Anvil Level 2 order book indicator for NinjaTrader 8

Quick info

Platform

NinjaTrader 8 on Windows

Concept

Price levels in the Level 2 order book where the resting size reaches your trigger, drawn on the price chart

Designed for

Traders who watch the DOM for large resting size and want it on the chart they trade

Best used when

You want the larger bid and ask levels in view without reading the ladder

Modes

Zone (default) and Lifespan, switched from the toolbar

Data

Live Level 2 market depth. No Order Flow+ and no Tick Replay

Access

Part of the FlowForged Suite, free during the private beta

What Anvil does

Anvil reads every Level 2 depth update for your instrument and keeps its own copy of the bid and ask book. After each update it checks every price level against your trigger size, 350 contracts by default.

Each level at or above the trigger is drawn on the chart, green for the bid and red for the ask, with its size on a small label. It stays there while its size stays at or above the trigger, and the label follows the size as it changes.

When the size at that price drops below the trigger, the level is removed. Anvil reads the book, not the trades, so it does not know whether the orders were pulled, traded against or reduced. In Lifespan mode a removed level stays on the chart, so you can see when it appeared and when it dropped out.

Level 2 shows the total size resting at each price, not individual orders. A label of 400 means 400 contracts at that price, whether that is one order or many.

Purpose

The DOM shows the size resting at each price, but it sits beside your chart and updates many times a second. If large resting size is part of how you read the market, you either watch the ladder or miss it.

Why choose it

• Your definition of large. One trigger size decides what gets drawn, and Trig on the toolbar changes it without a reload.
• Both sides of the book. Bid levels in green and ask levels in red, each labelled with its contracts.
• Now or over time. Zone shows the levels that are live right now. Lifespan shows when each one appeared and when it dropped out.
• Skip the inside market. Min Position in DOM ignores the levels closest to price when you only want size further out.
• Size at a glance. In Zone mode, larger levels draw brighter bands.
• No Order Flow+ needed. Anvil runs on NinjaTrader’s standard market depth data.

Two display modes

Both modes draw the same levels. Switch between them from the toolbar at any time.

Zone, the default, draws a band across the full width of the chart at each live level, with the current size on a label at the right or left of the chart. Larger levels draw brighter bands. When a level is removed, its band disappears.

Lifespan draws each level as a bar that starts on the bar where it first reached the trigger. A live level runs to the current bar with a dot at its start. A removed level stops where it dropped out, marked with an ×. The label shows the largest size the level reached.

Key capabilities

• Bid and ask levels at or above your trigger size, from live Level 2 depth
• Trigger size changed live from the toolbar and kept when you save the workspace
• Min Position in DOM to skip the levels closest to price
• Zone mode: full-width bands, brightness scaled to size, the current size on each label
• Lifespan mode: bars from first appearance to removal, the peak size on each label, an × where a level ended
• Up to 2,000 removed levels kept in Lifespan mode (10 by default)
• Labels on the right or left, switched from the toolbar
• Bid, ask and label colors, label font size, Lifespan bar height and × size
• SharpDX rendering

How to set up Anvil in NinjaTrader 8

1. Add FF Anvil from the Indicators window to a chart on a live connection that delivers Level 2 market depth.
2. Set Trigger Size for your instrument. The default is 350 contracts; Trig on the toolbar changes it live.
3. Optional: raise Min Position in DOM to ignore the levels closest to price.
4. Pick Zone or Lifespan on the toolbar pill, and Right or Left for the labels.
5. In Lifespan mode, raise Max Historical Markers to keep more removed levels on the chart.

New to NinjaTrader add-ons? The install guide covers importing, Tick Replay and common fixes.

Anvil FAQ

Works well with

Conclusion

Anvil does not tell you whether a level will hold or be pulled. It shows where the large resting size sits in the book, on the chart you already watch:

• Bid and ask size at or above your trigger, drawn at its price
• A threshold you change live from the chart
• In Lifespan mode, when each level appeared and when it dropped out

Futures trading involves substantial risk and is not for every investor. Chart examples show past market activity and are not indicative of future results. Anvil is an analytical tool, not trading advice.