The short answer
- Requote: you asked for one price; it changed before you were filled; the dealer offers you a new price to accept or reject.
- Off quotes: there was no price available to fill your request at that moment.
- Both happen most when gold moves fast: big news, the daily open, thin hours.
- Which one you see (or whether you get slippage instead) depends on your account’s execution mode, which the broker sets.
Why prices “move away” from your click
Your click doesn’t fill instantly. It travels from your phone or PC to the broker’s server, which checks the current price and margin before filling. That takes a moment.
In a calm market, gold might move $0.05 in that moment. Nobody notices. On a US data release, it can move several dollars in a second. The price on your screen is already old by the time your order arrives. The broker then has to do something with the order. What it does depends on the execution mode.
Execution modes: why some accounts requote and others slip
MetaQuotes’ MT5 help describes these modes (read 5 November 2026):
| Mode | What happens if the price moved |
|---|---|
| Instant Execution | The order is executed at the price offered. If the broker doesn’t accept your price, it sends a requote with prices it can fill at. |
| Request Execution | You first request a price, then confirm or reject it. |
| Market Execution | The broker fills at its price without asking you. Sending the order counts as agreeing in advance. So you get slippage, not requotes. |
| Exchange Execution | The order goes to an external exchange and fills at current offers. |
The help adds that the broker decides which mode applies to each symbol. You can’t switch it yourself. Retail gold accounts commonly use instant or market execution; check the specification or ask your broker.
So: requotes come mainly from instant (and request) execution. On market execution, the same fast move shows up as slippage. See gold slippage explained.
What a requote looks like
On MT5, a box appears with the new price and Accept and Reject. MetaQuotes’ help says new prices are valid for a few seconds only.
- Accept: you’re filled at the new price.
- Reject: no trade.
Example (checked by script): you click Buy 0.10 lot at $4,010.00. A requote offers $4,010.60. Accepting costs $6 more than you expected (0.10 × 100 × $0.60), and your stop is now $0.60 closer in R terms.
The trap: clicking Accept again and again as the price runs away, until you’re filled far from your plan. If your entry is gone, the trade usually is too.
Deviation: how much price change you accept
On instant-execution accounts, the MT5 order window has a deviation setting. MetaQuotes’ help defines it as the difference between the execution price and the price you asked for that you agree to. If the new price is within your deviation, MT5 fills without asking you. The larger the value, the less likely a requote.
Example (checked by script): on a gold symbol where one point = $0.01 (common with two-decimal quotes; check your symbol specification):
- deviation 20 points = $0.20. On 0.10 lot, that’s at most $2 worse than you clicked.
- deviation 50 points = $0.50: at most $5 worse on 0.10 lot.
Bigger deviation = fewer requotes but possibly worse fills. Smaller = better price control but more requotes. There’s no perfect number; pick one that fits your risk and write it in your plan.
The official codes
From MetaQuotes’ MQL4 and MQL5 documentation:
| Platform | Code | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| MT4 | 138 | ERR_REQUOTE | Requote |
| MT4 | 136 | ERR_OFF_QUOTES | Off quotes |
| MT4 | 135 | ERR_PRICE_CHANGED | Price changed |
| MT4 | 146 | ERR_TRADE_CONTEXT_BUSY | Trade context is busy |
| MT5 | 10004 | TRADE_RETCODE_REQUOTE | Requote |
| MT5 | 10020 | TRADE_RETCODE_PRICE_CHANGED | Prices changed |
| MT5 | 10021 | TRADE_RETCODE_PRICE_OFF | There are no quotes to process the request |
| MT5 | 10015 | TRADE_RETCODE_INVALID_PRICE | Invalid price in the request |
For the other errors you’ll meet on gold, see MT4 and MT5 error codes and invalid volume and market closed errors.
Why they cluster around news
Around a big release such as US CPI or jobs data:
- Prices jump rather than move smoothly, so the price you clicked may never trade.
- Spreads widen as liquidity providers pull back. See why the spread widens on news.
- Servers are busier: everyone clicks at once.
The same happens at the daily open after gold’s one-hour break, around the rollover spread widening, and on the Monday open after the weekend gap.
Is my broker cheating me?
Occasional requotes and off quotes on news are normal for instant-execution accounts. Things worth questioning:
- frequent requotes in calm markets,
- requotes that only ever go against you, never in your favour,
- requotes only when you’re in profit and trying to close.
Collect evidence: time, symbol, requested price, offered price, and screenshots. Our execution quality checklist shows what to log, and is my broker stop hunting me? covers the related worry. If it’s a real pattern, see how to complain about a broker.
What you can do
- Don’t click in the seconds around high-impact releases. Check the economic calendar before the session.
- Use pending orders placed in advance if they suit your plan. They’re triggered on the server, but a fast gap can still fill them at a worse price; see why my pending order didn’t fill.
- Set a deviation that fits your plan on instant-execution accounts.
- Reject requotes that break your plan. A missed trade costs nothing.
- Check your connection. A slow link adds delay. On MT5, the connection indicator in the status bar shows it.
- Learn the order types so you choose the right one: order types and execution.
Where next
You’re in stage 7 of the Gold Trader’s Journey. Next: gold slippage explained and why my pending order did not fill.
Educational content only, not financial advice. Platform and error-code details are from MetaQuotes’ help and documentation as read on 5 November 2026. Examples are labelled and checked by script.
Frequently asked questions
What is a requote in trading?
A requote happens when the price you asked for is no longer available and the dealer offers a new price instead of filling you. MetaQuotes’ help says that in Instant Execution, if the broker doesn’t accept the requested price, it sends a requote with prices at which the order can be executed.
What does off quotes mean in MT4?
Off quotes is MT4 error 136 (ERR_OFF_QUOTES). It means there was no price available to fill your request at that moment, often during very fast moves, at the market open or close, or when the server is busy. In MT5 the closest code is 10021, ‘There are no quotes to process the request’.
Why do I get requotes on news?
On big releases gold’s price can jump several dollars in seconds. By the time your order reaches the server, the price you saw has gone, so instant-execution accounts requote and market-execution accounts fill at a different price (slippage).
Is a requote better or worse than slippage?
Neither is always better. A requote lets you refuse the new price but can make you miss the trade; slippage fills you immediately but at a price you didn’t choose. Which one you get depends on your account’s execution mode, which the broker sets.
How do I reduce requotes?
Avoid clicking in the seconds around high-impact releases, use pending orders placed in advance where they suit your plan, and, on instant-execution accounts, set a sensible deviation. Frequent requotes in calm markets are worth asking your broker about.
Sources and further reading
- CME Group — Gold futures overview — Contract specifications and trading hours for COMEX gold
- CFTC — Commitments of Traders — Weekly futures positioning, including gold
- Investor.gov — Stop order — How stop orders work, and their limits in fast markets
External sites are independent of XAUUSD Global. Check dates and data yourself.
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