> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.hydravision.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.hydravision.ai/ea-configuration/ea-settings/smartentry/anchor-vetoes.md). # Anchor Vetoes Vetoes are blockers. SmartEntry is an always on service, and will only place an entry when the Vetoes permit. Anchor vetoes are checked only for a new grid, when that side (buy or sell) has no open position. SmartEntry checks every enabled veto, and all of them must pass, so the order they are listed in does not matter. The one exception is Extreme DD: when it blocks, SmartEntry stops at once.
Timeframe for Anchor Vetoes `Enumerator` Default: H1 The timeframe for all Anchor Veto signals: Waterfall, Extended Price, Exhausted Moves and the Micro Break confirmation. All MT5 Timeframes are options. Usually M15 - H1 are used.
MA Period for Anchor Vetoes `Integer` Default: 50 The period of the EMA used by two settings: * [Block Exhausted Moves (Trend Exhaustion)](#block-exhausted-moves-trend-exhaustion), on the Timeframe for Anchor Vetoes. * The MA Higher Time Frame option of [Market Regime qualification](/ea-configuration/ea-settings/smartentry/market-regime.md), on the Market Regime Timeframe. Changing it moves both. Block Late Entries (Extended Price) does not use this period. It uses the slow MA period and MA Method from the [Moving Average Cross](/ea-configuration/ea-settings/smartentry/anchor-signal-settings/moving-average-cross.md) settings.
## Waterfall Protection Blocks Anchor entries when there has been a strong directional move against the intended entry direction over the last N bars. Designed specifically to prevent catching a falling knife. This filter prevents a specific high-cost failure mode: buying into a sharp dump or selling into a sharp rally. With it disabled, new grids can open into those moves. The move is the sum of each bar's close minus open, over the last N completed bars on the Timeframe for Anchor Vetoes. A buy is blocked if that sum is a fall bigger than the ATR Multiplier x ATR. A sell is blocked if it is a rise of the same size.
Anchor Waterfall Protection `Boolean` Default: true Enable Waterfall check on Anchor
ATR Multiplier `Double` Default: 2.0 Typical range: 1.5 to 3.0 What it does. How extreme the net directional move must be (in ATR multiples) to trigger a veto. Lower values (1.5) are more aggressive — smaller moves count as a waterfall. Higher values (3.0) only block against truly extreme moves. A veto that rarely fires has little effect; one that fires often skips more anchors.
Lookback Bars `Integer` Default: 10 What it does. Number of completed bars over which the net move is measured. Fewer bars catch fast short-term dumps. More bars catch slower sustained moves.
## Micro Break Structure Confirms that a directional entry aligns with recent market structure. The market must "break" a short-term swing point in the direction of the trade — proving buyers are taking control (for longs) or sellers are taking control (for shorts). This is a very short-term structure test, on the Timeframe for Anchor Vetoes. It does not require a large breakout — just that price has cleared the immediate swing boundary in the trade direction. A buy needs the current price above the highest high of the last 5 completed bars; a sell needs it below their lowest low. Unlike the vetoes, Micro Break is a confirmation: when enabled, a new grid opens only once the break is present.
Check Micro Break Structure on Anchor `Boolean` Default: false Enable Micro Break Structure
## Block Late Entries (Extended Price) Blocks Anchor entries where price is already extended significantly from the slow MA. This prevents “buying the peak / selling the dip” — cases where the MA cross fires as a lagging confirmation after price has already moved most of the way. It is checked on every anchor attempt, not only at the moment of the cross. {% hint style="success" %} Extension Veto and Waterfall work on complementary failure modes. Waterfall blocks against-direction extremes (falling knives); Extension blocks same-direction extremes (chasing a move). {% endhint %} This is the filter designed to prevent entering late in moves. Disabling it brings back the classic “crossed MA at the top of a rally” failure mode. Price, the slow MA and ATR are all measured on the Timeframe for Anchor Vetoes. The slow MA takes its period and method from the [Moving Average Cross](/ea-configuration/ea-settings/smartentry/anchor-signal-settings/moving-average-cross.md) settings (MA Preset, or Slow MA Period when the preset is Custom, and MA Method). It does this even when Require MA Cross for Anchor is off. With the default 13/26 preset, it is a 26-period EMA.
Block Late Entries (Extended Price) `Boolean` Default: false Enable extended price checks
Max ATR Distance from Slow MA `Double` Default: 1.5 Typical range: 1.0 to 2.5 What it does. Maximum allowed distance between current price and slow MA, expressed in ATR multiples. A buy is blocked when price is above the slow MA by more than this distance; a sell when price is below it by more than this distance. Lower values (1.0) are strict — only entries close to the slow MA are allowed. Higher values (2.5) are permissive — large extensions are tolerated. The limit is in ATR, so it widens automatically on more volatile instruments.
## Block Exhausted Moves (Trend Exhaustion) Detects when a directional move has extended to the point where a reversal or retrace is statistically likely. It compares price with an EMA of the MA Period for Anchor Vetoes, on the Timeframe for Anchor Vetoes. A buy is blocked when price is above that EMA by more than the Exhaustion ATR Multiplier x ATR. A sell is blocked when price is below it by the same amount. {% hint style="info" %} This is the counterweight to Waterfall Protection — waterfall says "don't fight the move," exhaustion says "the move is overdone." {% endhint %}
Block Exhausted Moves (Trend Exhaustion) `Boolean` Default: false Enable trend exhaustion check
Exhaustion ATR Multiplier `Double` Default: 2.0 The ATR multiplier used as the deviation measurement.
## Extreme DD Blocks new grids while the account's open drawdown is above a threshold. The drawdown is what the positions open right now are losing, on every symbol, as a % of balance. Closed losses do not count, and a flat account is at 0%. Above the threshold, no new grid opens on either side, on any symbol where this is enabled. Grids that are already open keep re-entering as normal. Once the open trades recover or close, new grids can open again. This is a precaution, and milder than [Enable Hard Stop (force close on max loss)](/ea-configuration/ea-settings/trade-settings.md) in the Risk Policy settings, which closes the grid side that hit its max loss and then stops new grids on that chart. {% hint style="info" %} These two settings also appear under [Re-Entry Protection Vetoes](https://github.com/hydralynxtrading-a11y/hydra-help/tree/main/ea-configuration/help-center/ea-settings/smartentry/re-entry-protection-vetoes.md). They are the same settings, and they act only on new grids. {% endhint %}
Extreme DD Veto `Boolean` Default: false Enable the Extreme DD check on new grids.
Extreme DD Threshold % `Double` Default: 30.0 The account open drawdown, as a % of balance, above which new grids are blocked. Shown only when Extreme DD Veto is enabled.