Futures order types: Limit, Market, Stop Limit and Stop Market

What it is

The order form offers four order types. Pick one with the tabs at the top of the Place Order form: Limit, Market, and a drop-down that holds Stop Limit and Stop Market. The drop-down button shows the name of the stop type you picked (it shows Stop Limit until you choose another).

Other order styles you may have seen on other platforms (trailing stop, post-only, TWAP, scaled order) are not offered in the order type menu at this time.

Quick comparison

Limit order

You choose the exact Price. A Buy/Long limit fills at your price or lower. A Sell/Short limit fills at your price or higher.

• If the market is already at a fillable price, the order fills right away.
• If not, it stays open (status shown in Open Orders) until it fills or you cancel it, depending on TIF.
• Enter the Price and Size. A positive price is required: "Price must be greater than 0" appears otherwise.
• The price is rounded to the contract's price step. The form can show "Price will be rounded to {value}" and the app also rounds it when sending. The price must also fit the contract's allowed range: "Price must be at least {value}" / "Price must not exceed {value}" (the app fills in the real number).

Time In Force (TIF)

Shown on Limit and Stop Limit orders. The default is GTC. Hover or tap the TIF label to read the explanation.

If an IOC or FOK order finds nothing to match, nothing is executed and you see Order failed with: "No liquidity matched this {tif} order, so nothing was executed. Try a limit order or a smaller size." (the message shows IOC or FOK). Nothing was placed.

Market order

A market order is filled immediately at the best available prices in the order book. You only enter Size.

• The form estimates the price from the current order book to calculate Cost.
• Large orders can move through several price levels, so the average fill price can differ from the price you saw.
• Slippage Tolerance: tick this to enter the largest price deviation you accept; the form uses it in its Cost estimate. The field accepts a percentage between 0.1 and 5 (the box shows "0.1 ~ 5"). The app text says: "Maximum acceptable price deviation. If execution price deviates more than this, the order will not fill." The default value when you tick it is 0.5. Errors: "Slippage must be a number", "Minimum slippage is 0.1%", "Maximum slippage is 5%".
• Market orders do not have a TIF option.

Stop Limit and Stop Market (conditional orders)

These stay inactive until the price reaches your Stop Price, then they become real orders. The tooltip says: "The trigger price at which your conditional order is activated and placed into the order book."

1. Choose Stop Limit or Stop Market from the drop-down.
2. Enter the Stop Price. Pick which price is watched with the Mark / Last selector (Mark is the default).
3. For Stop Limit, also enter the limit Price and choose TIF.
4. Enter the Size, then press Buy/Long or Sell/Short.

How the app labels a stop order: it compares your Stop Price with the current Mark price.

• Buy/Long with a stop price above mark price, or Sell/Short with a stop price below mark price: a stop (usually used to enter on a breakout or to limit a loss).
• Buy/Long with a stop price below mark price, or Sell/Short with a stop price above mark price: a take-profit style order.

The confirmation window names these Stop Limit, Stop Market, Take Profit Limit or Take Profit Market. Both kinds are valid. Stop orders always show a confirmation window first (see the confirmation article).

Mark price: "Fair value price calculated from the index price and funding basis. Used for liquidation calculations and unrealized PnL." Last price: "The most recent trade execution price on this contract."

Stop order errors

• "Stop price must be greater than 0": the stop price is empty or zero.
• "Mark price is unavailable for this conditional order": the app could not read the mark price, so it cannot place the order. Wait for prices to load and try again.
• "One or more prices are outside the supported range": a price falls outside the range the contract allows.

Which options work with which order type

See the article on Reduce Only and TP/SL for how those two options behave and exclude each other.

FAQ

What is the difference between Market and Limit? Market fills now at whatever prices are available. Limit fills only at your price or better and may wait or never fill.

My Stop Limit did not execute. Why? The stop price may not have been reached, or it was reached but the limit price could not be matched. Check Open Orders.

What does "Order failed" with "No liquidity matched this IOC order" mean? Nothing was available to match immediately, so the order was cancelled. Try a limit order with GTC or a smaller size.

Where do I see my open stop and limit orders? In the orders panel under Open Orders.

When to contact Support

If an order type behaved differently from this description, send Support: symbol, side, order type, the Price, Stop Price, Size and TIF you entered, the exact message shown, a screenshot of the form and the orders panel, and the time with time zone.

Safety reminder

Stop orders do not guarantee the execution price. Never share your password, 2FA code, seed phrase or private key with anyone, including people claiming to be Support.

Related terms: limit order, market order, stop limit, stop market, stop order, stop price, take profit, trigger price, tif, time in force, gtc, ioc, fok, good till cancelled, immediate or cancel, fill or kill, slippage, slippage tolerance, order types, conditional order, mark price, last price, order not filled, no liquidity matched, trailing stop, post only, twap