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OFS BookBalance

A live counter of the order book: how many contracts the buyers and the sellers have resting near the price or in the whole book, in one split bar.

Current version	1.0.1 · 2026-10-29
Compatibility	ATAS 8.0.14+ and ATAS X 8.0.14+
Requirements	Windows 10/11, .NET 10, ATAS or ATAS X, market depth (Level 2) from the connection
Updates	All future updates included
Delivery	ATAS catalog (automatic)

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Description

OFS BookBalance adds up the resting limit orders in the order book - every buy order (bid) and every sell order (ask) your data feed delivers - and shows the balance between buyers and sellers live, in one small bar at the bottom of the chart.

What you see

One bar split into two colours: green for the buyers, purple for the sellers, with a thin mark in the middle at 50 %. Under the bar: the number of contracts waiting on each side and its share - for example BID 2,003 55.7% on the left and 44.3% 1,595 ASK on the right. The title row shows the range being added up.

What is counted

The range button on the control panel chooses how much of the book is added up: ±5, ±10, ±20, ±50 or ±100 points from the best bid and the best ask, or FULL BOOK - every resting order in the book, however far from the price. The default is ±20 points. The counter never cuts the book off at a fixed number of levels: it adds up everything your connection delivers. Prices on the wrong side of the best bid or ask - left-overs the feed has not removed yet - are not counted.

Live, not history

The counter shows only the current state of the book and updates up to five times a second. It keeps no history, draws nothing on the candles, has no alerts and places no orders.

What it is not

The balance of resting orders is not a trading signal, and we say so because we measured it. On 16 hours of the MNQ order book recorded between 31 August and 2 September 2026, the buyers' share within ±20 points stayed mostly between 42 % and 58 % and moved by about 0.3 percentage points per second; in no range did it tell where the price would be 10 seconds, 1 minute or 5 minutes later - it was right in 45 to 55 % of cases. In the full book the sellers usually prevail (about 42 % buyers on MNQ), because many sell orders wait far above the price. Resting orders can be pulled or moved at any moment. Use BookBalance as context - what is waiting in the book right now - not as a reason to trade.

Control panel

One line at the top centre: OFS BookBalance, HIDE, BOOK and the range button. BOOK switches the counter on and off (off on a new chart), the range button steps ±5 → ±10 → ±20 → ±50 → ±100 → FULL BOOK and back. HIDE folds the panel into a small button with the product name.

Data and safety

BookBalance needs market depth (Level 2) from your connection; MBO is not needed. Until depth arrives - a new chart, a closed market, a connection without DOM - a notice says so instead of showing zeros. If the connection or the market data drops, the counter and the control panel get a thick red frame: the numbers may be out of date.

Settings

Range, the colours of buyers and sellers, the position (bottom centre by default), size and background of the counter, notices, the control panel and an optional log. Every setting has a tooltip.

Installation guide

1. Create or sign in to your OrderFlowSmith account with the same e-mail address used by your ATAS account. When access to OFS BookBalance is activated and the e-mails match, ATAS delivers the indicator automatically; do not install a DLL manually.
2. Open or fully restart ATAS so the automatically delivered indicator becomes available in the indicator catalogue. Whenever an update is released through ATAS, fully restart the platform; ATAS downloads and loads the new version automatically.
3. If your ATAS account uses a different e-mail address than your OrderFlowSmith account, write to us at orderflowsmith.com/contact - we move the license to your ATAS e-mail and ATAS delivers the indicator automatically.
4. Add OFS BookBalance to a chart whose connection delivers market depth (Level 2).
5. Open indicator settings → 01 · License → paste the license key from your OrderFlowSmith account (it is also sent by e-mail).
6. Click BOOK on the control panel at the top of the chart - the counter appears at the bottom centre. The range button next to it switches the range.

First settings worth a look: 06 · Order Book for the default range, 07 · Visual for the colours of buyers and sellers, 08 · Panel for the position and size of the counter. Every setting has a tooltip explaining what it does.

Changelog — version 1.0.1

1.0.1 - NOTICES OFF BY DEFAULT AND BELOW EACH OTHER; A DOT ON THE HIDDEN BUTTON.

- The waiting and error notices are off by default, also on saved charts - switch them on with Show Notices. A missing or invalid licence is always shown.

- Notices start 50 px from the top, below the row of hidden panel buttons (Notice Offset Y), and the notices of several OFS indicators stack below each other by themselves - they never cover a control panel or a hidden panel button.

- The hidden panel button shows a dot before the name: green when anything on the control panel is switched on, an empty grey ring when everything is off - you see at once which indicator draws on the chart.

1.0.0 - FIRST RELEASE.

- A live counter of the order book: one bar split between the buyers (bids) and the sellers (asks) resting in the book, with the number of contracts and the share of each side, updated up to five times a second.

- The range: ±5, ±10, ±20, ±50 or ±100 points from the best bid and ask, or FULL BOOK - every resting order the connection delivers. Default ±20 points.

- Control panel at the top centre: BOOK switches the counter on and off, the range button steps through the ranges, HIDE folds the panel into a small button.

- A notice when the connection delivers no market depth, and a thick red frame while the connection or the market data is down.

- Settings for the colours, the position (bottom centre by default), the size and the background of the counter, and an optional log.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a buy or sell signal?

No. We measured the balance on 16 hours of the MNQ order book (31 August - 2 September 2026): in no range - from ±2.5 points to the full book - did it tell where the price would be 10 seconds, 1 minute or 5 minutes later; it was right in 45 to 55 % of cases. BookBalance shows what is waiting in the book right now. Read it as context, not as a trigger.

What exactly is added up?

The resting limit orders. With a range of ±N points: the buyers from the best bid N points down and the sellers from the best ask N points up (±20 points on MNQ = 80 prices on each side). With FULL BOOK: every resting order in the book, however far from the price. Prices on the wrong side of the best bid or ask - left-overs the feed has not removed yet - are not counted.

Why is ±20 points the default?

Close to the price the balance jumps around - within ±2.5 points it moves by about 2 percentage points every second. Within ±20 points it moves calmly (about 0.3 percentage points per second) and still describes the book around the price. The full book is dominated by far-away orders. The range button switches the range with one click, and 06 · Order Book sets the range a new chart starts with.

Why do the sellers usually win in FULL BOOK?

Because many sell orders wait far above the price. On MNQ the full book had about 42 % buyers in our measurement. That is the shape of the book, not a forecast.

Do I need MBO or a particular data feed?

No MBO - market depth (Level 2) is enough. The counter works with any connection that delivers market depth to ATAS. How deep the book is depends on the connection: FULL BOOK adds up everything it delivers, nothing is cut off.

The chart says "Waiting for order book data". What is wrong?

The connection has not delivered market depth for this instrument yet: the chart was just added, the market is closed, or the connection carries no DOM. The counter starts by itself with the first depth update. The notice is shown with Show Notices on in 08 · Panel (off by default).

How often does it update, and does it slow ATAS down?

Up to five times a second. The counter keeps only the current state of the book - no history - and draws one small bar, nothing on the candles.

What does the red frame mean?

The connection or the market data is down: the account connection lost for more than 15 seconds, no data for 15 seconds while CME is trading, or the data more than 5 seconds late. The numbers on the counter may be out of date while the frame is red. It returns to normal by itself after a few seconds of healthy data. Panel Outage Frame in 08 · Panel switches it off.

Can I move it, make it bigger or hide it?

Yes. 08 · Panel sets the position (nine points, bottom centre by default), the offsets, the size and the background of the counter. BOOK on the control panel switches the counter off, and HIDE folds the control panel into a small button with the product name.

⚠ OFS BookBalance shows the resting limit orders in the order book as your data feed delivers them. Resting orders can be cancelled or moved at any time; their balance is not a prediction of price movement and not a trade signal. Trading futures, forex and crypto carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. This product is analysis software — it is not financial, investment or trading advice, and it cannot guarantee any profit. Every decision stays with you: whether to trade at all, position size, stop-loss and when to walk away. Any performance figures we publish come from historical testing; hypothetical and back-tested results have inherent limitations and never guarantee future results. To the maximum extent permitted by law, OrderFlowSmith is not liable for trading losses, missed opportunities or other damage arising from the use of this software. Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.

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