What is Order block?

What does Order block mean in practice?

The idea comes from ICT and SMC teaching: before a strong upward move, the final down candle is thought to mark where large buyers placed orders, so price returning to that candle's range may meet them again. A mirrored version applies to downward moves.

Definitions vary between educators, which is the central problem. Whether the zone is the candle's body or its full range, what counts as a strong enough move, and what makes a return valid are all choices. Until they are fixed as explicit rules, the concept cannot be tested.

A worked example

Illustrative only: price falls for three candles, the last one closing at 100, then rallies sharply to 108. The range of that last down candle is marked as a zone, and later returns to it are examined.

How to read or test it

Write your definition down before looking at a chart: which candle, body or full range, how strong the move away must be, and what counts as a valid return. Apply that same definition mechanically to a long stretch of history and count outcomes honestly, including the blocks that failed. If you cannot write the rule so that two people would mark the same blocks, the concept is not yet testable.

How AKQX handles Order block

AKQX provides an order-block detector with explicit parameters so your own interpretation can be backtested. AKQX is not affiliated with any ICT or SMC educator and claims no concept is profitable.

See ICT and SMC algo builder for the feature page.

A common mistake

Drawing blocks on a chart after the fact. Every past rally has an obvious block in hindsight.

Related terms