How to connect a Rithmic account to EliteXCharts

You installed the platform, signed in, and every chart says the same thing: you’re not connected. That is expected. EliteXCharts does not sell market data, and it does not hold your money. Both the data and the orders come from your own Rithmic account, the one your prop firm or broker gave you. Until that account is connected, nothing shows data.

Connecting takes a couple of minutes. This guide follows the same steps as the platform’s manual, plus the problems that usually stop people on the first try.

Why Rithmic, and why your own account

Rithmic is the connection layer many futures prop firms and brokers use to deliver market data and route orders to the exchange. When a firm gives you an evaluation or a funded account, it usually comes with a Rithmic username and password.

EliteXCharts connects to that account directly through Rithmic’s own protocol (R|Protocol), with no bridge and no middleman in between. Live data and orders go straight between the platform and Rithmic. Your EliteXCharts sign-in and the ready-made chart history go through the EliteXCharts server.

One consequence is worth knowing up front: market data fees are part of your agreement with your firm or broker, not with the platform. That is true of any Rithmic-connected platform.

Before you start

Have these at hand. They come from your firm, usually in the welcome e-mail or the account dashboard:

• Your Rithmic username and password.
• The System name, which identifies your firm or broker on Rithmic.

You also need to be signed in to the platform with your EliteXCharts account (the screen that opens first, Sign in to your account). That account is separate from Rithmic: it keeps your saved setups, the Journal and your settings in the cloud.

Step by step

1. Open Connections

Go to Menu → Connections. There are two shortcuts to the same place: click the connection status on the top bar, or click the Connect Rithmic account button that appears on any widget while you are disconnected.

2. Add a connection

Click + Add connection. The New connection form asks for four things:

• Nickname: any name that helps you recognize this login later. Useful when you have more than one.
• System: your prop firm or broker.
• Gateway: the Rithmic server you connect through. Usually the one closest to you geographically.
• User: your Rithmic username, exactly as your firm sent it.

The System and Gateway lists come from Rithmic itself, so you pick from them instead of typing. Click Save.

3. Connect and save the password

Click Connect. The platform asks for your Rithmic password.

The Save password on this machine (encrypted) box comes checked. With it on, the password goes into the system’s credential vault (Windows and macOS) and the next connection is a single click. Once the password is saved, you can also turn on Connect automatically when the app opens.

On your own computer, leave both on. On a shared or borrowed machine, uncheck the box and type the password each time.

4. Confirm it worked

When the connection is up, the top bar shows your firm and how many accounts it has, the lock on the charts disappears and the chart loads. Every account on that login now appears in the platform’s account pickers, ready for chart trading, where you can place, drag and manage orders directly on the chart.

That is the whole process. The rest of this guide is about the cases where it does not go that smoothly.

When the login fails

Another platform is using the same login. Rithmic allows each username to be connected in only one place at a time, and it drops duplicate logins. If another trading platform or a second computer is logged in with the same Rithmic user, close it before connecting. Check this first.

It is the weekend. From Friday afternoon until the Sunday evening open (New York time), Rithmic runs maintenance and usually refuses logins. The platform warns you, and until it connects everything stays locked, replay included. Nothing is wrong with your account; wait for the Sunday open.

Not sure which System to pick. Check with your firm which System to choose in the list.

The connection dropped mid-session. The platform tries to reconnect by itself. You do not need to redo the steps above.

Several logins at once

Many traders have accounts at more than one firm. You can connect them together: add one connection per login, and each connects on its own. The top bar then lists every firm with its account count.

Three details matter here. Charts use the market data feed of the first connected login. Each order goes out through the login that owns the account you picked, so an order for an account at one firm never travels through another firm’s login. And the DOM’s level 2 data comes from any connected login that has it; with no such login, the DOM shows only the top of the book.

The one-place-at-a-time rule still applies per username. Two different users are fine. The same user twice is not.

What happens without a connection

It helps to know exactly what depends on the connection. With no Rithmic account connected, the chart, the DOM, Times & Trades, the accounts, the Journal, Copy Trading and both replays all show You’re not connected, with the Connect Rithmic account button. Nothing comes out of the local cache without a connection. Even simulation accounts need a connected Rithmic account to receive quotes.

Once connected, past sessions arrive ready-made from the EliteXCharts history server and are stored on your computer, so reopening a chart is fast. The most recent part of the session comes from Rithmic, tick by tick.

Where to go next

If you prefer to watch it, the Connect your Rithmic account video tutorial walks through the same screens in under two minutes. The full Getting started section of the manual covers installation, sign-in, the continuous contract and updates.

One limit sits outside any setting. The platform depends on Rithmic for every tick and every order. If Rithmic or your firm’s connection has a problem, no platform setting will fix it, and the right move is to contact your firm.

Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor.