VPS Setup for Forex EAs: Keep Your MT5 Running 24/5

An EA only works while its terminal is running. A Windows VPS keeps MT5 online through reboots, power cuts and your laptop's sleep mode.

Why not run it at home?

• Windows updates restart your machine mid-trade.
• Home internet drops; a VPS sits in a datacenter with redundant connectivity.
• Latency: a VPS near your broker's servers executes in 1–5 ms instead of 50–150 ms.

Choosing a VPS

• RAM: 2 GB minimum for one MT5 terminal; 4 GB if you run several.
• Location: pick the datacenter closest to your broker's trade server (most brokers are in London LD4, New York NY4 or Amsterdam).
• Uptime SLA: look for 99.9%+.

Setup steps

1. Order a Windows Server VPS and connect via Remote Desktop (RDP).

2. Install MetaTrader 5 from your broker's website.

3. Log in to your trading account and verify the connection indicator (bottom-right) is green.

4. Install your EA — see our installation guide.

5. Disable automatic Windows restarts: set active hours and defer updates.

6. Close the RDP session with the X button — do not log off, or the terminal closes with your session on some configurations.

Monitoring

Check in daily. Enable your EA's alerts (email or push) so a disconnection or drawdown pause reaches your phone. License-validated EAs such as Apex Drawdown Zero log validation status in the Experts tab on every start — glance at it after each VPS reboot.

Next step

Need a server? Our Forex VPS plans are set up for MT4 and MT5 EAs and stay online 24/5.