Your First Indicator

This guide walks you through adding and configuring an MZpack indicator on a NinjaTrader 8 chart. We'll use mzFootprint as the example, but the steps are the same for any MZpack indicator.

Prerequisites

• NinjaTrader 8 installed and running (see System Requirements)
• MZpack installed (see Installation)
• A valid license or trial activated (see Licensing)
• A chart open with tick-level data

Step 1: Open a Chart

1. In NinjaTrader, open a chart for any instrument (e.g., ES, NQ, CL)
2. Use a time-based or tick-based data series — for example, 5-minute or 1000 tick bars
3. Ensure you are connected to a data feed that provides tick data

tip

For your first experience, use a Sim101 account with a liquid futures instrument like ES (E-mini S&P 500). This gives you real-time tick data without a live trading account.

Step 2: Add the Indicator

1. Right-click on the chart
2. Select Indicators from the context menu
3. In the indicator list, type mzFootprint in the search box
4. Select mzFootprint and click Add
5. Click OK to apply

The footprint chart will begin rendering on your chart once enough data is loaded.

Step 3: Understand the Display

The mzFootprint indicator overlays order flow data directly on your price bars. Each bar shows:

• Bid/Ask volumes — the number of contracts traded at the bid and ask at each price level
• Delta — the difference between ask and bid volume (buying vs. selling pressure)
• Imbalances — highlighted cells where the bid/ask ratio exceeds a threshold, indicating aggressive buying or selling
• POC — the price level with the highest volume within the bar (Point of Control)

Step 4: Configure Settings

The quickest way to adjust settings is through the on-the-fly settings available on the indicator toolbar at the top of the chart. Click the indicator name on the toolbar to access commonly used settings without opening any dialogs. You can also toggle indicator visibility using the eye button next to the indicator name.

tip

For the full list of settings, right-click the chart, select Indicators, choose mzFootprint from the active indicators list, and adjust in the properties panel.

Key settings categories:

Category	What it controls
Left Footprint	Bid/Ask column layout and colors for the left side
Right Footprint	Bid/Ask column layout and colors for the right side
Filters	Volume and price filters for display
Presentation	Visual style, fonts, cell sizing
Bar Statistics	Summary statistics shown per bar (delta, volume, etc.)
Imbalance	Imbalance detection threshold and highlighting
Absorption	Absorption pattern detection
Bar Volume Profile	Per-bar volume distribution display

Start with the defaults and adjust as you become familiar with order flow analysis.

Step 5: Try Other Indicators

Once you're comfortable with mzFootprint, try adding other MZpack indicators to your chart:

Indicator	Best for
mzVolumeProfile	Identifying key support/resistance levels via volume distribution
mzVolumeDelta	Tracking cumulative buying/selling pressure
mzBigTrade	Spotting large institutional trades in real-time
mzMarketDepth	Visualizing the order book (requires Level 2 data)
mzDeltaDivergence	Detecting divergences between price and delta

Next Steps

• Learn the concepts behind order flow analysis in the Concepts section
• Explore each indicator's full settings in the Indicators section
• Build automated trading with MZpack Strategies
• If you're a developer, see the API Reference to build custom indicators and strategies