shot settings
shot is the strategy that comes with the Lab. This page explains every setting you can change: what it does, its unit, the value a new bot starts with, and the range the bot accepts.
Start value is the value in the preset that the Lab uses for a new bot. When the preset has no value, the bot's own default is shown. Allowed range is what the bot accepts. A range is not advice: it does not mean that a value inside it is safe or profitable. Where the code sets no limit, the table says "no limit set".
You change these settings in the Lab: right-click the bot → Settings → Strategies tab. In the first setup (Set up <name>) the Lab shows the most common ones.
How shot trades
shot keeps one limit order waiting a little away from the price. For a long bot, it waits below the price. When the price moves, the order follows it. When the price dips and fills the order, the bot places two exits, both counted from the fill price:
- a take-profit (a limit order) a fixed percent above the fill price, at once,
- a stop-loss (a stop-market order) a fixed percent below the fill price, after a short delay.
Then it waits until the position closes, and starts again. A short bot does the same in the other direction: it waits above the price and sells.
The order does not move on every tick. It stays where it is while it is inside a band around its target, and moves back to the target only when it falls out of the band. This band is set by Entry distance and Follow distance (below).
Strategy settings
All percent values are percent of the price. 0.3 means 0.3%, not 30%.
| Setting (Lab name) | Config key | What it does | Unit | Start value | Allowed range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry distance, % | entryDistance | How far from the price the order waits. This is the order's target: when the order moves, it moves here. Bigger means fewer fills, at better prices. | % | 0.3 | 0.0001 to 100. Outside values are cut to the range. |
| Follow distance, % | chaseSensitivity | How close the price may come before the order moves. It is the near edge of the band. The far edge is the same distance on the other side of the target. | % | 0.25 | 0.0001 to 100. If it is bigger than Entry distance, the bot uses Entry distance instead. |
| Take profit, % | takeProfit | The gain from the fill price at which the position closes, with a limit order. | % | 0.19 | 0.0001 to 100. The sign is ignored. |
| Stop loss, % | stopLoss | The loss from the fill price at which the position closes, with a stop-market order. | % | 0.5 (the preset writes -0.5; the sign is ignored) | 0.0001 to 100. |
| Stop-loss delay, ms | slDelayMs | Time after a fill before the stop-loss is placed. It stops the stop from firing on the same fast move that filled the entry. | milliseconds | 3000 (not in the preset; this is the bot's default) | The form allows 0 to 30000. The bot itself sets no limit. 0 places the stop at once. With a watchdog on Auto-protect, keep it under about 8000 (see below). |
| Order size | orderSize | The size of each order. On USDT perpetuals: USDT per order. On coin-margined perpetuals: coins per order, rounded down to whole contracts, at least 1. When Contracts per order is set, the bot uses that instead. | USDT, or coins | 0.002 (coin-margined preset). A new bot on USDT perpetuals starts with 100. | no limit set |
The stop-loss delay is time with no stop
During the delay the position has no stop-loss on Binance. If the bot goes down in those seconds, the position stays without a stop. A longer delay means a longer gap. See If the computer or server goes down.
With a watchdog on Auto-protect: the watchdog closes a position that has no stop after 12 to 20 seconds, even while the bot runs. Keep the delay under about 8 seconds (8000 ms), or the watchdog may close the position before the bot places its stop.
An example
A long bot on ETH with the start values. The price is $2,000.
- The order waits about 0.3% below the price: near $1,994.
- If the price drops so the order is less than 0.25% below it, the order moves down to the target again. If the price rises and the order ends up more than 0.35% below it, the order moves up to the target.
- The order fills at $1,994. The take-profit goes at $1,994 × 1.0019 ≈ $1,997.79. After 3 seconds, the stop-loss goes at $1,994 × 0.995 ≈ $1,984.03.
The band's edges in this example are rounded. The bot computes them from the middle of the best bid and ask, so a wide spread moves the whole band further from the price.
Bot settings for this strategy
These settings belong to the strategy's entry in the bot, not to shot itself. They work the same for every strategy.
| Setting | Config key | What it does | Start value | Allowed values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | name | The strategy's name. You see it in the Lab, the logs and Telegram. | 03L | any text |
| Strategy | type | Which strategy runs. | shot | an installed strategy |
| Market | marketType | Coin-margined perpetuals (INVERSE, for example XRPUSD_PERP) or USDT perpetuals (LINEAR, for example XRPUSDT). Your money must be in the matching Binance Futures wallet. | INVERSE | INVERSE, LINEAR |
| Symbols | pairs | The coins the strategy trades. Each symbol trades on its own. | BTCUSD_PERP, ETHUSD_PERP, XRPUSD_PERP, SOLUSD_PERP, BNBUSD_PERP | Binance symbols of the chosen market |
| Emulator (paper) | isEmulator | On: paper trading, no real orders. Off: live trading on your Binance account. | on | on, off |
| Contracts per order | orderContracts | Coin-margined perpetuals only. How many contracts each order has. One contract is $100 for BTC and $10 for the other coins. | 1 | whole numbers from 1. The bot rounds the value, so below 0.5 it uses Order size instead. |
| Direction | direction | LONG buys dips and sells higher. SHORT sells rallies and buys lower. After Save, press Restart 1 strategy to apply it. | LONG (not in the preset; this is the default) | LONG, SHORT |
| Max orders | maxOrderCount | How many positions and waiting entries the strategy may hold on one symbol at once. After Save, press Restart 1 strategy to apply it. | 0 (not in the preset; 0 means no limit) | 0 or more |
| Virtual SL | virtualSl | On: the bot keeps the stop-loss inside itself and closes with a market order when the price reaches it. Nothing is placed on Binance, so while the bot is down the position has no stop. Off: a real stop order rests on Binance. Read below before you turn it on. After Save, press Restart 1 strategy to apply it. | off (not in the preset) | on, off |
Order size and the Free plan
On the Free plan, every live order is cut to $20, or to the Binance minimum if that is larger. Paper orders are never cut. On coin-margined perpetuals the smallest order is one contract: $100 for BTC and $10 for the others. So on Free, a BTC order is still one contract ($100), because that is the Binance minimum.
Applying changes
Save in the Strategy editor stores your changes but does not apply all of them at once. When a change needs a restart, the bottom of the strategy list shows Restart 1 strategy (or Restart bot, for a rename, a new strategy or a session setting). Press it to apply. This is also how a strategy goes from paper to live.
A restart cancels the strategy's waiting orders and starts it fresh. It does not take back open positions, and a virtual stop-loss is lost. Restart only when the strategy has no open position.
Fees
On live trades the exchange charges its normal fees. shot enters and takes profit with limit orders, which pay the maker fee. It closes at the stop-loss with a market order, which pays the taker fee. Funding on open positions is charged or paid by the exchange on top, and the profit the bot shows does not include it.
Virtual stop-loss or exchange stop
An exchange stop is a real stop order that rests on the exchange. The exchange fills it even when the bot is off. This is the default in shot.
A virtual stop-loss (virtualSl) lives inside the bot. Nothing rests on the exchange. When the price reaches the stop, the bot sends a market order to close. It works only while the bot runs: if the bot is down, the position has no stop at all. Use it only if you know why you need it, and add a watchdog. More: Virtual stop-loss.
Leverage
shot does not set leverage. By default the bot uses the leverage that is set for each symbol on your Binance account. The Exchange tab's Test connection checklist shows the leverage the bot will use on each symbol. Leverage does not change the order size. It changes how much margin Binance locks for the order.
Advanced settings
shot can also use session settings (session_profit_max, session_profit_min, session_strat_max and others). They pause new entries after a run of profit or loss, and can make orders bigger or smaller. They are off unless you add them. They are not in the first setup. See Sessions.