Tradovate Order Types Explained for New Futures Traders
If you’re trading futures on Tradovate, you need to understand order types or you’re basically guessing. This breakdown shows exactly how market, limit, stop, and stop-limit orders behave on Tradovate, without the fluff. If you don’t know the difference, you’ll eat slippage and blow a funded account fast.
Market Orders: Fast but Dangerous
A market order hits the best available price immediately. On thin contracts like 6J or NG, that “best price” can be terrible. If you’ve read bid-ask spread basics, you already know why market orders slip hard during volatility.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Instant fill | Worst price in the moment |
| Good for exits | Slippage spikes during news |
Limit Orders: Price Control
A limit order says “fill me only at this price or better.” Great for entries. Bad for emergency exits. If price rockets through, you simply won’t get filled. Tradovate shows your resting order directly on the DOM and chart, making it easy to adjust on the fly.
Stop Market Orders: Your Safety Valve
A stop market order triggers once price touches your stop level, then becomes a market order. That means you get out, but sometimes at worse prices than expected. This is why many traders pair stop-market orders with structure-based risk plans like those in prop firm risk rules.
Stop-Limit Orders: Precision With a Catch
Stop-limit orders try to avoid bad fills by converting to a *limit* order instead of a market order. The catch: if price jumps past your limit, you won’t be filled at all. In a fast move, this can be catastrophic.
Which Order Type Should You Use?
Beginners should keep it simple. Use limit orders for entries, stop-market orders for exits, and avoid market orders unless you’re flattening fast. Every order type exists for a reason—use the one that fits the situation, not the one that “feels right.” Getting this wrong is how traders fail funded accounts.