Order Block Scanner for Futures
Order blocks are one of the most drawn and most over-drawn ideas in smart-money trading. Mark every opposite candle and the chart fills with zones. This scanner is stricter: it only keeps an order block when the move away from it was strong enough to leave a fair value gap behind.
It watches 16 futures markets on six timeframes and alerts you the first time price returns to a block that is still intact.
What is an order block?
An order block is the last opposing candle before a strong move. A bullish order block is the last down candle before a sharp push up. A bearish order block is the last up candle before a sharp push down. The thinking is that large orders were placed there, and that the area may be defended when price comes back.
The trouble is the word "last". Almost every push has some candle before it, so scanners that mark all of them produce far more blocks than anyone can use.
Bullish and bearish order block examples
The shaded box is the order block candle's full range. The strong push away from it, which leaves a gap, is what qualifies it.
Bullish Order block touched
Bearish Order block touched
How our order block scanner decides what counts
- Displacement is required. The push away from the candle must create a fair value gap (with the same size rule as the FVG scanner). No gap, no order block.
- The block is the last opposite-coloured candle in the four candles before the displacement candle, and the zone is that candle's full high-to-low range.
- Closed candles only.
- The alert fires the first time price trades at least one tick into the zone, when that candle closes, and only if no candle has yet closed through the far side of the block. Touching only the edge does not count.
- A block that price closes through has failed. It stops alerting as an order block and becomes a candidate for a breaker block (see the breaker block scanner).
What an order block alert looks like
Alerts read like "ES 15m · Bullish Order block touched". Alerts you set up add the zone, the price and the other structures overlapping it, which is useful because order blocks are often stacked with fair value gaps and Fibonacci zones.
Reading order block alerts with care
A displacement-validated block is still just a level. Price can trade through it, and the more times a block is revisited, the more traders question it. The scanner alerts on the first touch only, because a first return is the version most traders describe. It does not judge quality beyond the displacement rule.
Setting up order block alerts
Choose "Order block" as the alert type, then your markets and timeframes. Because the scanner only keeps displacement-validated blocks, you will hear about fewer than a scanner that marks every opposing candle.
Order blocks often overlap fair value gaps and Fibonacci zones. Setting a minimum confluence lets you only hear about blocks with other structures at the same price.
- Choose the alert type: Order block.
- Pick your markets and timeframes.
- Optionally set a minimum confluence.
- Choose email, Discord or both.
- Press Send test.
The alert this scanner sends
| Alert | Sent when |
|---|---|
| Order block touched | Price trades at least one tick into an intact, displacement-validated order block for the first time. |
Frequently asked questions
What is an order block in trading?
The last opposing candle before a strong move: the last down candle before a rally is a bullish order block, the last up candle before a drop is a bearish one.
How does the scanner validate an order block?
The move away from the block must leave a fair value gap. That gap is the scanner's proof of displacement, and blocks without it are not reported.
What makes an order block fail?
A candle closing through the far side of the block. From then on it stops alerting as an order block and may become a breaker block.
Why are some obvious order blocks not reported?
Because the scanner requires displacement. If the move away from the candle did not leave a fair value gap, the candle is not reported as an order block, however clean it looks.
Does the alert fire on every touch?
No. It fires once, on the first return to the block.
What is the difference between an order block and a rejection block?
An order block is defined by the strong move that follows it. A rejection block is defined by the long wick and sweep of the candle itself. The scanner has separate alerts for each.
Learn more and use it on a chart
- ICT trading concepts for futures — Market structure, fair value gaps and liquidity explained for futures traders.
- Open the charting page — The chart tools, including fair value gap and inverse FVG drawing, live here.
Related scanners
- Breaker Block Scanner — Free live breaker block scanner for 16 futures markets. See when price retests a failed order block that has flipped, and set up alerts for it.
- Fair Value Gap (FVG) Scanner — Free live FVG scanner for 16 futures markets. Watch fair value gap retests as candles close, see the rules it uses, and set up alerts.
- Rejection Block Scanner — Free live rejection block scanner for 16 futures markets. Alerts when a block forms, is retested, or price returns to the rejection wick or its 50%.
- Fibonacci Retracement Alerts — Free live scanner for Fibonacci retracement touches on 16 futures markets, including the 61.8% to 88.8% OTE zone, with alerts you can set up.
- Liquidity Sweep Scanner — Free live liquidity sweep scanner for 16 futures markets. Alerts when price sweeps the previous 1H, 4H, day, Asia or NY session high or low.
- Live futures chart scanner — every alert type, updated as candles close.
Alerts are informational and are not trading advice. They show that a pattern was detected, not where price will go, and patterns often fail. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss.