The bot uses a set of configuration parameters during its operation that all together conform the bot configuration. It normally reads its configuration from a file (Freqtrade configuration file).
In some advanced use cases, multiple configuration files can be specified and used by the bot or the bot can read its configuration parameters from the process standard input stream.
If default configuration file is not created we recommend you to use `freqtrade new-config --config config.json` to generate a basic configuration file.
The Freqtrade configuration file is to be written in the JSON format.
Additionally to the standard JSON syntax, you may use one-line `// ...` and multi-line `/* ... */` comments in your configuration files and trailing commas in the lists of parameters.
Do not worry if you are not familiar with JSON format -- simply open the configuration file with an editor of your choice, make some changes to the parameters you need, save your changes and, finally, restart the bot or, if it was previously stopped, run it again with the changes you made to the configuration. The bot validates syntax of the configuration file at startup and will warn you if you made any errors editing it, pointing out problematic lines.
- Strategy configurations are only used if they are not set via configuration or via command line arguments. These options are marked with [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy) in the below table.
| `max_open_trades` | **Required.** Number of open trades your bot is allowed to have. Only one open trade per pair is possible, so the length of your pairlist is another limitation which can apply. If -1 then it is ignored (i.e. potentially unlimited open trades, limited by the pairlist). [More information below](#configuring-amount-per-trade).<br>**Datatype:** Positive integer or -1.
| `stake_currency` | **Required.** Crypto-currency used for trading. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** String
| `stake_amount` | **Required.** Amount of crypto-currency your bot will use for each trade. Set it to `"unlimited"` to allow the bot to use all available balance. [More information below](#configuring-amount-per-trade). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** Positive float or `"unlimited"`.
| `tradable_balance_ratio` | Ratio of the total account balance the bot is allowed to trade. [More information below](#configuring-amount-per-trade). <br>*Defaults to `0.99` 99%).*<br>**Datatype:** Positive float between `0.1` and `1.0`.
| `amend_last_stake_amount` | Use reduced last stake amount if necessary. [More information below](#configuring-amount-per-trade). <br>*Defaults to `false`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `last_stake_amount_min_ratio` | Defines minimum stake amount that has to be left and executed. Applies only to the last stake amount when it's amended to a reduced value (i.e. if `amend_last_stake_amount` is set to `true`). [More information below](#configuring-amount-per-trade). <br>*Defaults to `0.5`.* <br>**Datatype:** Float (as ratio)
| `amount_reserve_percent` | Reserve some amount in min pair stake amount. The bot will reserve `amount_reserve_percent` + stoploss value when calculating min pair stake amount in order to avoid possible trade refusals. <br>*Defaults to `0.05` (5%).* <br>**Datatype:** Positive Float as ratio.
| `fiat_display_currency` | Fiat currency used to show your profits. [More information below](#what-values-can-be-used-for-fiat_display_currency). <br>**Datatype:** String
| `dry_run` | **Required.** Define if the bot must be in Dry Run or production mode. <br>*Defaults to `true`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `dry_run_wallet` | Define the starting amount in stake currency for the simulated wallet used by the bot running in the Dry Run mode.<br>*Defaults to `1000`.* <br>**Datatype:** Float
| `cancel_open_orders_on_exit` | Cancel open orders when the `/stop` RPC command is issued, `Ctrl+C` is pressed or the bot dies unexpectedly. When set to `true`, this allows you to use `/stop` to cancel unfilled and partially filled orders in the event of a market crash. It does not impact open positions. <br>*Defaults to `false`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `process_only_new_candles` | Enable processing of indicators only when new candles arrive. If false each loop populates the indicators, this will mean the same candle is processed many times creating system load but can be useful of your strategy depends on tick data not only candle. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>*Defaults to `false`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `minimal_roi` | **Required.** Set the threshold as ratio the bot will use to sell a trade. [More information below](#understand-minimal_roi). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** Dict
| `stoploss` | **Required.** Value as ratio of the stoploss used by the bot. More details in the [stoploss documentation](stoploss.md). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** Float (as ratio)
| `trailing_stop` | Enables trailing stoploss (based on `stoploss` in either configuration or strategy file). More details in the [stoploss documentation](stoploss.md#trailing-stop-loss). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `trailing_stop_positive` | Changes stoploss once profit has been reached. More details in the [stoploss documentation](stoploss.md#trailing-stop-loss-custom-positive-loss). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** Float
| `trailing_stop_positive_offset` | Offset on when to apply `trailing_stop_positive`. Percentage value which should be positive. More details in the [stoploss documentation](stoploss.md#trailing-stop-loss-only-once-the-trade-has-reached-a-certain-offset). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>*Defaults to `0.0` (no offset).* <br>**Datatype:** Float
| `trailing_only_offset_is_reached` | Only apply trailing stoploss when the offset is reached. [stoploss documentation](stoploss.md). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>*Defaults to `false`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `unfilledtimeout.buy` | **Required.** How long (in minutes) the bot will wait for an unfilled buy order to complete, after which the order will be cancelled and repeated at current (new) price, as long as there is a signal. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy).<br>**Datatype:** Integer
| `unfilledtimeout.sell` | **Required.** How long (in minutes) the bot will wait for an unfilled sell order to complete, after which the order will be cancelled and repeated at current (new) price, as long as there is a signal. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy).<br>**Datatype:** Integer
| `bid_strategy.price_side` | Select the side of the spread the bot should look at to get the buy rate. [More information below](#buy-price-side).<br>*Defaults to `bid`.*<br>**Datatype:** String (either `ask` or `bid`).
| `bid_strategy.ask_last_balance` | **Required.** Set the bidding price. More information [below](#buy-price-without-orderbook-enabled).
| `bid_strategy.use_order_book` | Enable buying using the rates in [Order Book Bids](#buy-price-with-orderbook-enabled). <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `bid_strategy.order_book_top` | Bot will use the top N rate in Order Book Bids to buy. I.e. a value of 2 will allow the bot to pick the 2nd bid rate in [Order Book Bids](#buy-price-with-orderbook-enabled). <br>*Defaults to `1`.* <br>**Datatype:** Positive Integer
| `bid_strategy. check_depth_of_market.enabled` | Do not buy if the difference of buy orders and sell orders is met in Order Book. [Check market depth](#check-depth-of-market). <br>*Defaults to `false`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `bid_strategy. check_depth_of_market.bids_to_ask_delta` | The difference ratio of buy orders and sell orders found in Order Book. A value below 1 means sell order size is greater, while value greater than 1 means buy order size is higher. [Check market depth](#check-depth-of-market) <br>*Defaults to `0`.*<br>**Datatype:** Float (as ratio)
| `ask_strategy.price_side` | Select the side of the spread the bot should look at to get the sell rate. [More information below](#sell-price-side).<br>*Defaults to `ask`.*<br>**Datatype:** String (either `ask` or `bid`).
| `ask_strategy.use_order_book` | Enable selling of open trades using [Order Book Asks](#sell-price-with-orderbook-enabled). <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `ask_strategy.order_book_min` | Bot will scan from the top min to max Order Book Asks searching for a profitable rate. <br>*Defaults to `1`.* <br>**Datatype:** Positive Integer
| `ask_strategy.order_book_max` | Bot will scan from the top min to max Order Book Asks searching for a profitable rate. <br>*Defaults to `1`.* <br>**Datatype:** Positive Integer
| `ask_strategy.use_sell_signal` | Use sell signals produced by the strategy in addition to the `minimal_roi`. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>*Defaults to `true`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `ask_strategy.sell_profit_only` | Wait until the bot reaches `ask_strategy.sell_profit_offset` before taking a sell decision. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>*Defaults to `false`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `ask_strategy.sell_profit_offset` | Sell-signal is only active above this value. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>*Defaults to `0.0`.* <br>**Datatype:** Float (as ratio)
| `ask_strategy.ignore_roi_if_buy_signal` | Do not sell if the buy signal is still active. This setting takes preference over `minimal_roi` and `use_sell_signal`. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>*Defaults to `false`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `order_types` | Configure order-types depending on the action (`"buy"`, `"sell"`, `"stoploss"`, `"stoploss_on_exchange"`). [More information below](#understand-order_types). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy).<br>**Datatype:** Dict
| `order_time_in_force` | Configure time in force for buy and sell orders. [More information below](#understand-order_time_in_force). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** Dict
| `exchange.name` | **Required.** Name of the exchange class to use. [List below](#user-content-what-values-for-exchangename). <br>**Datatype:** String
| `exchange.sandbox` | Use the 'sandbox' version of the exchange, where the exchange provides a sandbox for risk-free integration. See [here](sandbox-testing.md) in more details.<br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `exchange.key` | API key to use for the exchange. Only required when you are in production mode.<br>**Keep it in secret, do not disclose publicly.** <br>**Datatype:** String
| `exchange.secret` | API secret to use for the exchange. Only required when you are in production mode.<br>**Keep it in secret, do not disclose publicly.** <br>**Datatype:** String
| `exchange.password` | API password to use for the exchange. Only required when you are in production mode and for exchanges that use password for API requests.<br>**Keep it in secret, do not disclose publicly.** <br>**Datatype:** String
| `exchange.pair_whitelist` | List of pairs to use by the bot for trading and to check for potential trades during backtesting. Supports regex pairs as `.*/BTC`. Not used by VolumePairList. [More information](plugins.md#pairlists-and-pairlist-handlers). <br>**Datatype:** List
| `exchange.pair_blacklist` | List of pairs the bot must absolutely avoid for trading and backtesting. [More information](plugins.md#pairlists-and-pairlist-handlers). <br>**Datatype:** List
| `exchange.ccxt_config` | Additional CCXT parameters passed to both ccxt instances (sync and async). This is usually the correct place for ccxt configurations. Parameters may differ from exchange to exchange and are documented in the [ccxt documentation](https://ccxt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/manual.html#instantiation) <br>**Datatype:** Dict
| `exchange.ccxt_sync_config` | Additional CCXT parameters passed to the regular (sync) ccxt instance. Parameters may differ from exchange to exchange and are documented in the [ccxt documentation](https://ccxt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/manual.html#instantiation) <br>**Datatype:** Dict
| `exchange.ccxt_async_config` | Additional CCXT parameters passed to the async ccxt instance. Parameters may differ from exchange to exchange and are documented in the [ccxt documentation](https://ccxt.readthedocs.io/en/latest/manual.html#instantiation) <br>**Datatype:** Dict
| `exchange.markets_refresh_interval` | The interval in minutes in which markets are reloaded. <br>*Defaults to `60` minutes.* <br>**Datatype:** Positive Integer
| `exchange.skip_open_order_update` | Skips open order updates on startup should the exchange cause problems. Only relevant in live conditions.<br>*Defaults to `false`<br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `experimental.block_bad_exchanges` | Block exchanges known to not work with freqtrade. Leave on default unless you want to test if that exchange works now. <br>*Defaults to `true`.* <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `pairlists` | Define one or more pairlists to be used. [More information](plugins.md#pairlists-and-pairlist-handlers). <br>*Defaults to `StaticPairList`.* <br>**Datatype:** List of Dicts
| `protections` | Define one or more protections to be used. [More information](plugins.md#protections). [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy). <br>**Datatype:** List of Dicts
| `telegram.enabled` | Enable the usage of Telegram. <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `telegram.token` | Your Telegram bot token. Only required if `telegram.enabled` is `true`. <br>**Keep it in secret, do not disclose publicly.** <br>**Datatype:** String
| `telegram.chat_id` | Your personal Telegram account id. Only required if `telegram.enabled` is `true`. <br>**Keep it in secret, do not disclose publicly.** <br>**Datatype:** String
| `webhook.enabled` | Enable usage of Webhook notifications <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `webhook.url` | URL for the webhook. Only required if `webhook.enabled` is `true`. See the [webhook documentation](webhook-config.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** String
| `webhook.webhookbuy` | Payload to send on buy. Only required if `webhook.enabled` is `true`. See the [webhook documentation](webhook-config.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** String
| `webhook.webhookbuycancel` | Payload to send on buy order cancel. Only required if `webhook.enabled` is `true`. See the [webhook documentation](webhook-config.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** String
| `webhook.webhooksell` | Payload to send on sell. Only required if `webhook.enabled` is `true`. See the [webhook documentation](webhook-config.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** String
| `webhook.webhooksellcancel` | Payload to send on sell order cancel. Only required if `webhook.enabled` is `true`. See the [webhook documentation](webhook-config.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** String
| `webhook.webhookstatus` | Payload to send on status calls. Only required if `webhook.enabled` is `true`. See the [webhook documentation](webhook-config.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** String
| `api_server.enabled` | Enable usage of API Server. See the [API Server documentation](rest-api.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `api_server.listen_ip_address` | Bind IP address. See the [API Server documentation](rest-api.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** IPv4
| `api_server.listen_port` | Bind Port. See the [API Server documentation](rest-api.md) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** Integer between 1024 and 65535
| `api_server.verbosity` | Logging verbosity. `info` will print all RPC Calls, while "error" will only display errors. <br>**Datatype:** Enum, either `info` or `error`. Defaults to `info`.
| `api_server.username` | Username for API server. See the [API Server documentation](rest-api.md) for more details. <br>**Keep it in secret, do not disclose publicly.**<br>**Datatype:** String
| `api_server.password` | Password for API server. See the [API Server documentation](rest-api.md) for more details. <br>**Keep it in secret, do not disclose publicly.**<br>**Datatype:** String
| `bot_name` | Name of the bot. Passed via API to a client - can be shown to distinguish / name bots.<br>*Defaults to `freqtrade`*<br>**Datatype:** String
| `db_url` | Declares database URL to use. NOTE: This defaults to `sqlite:///tradesv3.dryrun.sqlite` if `dry_run` is `true`, and to `sqlite:///tradesv3.sqlite` for production instances. <br>**Datatype:** String, SQLAlchemy connect string
| `initial_state` | Defines the initial application state. If set to stopped, then the bot has to be explicitly started via `/start` RPC command. <br>*Defaults to `stopped`.* <br>**Datatype:** Enum, either `stopped` or `running`
| `disable_dataframe_checks` | Disable checking the OHLCV dataframe returned from the strategy methods for correctness. Only use when intentionally changing the dataframe and understand what you are doing. [Strategy Override](#parameters-in-the-strategy).<br>*Defaults to `False`*. <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `internals.process_throttle_secs` | Set the process throttle, or minimum loop duration for one bot iteration loop. Value in second. <br>*Defaults to `5` seconds.* <br>**Datatype:** Positive Integer
| `internals.heartbeat_interval` | Print heartbeat message every N seconds. Set to 0 to disable heartbeat messages. <br>*Defaults to `60` seconds.* <br>**Datatype:** Positive Integer or 0
| `internals.sd_notify` | Enables use of the sd_notify protocol to tell systemd service manager about changes in the bot state and issue keep-alive pings. See [here](installation.md#7-optional-configure-freqtrade-as-a-systemd-service) for more details. <br>**Datatype:** Boolean
| `logfile` | Specifies logfile name. Uses a rolling strategy for log file rotation for 10 files with the 1MB limit per file. <br>**Datatype:** String
| `user_data_dir` | Directory containing user data. <br>*Defaults to `./user_data/`*. <br>**Datatype:** String
There are several methods to configure how much of the stake currency the bot will use to enter a trade. All methods respect the [available balance configuration](#available-balance) as explained below.
By default, the bot assumes that the `complete amount - 1%` is at it's disposal, and when using [dynamic stake amount](#dynamic-stake-amount), it will split the complete balance into `max_open_trades` buckets per trade.
Freqtrade will reserve 1% for eventual fees when entering a trade and will therefore not touch that by default.
You can configure the "untouched" amount by using the `tradable_balance_ratio` setting.
For example, if you have 10 ETH available in your wallet on the exchange and `tradable_balance_ratio=0.5` (which is 50%), then the bot will use a maximum amount of 5 ETH for trading and considers this as available balance. The rest of the wallet is untouched by the trades.
The `tradable_balance_ratio` setting applies to the current balance (free balance + tied up in trades). Therefore, assuming the starting balance of 1000, a configuration with `tradable_balance_ratio=0.99` will not guarantee that 10 currency units will always remain available on the exchange. For example, the free amount may reduce to 5 units if the total balance is reduced to 500 (either by a losing streak, or by withdrawing balance).
The bot would open 2 trades, and will be unable to fill the last trading slot, since the requested 400 USDT are no longer available, since 800 USDT are already tied in other trades.
To overcome this, the option `amend_last_stake_amount` can be set to `True`, which will enable the bot to reduce stake_amount to the available balance in order to fill the last trade slot.
This option only applies with [Static stake amount](#static-stake-amount) - since [Dynamic stake amount](#dynamic-stake-amount) divides the balances evenly.
The minimum last stake amount can be configured using `last_stake_amount_min_ratio` - which defaults to 0.5 (50%). This means that the minimum stake amount that's ever used is `stake_amount * 0.5`. This avoids very low stake amounts, that are close to the minimum tradable amount for the pair and can be refused by the exchange.
The `stake_amount` configuration statically configures the amount of stake-currency your bot will use for each trade.
The minimal configuration value is 0.0001, however, please check your exchange's trading minimums for the stake currency you're using to avoid problems.
Alternatively, you can use a dynamic stake amount, which will use the available balance on the exchange, and divide that equally by the amount of allowed trades (`max_open_trades`).
To configure this, set `stake_amount="unlimited"`. We also recommend to set `tradable_balance_ratio=0.99` (99%) - to keep a minimum balance for eventual fees.
To allow the bot to trade all the available `stake_currency` in your account (minus `tradable_balance_ratio`) set
```json
"stake_amount" : "unlimited",
"tradable_balance_ratio": 0.99,
```
!!! Note
This configuration will allow increasing / decreasing stakes depending on the performance of the bot (lower stake if bot is loosing, higher stakes if the bot has a winning record, since higher balances are available).
When using `"stake_amount" : "unlimited",` in combination with Dry-Run, the balance will be simulated starting with a stake of `dry_run_wallet` which will evolve over time. It is therefore important to set `dry_run_wallet` to a sensible value (like 0.05 or 0.01 for BTC and 1000 or 100 for USDT, for example), otherwise it may simulate trades with 100 BTC (or more) or 0.05 USDT (or less) at once - which may not correspond to your real available balance or is less than the exchange minimal limit for the order amount for the stake currency.
If it is not set in either Strategy or Configuration, a default of 1000% `{"0": 10}` is used, and minimal roi is disabled unless your trade generates 1000% profit.
!!! Note "Special case to forcesell after a specific time"
A special case presents using `"<N>": -1` as ROI. This forces the bot to sell a trade after N Minutes, no matter if it's positive or negative, so represents a time-limited force-sell.
The `forcebuy_enable` configuration parameter enables the usage of forcebuy commands via Telegram and REST API.
For security reasons, it's disabled by default, and freqtrade will show a warning message on startup if enabled.
For example, you can send `/forcebuy ETH/BTC` to the bot, which will result in freqtrade buying the pair and holds it until a regular sell-signal (ROI, stoploss, /forcesell) appears.
When working with larger timeframes (for example 1h or more) and using a low `max_open_trades` value, the last candle can be processed as soon as a trade slot becomes available. When processing the last candle, this can lead to a situation where it may not be desirable to use the buy signal on that candle. For example, when using a condition in your strategy where you use a cross-over, that point may have passed too long ago for you to start a trade on it.
In these situations, you can enable the functionality to ignore candles that are beyond a specified period by setting `ask_strategy.ignore_buying_expired_candle_after` to a positive number, indicating the number of seconds after which the buy signal becomes expired.
For example, if your strategy is using a 1h timeframe, and you only want to buy within the first 5 minutes when a new candle comes in, you can add the following configuration to your strategy:
The `order_types` configuration parameter maps actions (`buy`, `sell`, `stoploss`, `emergencysell`, `forcesell`) to order-types (`market`, `limit`, ...) as well as configures stoploss to be on the exchange and defines stoploss on exchange update interval in seconds.
`order_types` set in the configuration file overwrites values set in the strategy as a whole, so you need to configure the whole `order_types` dictionary in one place.
If this is configured, the following 4 values (`buy`, `sell`, `stoploss` and
`stoploss_on_exchange`) need to be present, otherwise the bot will fail to start.
For information on (`emergencysell`,`forcesell`, `stoploss_on_exchange`,`stoploss_on_exchange_interval`,`stoploss_on_exchange_limit_ratio`) please see stop loss documentation [stop loss on exchange](stoploss.md)
If stoploss on exchange creation fails for some reason, then an "emergency sell" is initiated. By default, this will sell the asset using a market order. The order-type for the emergency-sell can be changed by setting the `emergencysell` value in the `order_types` dictionary - however this is not advised.
We try to provide sensible defaults per exchange where possible, if you encounter bans please make sure that `"enableRateLimit"` is enabled and increase the `"rateLimit"` parameter step by step.
* API-keys may or may not be provided. Only Read-Only operations (i.e. operations that do not alter account state) on the exchange are performed in dry-run mode.
* Wallets (`/balance`) are simulated based on `dry_run_wallet`.
You will need to create API Keys (usually you get `key` and `secret`, some exchanges require an additional `password`) from the Exchange website and you'll need to insert this into the appropriate fields in the configuration or when asked by the `freqtrade new-config` command.
API Keys are usually only required for live trading (trading for real money, bot running in "production mode", executing real orders on the exchange) and are not required for the bot running in dry-run (trade simulation) mode. When you setup the bot in dry-run mode, you may fill these fields with empty values.
You should also make sure to read the [Exchanges](exchanges.md) section of the documentation to be aware of potential configuration details specific to your exchange.
To use a proxy with freqtrade, add the kwarg `"aiohttp_trust_env"=true` to the `"ccxt_async_kwargs"` dict in the exchange section of the configuration.
