Mindhero.mq4 — Dynamic ATR “River” Arrow Indicator for MT4

Mindhero.mq4 is a custom arrow indicator for MetaTrader 4 that plots potential buy/sell arrows based on a dynamic, ATR-driven “river” state. It blends a weighted True Range model with a volatility buffer to decide when the market flips from bullish to bearish and vice-versa. When the state flips and conditions align, an up arrow (Wingdings 233) or down arrow (Wingdings 234) is drawn on the chart.

Good for: trend-following entries, volatility-aware timing, and visual “one-look” signals on forex, indices or synthetics.

How it works

• The indicator scans up to NumBars (default 500) most recent candles.
• For each candle it computes a custom True Range (TR) that includes spread and gap risk:
  • TR = max( spread + High - Low, |spread + High - Close[1]|, |Low - Close[1]| )
• It feeds TR into a weighted moving ATR (length ≈ 7 by default), then multiplies it by cecf = 0.7 to become a volatility buffer (widcha).
• It keeps a running extreme price (Emaxtra) and a state flag called river:
  • river = true ⇒ bullish bias; price is tracked by lows.
  • river = false ⇒ bearish bias; price is tracked by highs.
• If price pierces the current extreme ± the buffer (widcha), the river flips:
  • Flip to bullish if High > Emaxtra + widcha (trend may turn up)
  • Flip to bearish if Low < Emaxtra - widcha (trend may turn down)
• Arrows are placed with a safety offset using a standard ATR(10):
  • In bullish river: potential BUY arrow around Low − ATR(10) * s / 3, where s = 2.
  • In bearish river: potential SELL arrow around High + ATR(10) * s / 3.
• The buffers ExtMapBuffer1 (blue up arrows) and ExtMapBuffer2 (red down arrows) paint signals.

In short: Mindhero behaves like a Supertrend-style flip detector powered by a custom weighted ATR and draws buffered arrows at logical levels rather than raw highs/lows.

Inputs & internal parameters

External input

• NumBars (int, default 500): how many candles to process. Increase if you need deeper history.

Key internal (edit in code if you want to tune)

• artp = 7 / dartp = 7.0: length for weighted ATR engine (higher = smoother, slower flips).
• cecf = 0.7: volatility factor; larger makes the river harder to flip (fewer but stronger signals).
• s = 2: arrow offset multiplier with ATR(10); larger = arrows sit further away from price.
• ATR(10): standard MT4 ATR used for arrow positioning (not the weighted one).
• Wingdings 233/234: icons for up/down arrows.

Tip: Convert artp, cecf, s and ATR period into extern inputs so you can optimize per symbol/timeframe without recompiling.

How to read the signals

• Blue Up Arrow (ExtMapBuffer1): market in bullish river; price momentum favored upward; arrow placed just beneath price using ATR spacing.
• Red Down Arrow (ExtMapBuffer2): market in bearish river; momentum favored downward; arrow placed a bit above price.
• River flips occur when price pushes past its recent extreme by more than the volatility buffer. These flips often mark trend transitions.

Suggested confirmations

• Market structure (HH/HL vs LH/LL)
• A fast MA slope (e.g., EMA 20)
• Session timing and news filter

Best settings by timeframe

• M15–M30: keep artp = 7, try cecf = 0.6–0.8, s = 1.8–2.2, ATR(10) or 14
• H1–H4: artp = 7–10, cecf = 0.7–0.9, s = 2–2.5, ATR(14)
• Daily: artp = 10–14, cecf = 0.9–1.2, s = 2.5–3, ATR(14–20)

Higher volatility pairs/indices (e.g., XAUUSD, synthetics) often benefit from higher cecf (wider buffer) to avoid noise.

Installation (MT4)

1. Open MT4 → File → Open Data Folder
2. Go to MQL4 → Indicators
3. Paste Mindhero.mq4 (or the compiled .ex4) into that folder
4. Restart MT4 or right-click Navigator → Refresh
5. Drag Mindhero from Navigator → Indicators → Custom onto a chart
6. Set NumBars (and any parameters you exposed) → OK

rading playbook (example)

Trend-follow entry

• Wait for river flip to bullish and the first blue up arrow.
• Entry: on/after the arrow candle close (or small retrace).
• Stop: below the recent swing low or ATR(14) × 1.5.
• Trail: manual swing-low trail or ATR trail.

Counter-trend caution

• A lone arrow against a strong higher-timeframe trend is lower probability; demand more confluence.

Exit ideas

• Opposite arrow
• Risk:reward 1.5–2.5 fixed target
• Higher-TF structure change

Pros & limitations

Pros

• Simple, visual signals with volatility awareness
• Weighted ATR “river” reduces minor chop
• Arrows are buffered away from price → fewer accidental touches

Limitations

• Parameters are hard-coded (tweak source or expose as inputs)
• Can still whipsaw in heavy range days
• No built-in alerts (easy to add)

Developer notes (from the source)

• Uses MarketInfo(Symbol(), MODE_SPREAD) * Point to include spread in TR, making flips stricter on wide-spread symbols.
• Stores a rolling TR array (Values[artp]) and computes a linearly weighted sum to get a smoother ATR proxy.
• State machine (river boolean) plus extreme tracker (Emaxtra) decide flips with threshold widcha = cecf × ATR.
• Arrows are buffer writes only; there’s no clearing/redrawing logic you’d need for histograms.

Easy upgrades you can add

• Extern inputs: artp, cecf, s, ATR_Period
• Alerts/Push/Email when river flips or when an arrow prints:

if(ExtMapBuffer1[i] > 0 && ExtMapBuffer1[i+1] == 0) Alert(Symbol(), ” BUY arrow on “, TimeToString(Time[i]));
if(ExtMapBuffer2[i] > 0 && ExtMapBuffer2[i+1] == 0) Alert(Symbol(), ” SELL arrow on “, TimeToString(Time[i]));

MT5 port (.mq5) using OnInit/OnCalculate and CopyBuffer equivalents

Multi-timeframe filter: require higher-TF river = same direction before drawing arrows

Dashboard: count flips/alerts across multiple symbols

FAQ

Does Mindhero repaint?
It iterates historically and sets buffers per bar close. The state flip depends on completed prices; once the bar closes, the arrow for that bar shouldn’t repaint. In live ticks, arrows can appear/disappear during the forming candle—evaluate on bar close.

Which markets?
Forex majors/minors, gold, indices, and synthetic indices. Increase cecf and/or artp on very volatile symbols.

Timeframes?
Works from M15 up to Daily. For scalping, you may tighten s and widen cecf.