Copy Trading Settings
This page explains how each copy-trade setting works and how they interlock, in the order the copy-trade wizard asks for them. Configure them top to bottom; each choice shapes what the next one does.
TipEvery setting below behaves the same whether you run Real or Sim, and whether the mirror runs in your browser or on our 24/7 server. Both read from one shared decision core, so a Sim copy follows the same rules as a real one. (The one exception: If past the price gap, wait is not available for simulated copies.)
#Setup order
- Target trader → 2. Mode (Real/Sim) → 3. Direction → 4. Buy mode → 5. Order type → 6. Sell mode → 7. Risk & budget → 8. Filters & schedule (optional) → 9. Summary & activate.
#1Target trader
Search by name, or paste a full 0x… wallet address. A name search only finds the ~200 most active traders, so for anyone else paste the address from their Polymarket profile. An empty search shows Top traders with weekly / monthly / all-time P&L and volume. Selecting a trader shows their P&L chart and View full profile.
NoteLeaderboard P&L is a figure reported by Polymarket for the selected period, not an audited return. The full profile shows the trader's statistics and history in more detail; see Traders & Analytics.
#2Mode — Real vs Sim
Asked up front, right after you pick the trader. This step also shows how many copies are running in that mode: up to 10 real copies at once, and up to 30 simulated copies in this browser. Pause or stop one to make room; nothing needs to be deleted.
| Mode | Funds | Runs 24/7 (tab closed) | Extra input |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real | Your funds, from your deposit wallet | Yes, once you turn on Enable 24/7 copy trading; otherwise it runs while the site is open | — |
| Sim | None (virtual capital) | No, only while your tab is open | Virtual capital, default $100 (min $1) |
Sim mirrors against live prices as simulated fills, so you can see how a copy setup behaves with a given trader. Simulated copies are stored in this browser and never run on our server; close the tab and a Sim copy pauses until you open the site again.
Where real-money trading is not available (Taiwan, OFAC-sanctioned countries, the UK, France and Ontario), Real is greyed out and the wizard switches to Sim, which places no orders and moves no money.
#3Direction
| Direction | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Copy | Same side as the trader. They buy Yes → you buy Yes; they buy No → you buy No. |
| Counter | Opposite side, same market. They buy Yes → you buy No, and vice versa. Two-outcome markets only; trades on other markets are skipped. |
Counter mirrors the opposite outcome token of the same market; see Counter mechanics for pricing details.
#4Buy settings (size per mirror)
Choose one of four ways to size each buy. Sizing is applied against the price you will actually pay, then kept within your budget limits.
| Buy mode | Input | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| A percentage of their trade | 1–1000% | Mirror at this % of the trader's order size. 100% matches them dollar for dollar; 50% is half. | 50% |
| A share of theirs, within limits | % + min / max USDC | Take this % of the trader's size, then keep it within the USDC band (below min → min, above max → max). | 10%, 5 / 50 |
| Fixed amount | USDC | Spend this flat USDC amount on every mirror, regardless of the trader's size. | 10 |
| Smallest possible | none | Size each mirror to the smallest valid Polymarket order: ≥ 5 shares and ≥ $1 (a higher price means a bigger minimum). | — |
NotePercentage is measured against the trader's order size, not your balance. At 1000% you spend ten times what the trader spent on that fill, so pair large percentages with a total budget.
#5Order type
| Type | Fee | Speed | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market: fill right away | Polymarket's taker fee + our 0.5% fee | Fills right after their fill, at the current book price | The default choice. Often a little above their price, within your Acceptable price gap (default 5%); past it the copy is skipped. |
| Limit: rest and wait | No fees (it rests as a maker order) | Rests until filled, canceled or expired | Rests one tick better than their price: at their price if that is still below the best ask, otherwise at the best bid (they paid 50¢ → you rest at 49¢). If the market moves away first, the order stays unfilled. |
TipUse Market unless you specifically want maker pricing and are comfortable with some mirrors not filling. See Trade sizing & slippage.
#6Sell settings (when the trader closes)
| Sell mode | Input | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same proportion (recommended) | none | They close 50% of their position → you close 50% of yours. | — |
| Fixed percentage | 1–100% | Close this fixed % of your position whenever the trader sells. | 100% |
| Fixed shares | shares | Close this many shares each time the trader sells (up to what you hold). | 10 |
| Don't auto-sell | none | Copy their buys only. The trader's sells are not mirrored; you close positions yourself. | — |
NoteA copy sell only closes the position that copy trade opened. Shares you bought yourself, or that another copy trade opened in the same market, are left as they are.
With Don't auto-sell, positions stay open until you close them or the market resolves. Copy trading sells only to mirror the trader; see Stop-loss behaviour.
#7Risk & budget
The wizard calls this step Safety net. These three limits decide how much a copy can spend and when it stops buying. In Sim all three are optional. A real copy needs a Total budget or a Loss limit (stops buying), so its buying always has an end point, and a real copy sized by A percentage of their trade also needs a Total budget or a Per-trade cap. We recommend a total budget in every case: it is a fixed ceiling on what the copy spends.
| Limit | Unit | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Total budget | USDC | Maximum cumulative spend across all mirrors. Once it is used up the copy shows Budget used up · still selling: new buys are skipped, the trader's sells are still copied. Sales don't refill it; raise the budget to resume buying. |
| Per-trade cap | USDC | Ceiling on any single mirror's size. Applied before the total-budget check. |
| Loss limit (stops buying) | USDC | When this copy's total P&L (realized + open positions valued at the bid) is down this much, it stops buying and switches to Paused · still selling: the trader's sells are still copied, and nothing else is sold for you. |
NoteThe loss limit stops new buys; it does not sell positions for you. Open positions close when the trader sells (still mirrored), when you close them, or when the market resolves. With sell mode Don't auto-sell no sells are mirrored, so you close positions yourself. The total budget is the setting that caps spending.
#8Filters & schedule (advanced, optional)
Choose Open advanced settings to add these (or Skip, use defaults). They are set when the copy is created and can't be changed afterwards. Leave any field blank to turn that filter off. They are entry filters: they decide which buys are copied and never block a sell, so a copy can always follow the trader out of a position it holds.
| Filter | Unit | Effect | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ignore small orders | USDC | Ignore the trader's orders smaller than this. | No min |
| Max per market | USDC | Cap cumulative spend on one market (by conditionId); further buys there are skipped. |
No limit |
| Min 24h volume | USDC | Skip markets trading less than this in 24h. | No min |
| Min liquidity | USDC | Skip markets with less book depth than this. | No min |
| Days left before settlement | days | Skip markets settling sooner than this (games count from kick-off). | No min |
| Acceptable price gap | % | Market copies only: skip if the price has moved against you by more than this from the trader's fill price (a better price is never skipped). | 5% |
| Category filter | tags | All / Only these / Exclude these, using category chips (Politics, Geopolitics, Crypto, Sports, Esports, Finance, Economy, Business, Tech, AI, Science, Climate, Weather, Culture) plus any other Polymarket tag you find under Other tags (search Polymarket). A market passes when any of its tags matches; Sports already covers every league. | All |
| Cancel limit orders after | 5m / 1h / 3h / Forever | Limit copies only: how long each posted limit order waits before it is canceled if unfilled. | Forever |
| If past the price gap, wait | Don't wait / 5m / 15m / 1h | Market copies only: instead of skipping a trade that ran past your gap, rest a limit order at the edge of the gap for this long (canceled if unfilled). Not for simulated copies. | Don't wait |
| Pause the copy after | 1h / 12h / 1d / Never | After this long the copy stops buying and switches to Paused · still selling (the trader's sells are still copied). Resume it on the detail page. | Never |
NoteThe price-gap filter only applies to the Market order type. Volume, liquidity, settlement-days and category filters rely on a market-data lookup; if the lookup fails, the mirror goes ahead rather than being blocked.
#Summary & activate
The final step opens with How your copy will run, the copy in plain words (for example, “they buy $100 → you buy $50 of the same side”), then lists every setting. If you opened the advanced settings, it shows all filter values (including defaults) so you can confirm the full setup before it starts. Press Start copy trade (or Start simulated copy in Sim). A new real copy begins as Active; a simulated one shows Running · this tab.