Master slave trade copier: how master and follower accounts work
One account leads, the others follow at their own size. What a follower copies, how to size it, what can differ between the two, and how to set it up on MT4, MT5 and eTrader.
In a master slave trade copier, one account is the master: it is the only place you open, change and close trades. Every other account is a follower that repeats what the master does, at its own size. CopySignals is a cloud Telegram signal copier for MT4, MT5 and eTrader: it reads the rooms you already follow through your own Telegram account and places the trades on your own broker account. The same product is an MT4 and MT5 trade copier, so a connected trading account can be the master as well as a Telegram room.
We say "follower" rather than "slave" on this page, and in the product. The mechanics are the same under either word, and they are what the rest of this article covers: what the master has to do, what a follower copies, what each follower is free to change, and where the arrangement stops working.
What is the master in a trade copier?
The master is the source of the trades. In a classic setup it is a trading account: you open a position on it by hand or with your own strategy, and the copier mirrors that position onto the others. In CopySignals the source can also be a Telegram room, which is the other way to run it. The room posts a signal, the copier reads it, and every account attached to that copier gets the trade.
When the master is an account, the copier reads it from outside. Nothing is installed on the master account and nothing is placed on it. The copier looks at the positions that are open there and mirrors them onto the target accounts. That matters if the master is an account you do not want to touch, such as a funded account with strict rules about software, or an account at a broker you only trade by hand.
A copier needs to know which account leads, so the master is something you choose when you set the copier up.
What does a follower copy from the master?
A follower copies the life of the trade, more than the opening. Four things carry over from a master account:
- A new position on the master becomes a new position on the follower.
- A change to the stop or the target on the master is applied to the copy.
- A position closed on the master is closed on the follower.
- A position already open on the master when you switch the copier on is copied too, one copied trade for each master trade.
The last one surprises people. If you connect a copier on Wednesday and the master has had a trade open since Monday, the follower will take that trade on Wednesday, at Wednesday's price. If you want the follower to start clean, switch the copier on when the master is flat, or close the old trade first.
The master's positions are polled, which means the copier checks them at intervals instead of being pushed an event the instant they change. We do not publish a latency figure, and you should not assume the follower fills at the master's price. Expect a different fill and test how far apart they are on a demo pair before you rely on it.
Can the master and the followers be on different platforms and brokers?
Yes. Copying works in every direction across MT4, MT5 and eTrader, and across different brokers. An MT4 master can lead an MT5 follower and an eTrader follower in the same copier. Instrument names are matched to what each broker quotes, with symbol renames, a prefix and a suffix set per account, so a master that trades XAUUSD can lead a follower whose broker calls it XAUUSD.m or GOLD.
We have separate pieces on the two cases people ask about most. Copying between MT4 and MT5 covers the platform side, and copying trades between brokers covers symbol names and the differences in account type between brokers.
The limit is the platform list. CopySignals trades MT4, MT5 and eTrader only. If your master or your follower sits on any other platform, it cannot be connected.
How do you size each follower?
Each follower has its own sizing, and this is where a follower stops being a clone. There are four methods, set per following account and each capped by that account's maximum lot:
- Fixed lot. The same lot on every trade, whatever the master risked.
- Percent of the account. The lot is worked out from the follower's balance and the distance to the stop.
- Lot multiplier. The master's lot times a number you choose. 0.5 halves it and 2 doubles it.
- Proportional to balance. The master's lot scaled by what the follower is worth against the master, with a percentage on top. 100 matches the master's risk and 50 is half of it.
The multiplier is the simplest and the one to start with when the accounts are similar: lot multiplier copy trading explains how to pick the number and what rounding does to small lots. When the balances differ a lot, proportional to balance sizing keeps the risk comparable without you doing the arithmetic each time.
A worked case: the master has 20,000 in the account and trades 2.00 lots. A follower with 5,000 on proportional sizing at 100 trades 0.50 lots, because it is a quarter of the size. The same follower on a multiplier of 0.5 trades 1.00 lot, which is twice the master's exposure relative to balance. Same master, same trade, very different risk. Pick the method on purpose.
What is a master slave setup used for?
Three uses account for most of it.
The first is a personal account and a funded account on the same trades at different sizes. The master is one of them or a Telegram room, and each account follows with its own cap. A copier does not change what your prop firm's rulebook allows, so read copy trading for prop firm accounts before you connect one.
The second is spreading one set of decisions over several accounts: a trader with accounts at two brokers or on two platforms. One signal on many accounts shows the same idea with a Telegram room as the source.
The third is a move. You are changing broker or platform and want the new account to shadow the old one for a few weeks before you switch.
A fourth, less common, is reverse copy: a follower that takes the opposite side of every master trade. It exists as a setting, and reverse copy trading explains what it does to the stop and target. It is not a hedge you can count on, because the spread is paid on both sides.
What can go wrong with a master slave copier?
The follower is always a little behind. It reacts after the master, fills at its own broker's quote and can be refused by its own broker for reasons the master never met. A maximum spread, a delay before placing and a cap on open positions are controls you set on the copier to deal with that, and every skipped trade is written to the event log with the reason.
The follower does not know why the master traded. If the master doubles a losing position, the follower does too, within its own cap. Nothing in the copier checks the master's judgement, and CopySignals does not give advice or choose who to follow. Trading carries risk and the losses are the account holder's.
Finally, a follower at another broker can have different symbol names, minimum lots and account settings from the master. Compare them before the first live trade, not after.
How do you set up a master and a follower in CopySignals?
- Connect each trading account once, with the broker, server, account number and password you already have. The MetaTrader terminals run on our servers, one per account, so you install nothing and need no VPS.
- Create a copier and choose the master: a connected trading account or a Telegram room.
- Attach the follower accounts and set the sizing method, the maximum lot, the symbol renames and the take profit handling on each.
- Run it on demo accounts first. Open a small trade on the master, move the stop, close it, and compare the follower's version in the event log.
- Only then switch to live, with the master flat.
Every plan includes the whole product and differs only in how many trading accounts it covers: Starter at $14 a month for one account, Basic at $29 for three, Pro at $149 for thirty, and Business by email for more. There is a 30 day money back guarantee. See the pricing page for the current plans.