountNumber())
{Print("Account not allowed"); return(-1);}
int AcctNbr2 = 26341416; // 0 && AcctNbr2 != AccountNumber())
{Print("Account not allowed"); return(-1);}
//--- code end
Best regards
Matimba says
Hi, I did put the code as instructed but it gives me an error code ” onlnit- function already defined and has a body
This is the code i was trying to put on my indicator and ea. please help me out on how to fix this issue
int OnInit()
{
int AcctNbr = 21698831; // 0 &&
AcctNbr != AccountNumber())
{
Alert(“Account not allowed”);
return(-1);
}
return(INIT_SUCCEEDED);
}
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi Matimba,
You get that error because you already have a function in the code with the same name (‘OnInit’), so you should delete this new ‘OnInit’ function you created, search the ‘OnInit’ function already existing in your code, and copy the snippet inside it. In the other hand, your code won’t run since it contains error. Please, recheck your code and make sure it’s the same as the code we published in this post.
Thanks
Troc says
Hello Bamenteros,
Many thanks for your great help!
Could you show us how to modify the code slightly so instead of checking for account number it validates against the name of the account?
Many many thanks Barmenteros!
You guys are great!
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi Troc,
Please, send us a screenshot highlighting what do you mean by account name. If it’s what we think, you should notice that the name of the account is the same for all the accounts belonging to the same broker server, so it won’t be a valid verification method.
Thanks
rosa says
Alert(“acct numbr> ” + AccountNumber());
//— code begin
int AcctNbr = 452295; // 0 && AcctNbr != AccountNumber())
{
Alert(“No puedes usar este indicador. Contacta con hola@mail.com” + AcctNbr);
return(-1);
//— code end
}
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi Rosa,
Not sure what you are trying to do but your code is different from the code we posted here.
Best regards
rosa says
Hi,
AccountNumber() returns “0” so it doesn´t work if you already have the indicator on your chart, close mt4 and reopen it.
int OnInit() {
//— code begin
Alert(“accountnumber: ” + AccountNumber());
int AcctNbr = XXXXXX; // 0 && AcctNbr != AccountNumber())
{
Alert(“not allowed: ” + AcctNbr );
return(-1);
//— code end
}
}
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi Rosa,
Not sure what you are trying to do but your code is different from the code we posted here.
Best regards
Francis says
i tried to do this to restrict my indicator to a particular account but still its not working
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi. Please, send us a screenshot of the code you added and where you placed it. Thanks
Lito Lapis says
Hi,
Is it possible to create a code protector for MT4 that you can share to your client that will expire in an X amount of days or months?
Thank you.
Lito
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi Lito. Yes, it’s possible. Greetings
gary says
I read somewhere on your blog abt using vmprotect for extra protection, but cant seemed to find the post. Can u share a little more on your experience of using that? Thank you.
Barmenteros FX Staff says
Hi Gary. Unfortunately, we don’t have any post related to VmProtect. Nevertheless, you can find a lot of related info on the web. Best regards