Sell When Up? Cut When Down? Unlocking Freqtrade’s Entry & Exit Logic

This article was produced by the Quantitative Trading Lab at https://www.itrade.icu. Visit for more benefits. In a Freqtrade strategy, entry and exit rules are the backbone of performance. Properly configuring take-profit, stoploss, and exit signals significantly improves both profitability and risk management. This guide focuses on the core parameters controlling entries, exits, and stop management.

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🎯 minimal_roi — Time-Based Take-Profit

minimal_roi defines the minimum return thresholds based on holding time. Once the threshold is reached, the bot takes profit automatically.

minimal_roi = {
    "30": 0.01,  # After 30 min, take profit at +1%
    "20": 0.02,  # After 20 min, take profit at +2%
    "0": 0.04    # Immediately take profit if +4% is hit
}

• Unit: minutes

• ROI maps time → required profit percentage

• Triggered automatically, with higher priority than custom exit signals

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🛑 stoploss — Fixed Loss Threshold

Defines a hard stop for trades once losses reach a set percentage.

stoploss = -0.10  # Stop out at -10%

• Protects capital by preventing uncontrolled losses

• Works with market orders for quick execution

• Acts as a safety net when combined with trailing_stop

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🚪 use_exit_signal — Enable Custom Exit Signals

Controls whether populate_exit_trend is used for sell signals.

use_exit_signal = True

• True: Strategy uses signals from populate_exit_trend (exit_long / exit_short)

• False: Ignores custom exit signals; exits only via ROI or stoploss

• Useful for strategies requiring fine-grained exit logic

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💰 exit_profit_only — Exit Only in Profit

Prevents exit signals from triggering when a trade is losing.

• Applies only to populate_exit_trend signals

• If profitable → exit signals work as normal

• If losing → exit signals ignored (but stoploss / ROI still apply)

• Does not block:

  • custom_exit() logic

  • Hard stoploss

  • ROI-based exits

Example

use_exit_signal = True
exit_profit_only = True

Current Profit	RSI > 70 (exit=1)	Sell?
+5%	✅	✅ Yes
+1%	✅	✅ Yes
-3%	✅	❌ No
-10%	❌	❌ No

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🎚️ exit_profit_offset — Profit Offset Threshold

Adds a minimum profit requirement before exit signals trigger.

exit_profit_offset = 0.01  # Require at least +1% profit

• Works with exit_profit_only

• Prevents premature exits at near-zero profit

• Helps maximize upside before selling

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🧠 Example Strategy Snippet

from freqtrade.strategy.interface import IStrategy
import talib.abstract as ta
import pandas as pd

class MyStrategy(IStrategy):
    timeframe = '15m'
    minimal_roi = {"0": 0.03}   # Always sell if profit ≥ 3%
    stoploss = -0.10            # Hard stop at -10%
    use_exit_signal = True
    exit_profit_only = True
    exit_profit_offset = 0.01   # Require at least +1% profit

    def populate_indicators(self, df: pd.DataFrame, metadata: dict) -> pd.DataFrame:
        df['rsi'] = ta.RSI(df, timeperiod=14)
        return df

    def populate_exit_trend(self, df: pd.DataFrame, metadata: dict) -> pd.DataFrame:
        df['exit'] = 0
        df.loc[df['rsi'] > 70, 'exit'] = 1  # Overbought → sell
        return df

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⚙️ use_custom_stoploss — Dynamic Stoploss

Enables fully customizable stoploss logic via custom_stoploss().

use_custom_stoploss = True

def custom_stoploss(self, pair, trade, current_time, current_rate, current_profit, **kwargs) -> float:
    # Example: tighten stop once profit > 5%
    if current_profit > 0.05:
        return -0.01  # Allow only -1% drawdown
    return -0.05     # Default stop at -5%

⚠️ Notes:

• Only affects stoploss behavior, not take-profit

• Fixed stoploss is ignored once enabled

• Must return a negative float (e.g., -0.05)

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✅ Quick Reference

Parameter	Function	Recommended Value
minimal_roi	Time-based take-profit rules	Strategy-dependent
stoploss	Fixed loss threshold	-0.10 (10%)
use_exit_signal	Enable custom exit signals	True
exit_profit_only	Only sell if profitable	False or True as needed
exit_profit_offset	Profit buffer before exiting	0.01 (1%) typical
use_custom_stoploss	Enable dynamic stoploss	False by default, enable if needed