The NinjaTrader Fair Value Gap (FVG) Indicator is based on the concept of price imbalance — a key element of ICT and Smart Money methodologies. A Fair Value Gap forms during an impulsive price movement when the market moves through a range so quickly that buy and sell orders do not interact evenly. As a result, an inefficiency is created, leaving behind an area where price was not fairly traded.
From a market mechanics perspective, FVGs represent moments when dominant market participants control the order flow. Large institutions often initiate positions using aggressive market orders, driving price rapidly in one direction. Because liquidity is not fully absorbed at every price level, gaps in fair value emerge. These imbalances are not random — they reflect institutional urgency and often remain relevant for future price action.
One of the defining characteristics of Fair Value Gaps is their tendency to attract price revisits. After an impulsive move, the market frequently retraces back into the imbalance zone to rebalance unfilled orders before continuing its movement. This behavior makes FVGs important reference areas for contextual analysis, rather than simple entry signals. They highlight where price may react, pause, or resume its prior direction.
The NinjaTrader Fair Value Gap Indicator automates the identification of these imbalance zones, removing subjective interpretation and ensuring consistent detection across different market conditions. By clearly marking FVG areas on the chart, the indicator helps traders visualize where inefficiencies were created and how price interacts with them over time.
In practical trading analysis, Fair Value Gaps serve several important purposes:
Instead of treating price movement as a series of isolated candles, the FVG methodology frames the market as a process of imbalance and compensation. The NinjaTrader Fair Value Gap Indicator supports this perspective by integrating imbalance analysis directly into the chart, allowing traders to align their decisions with the underlying logic of order flow and liquidity redistribution.
The NinjaTrader FVG Indicator combines advanced tools and features designed to help traders accurately identify, analyze, and manage Fair Value Gaps. Its functionality allows traders to control and fine-tune FVG detection, validation, and mitigation logic, enabling precise adaptation to different trading strategies, execution models, and market conditions. These features include:
This feature defines when a Fair Value Gap is considered mitigated. Traders can choose full fill, partial touch, or threshold-based mitigation, as well as the price reference used for validation (High/Low or Close). This flexibility allows traders to adapt FVG mitigation logic to different trading styles, execution models, and strategy rules, rather than being locked into a single rigid interpretation common in default indicators.
This component controls which FVGs are considered relevant. Traders can filter by bullish, bearish, or both directions, define minimum gap size in ticks, points, or percentages, set a minimum bar span, and limit FVG lifetime in bars. It eliminates weak or outdated imbalances, reduces chart clutter, and focuses analysis on structurally meaningful zones.
The indicator provides alerts for FVG creation, price entry into a zone, and mitigation events, enabling traders to track key imbalance interactions in real time. Exposed signal plots allow FVG events to be used directly in automated execution and strategy logic.
Traders can choose between standard or shrink display modes and fully customize colors and opacities for bullish, bearish, mitigated, and expired zones, ensuring clear distinction even on busy charts. This provides a clear visual context for FVG behavior and price interaction over time.
The indicator has the following parameters:
Allowed Direction – defines which Fair Value Gaps are processed by the indicator. The BOTH option enables detection of bullish and bearish FVGs, while Long or Short restrict analysis to one directional bias only.
Show FVG Type – controls which FVG states are displayed on the chart. Traders can choose to show all detected FVGs, only active zones, or specific inactive states such as mitigated or expired zones.
FVG Display Type – controls how FVG zones are visually rendered on the chart. Default mode displays fixed zones, while Shrink mode dynamically reduces the zone size as price partially fills the imbalance.
Mitigation Method – defines when a Fair Value Gap is considered mitigated. Available options include full fill, partial touch, or threshold-based mitigation, allowing adaptation to different execution and analysis styles.
Mitigated Price Type – specifies which candle price is used to validate mitigation events. Traders can choose between High/Low or Close, depending on whether mitigation should be confirmed by extremes or by closing price.
Gap Size Mode – defines the unit used to measure the size of an FVG gap. Available options include ticks, points, or percentages, providing flexibility across instruments and price scales.
Minimum Gap Size – sets the minimum allowed FVG size based on the selected Gap Size Mode. This parameter filters out small imbalances that lack structural or trading relevance.
FVG Min Length (bars) – defines the minimum number of bars required for an FVG to be detected. This helps exclude short-lived or insignificant gaps from analysis.
Max FVG Duration – sets the maximum number of bars an FVG can remain active. If no mitigation occurs within this period, the zone is automatically marked as expired.
Enable FVGs Display Limit – limits the number of most recent FVGs displayed on the chart, helping maintain visual clarity during extended analysis periods.
FVG Alerts – enables alerts for key FVG events, including zone creation, price entry into an FVG, and mitigation.
We can also turn the indicator into an Automated Trading Strategy with an extended set of custom functions (stop loss, take profit, trailing stop, risk management parameters, trading time limit, and others).
Request a free consultation from our team of professional programmers and find out the cost and timing of your project development.
We are committed to the ongoing development and refinement of our indicators. If you’ve spotted a bug, feel that something essential is missing, or have ideas that could make the indicator even better, just send us a message. Your feedback helps us improve and deliver tools that truly meet traders’ needs.
| Signal Plot Name |
Signal Plot Values | Description |
| FVG | Value | |
| MitigatedPoint | Value |
Nordman Algorithms is not liable for any risk that you face using the software. Please, use the software on your own responsibility. The software is coded in accordance with a common known concept and Nordman Algorithms does not guarantee accuracy or trading performance of the software signals.
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