What is Displacement?
Displacement marks the legs that went somewhere. A leg is a run of consecutive bars moving one way, and it counts as displacement when its travel from close to close covers at least a set number of average true ranges, two by default. Each one is drawn as a box over its bars, wicks included, with its size in ATR printed on it.
In ICT and smart money terms, displacement is the move that leaves imbalances and order blocks behind. This script marks the move itself rather than the gaps it leaves. Bullish legs are green and bearish legs red.
This is a closed-source premium script. It runs on Altrady's servers, so only its output reaches your chart and its code is not published.
How to use Displacement
- Displacement after a sweep. A strong leg straight after price takes out a high or low is read as intent, the sign that the sweep was the turn rather than the start of a breakout.
- The size label. The number on the box is the leg's travel in ATR. Larger numbers mark the moves most traders would have noticed.
- Where it started. The bars at the start of a displacement leg are where traders look for order blocks and fair value gaps to be revisited later.
- Direction changes. A displacement leg against the recent trend is often the first visible sign the trend is in trouble.
Settings
Leg
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timeframe | Chart | Chart, 15m, 30m, 1h, 4h, 1D | Read legs from a higher timeframe while trading a lower one. The chart's own period must divide it exactly. Swings, legs and the ATR filter are all then measured on that timeframe; price trading back INTO a zone is still judged on the chart's own bars, which is the finer of the two and the one a fill happens on. |
| Leg Basis | Closes | Closes, Candles | What makes a bar part of the leg. Closes compares each bar's close to the one before it, the leg as price travelled. Candles uses each bar's own body, which is how most ICT material draws it. |
| Min Size (ATR x) | 2 | 0.1 to 20 | How far the leg has to travel, close to close, in ATRs. The single number that decides what counts as displacement. Raise it until only the moves you would have noticed survive. |
| Min Bars | 1 | 1 to 50 | How many bars the run needs. 1 by default, because a single candle that clears the threshold is displacement: the classic case. |
| Require Imbalance | Off | Only accept a leg that left a fair value gap behind. The stricter ICT reading, using the same gap definition the Fair Value Gaps (FVG) component of Imbalances uses. | |
| Max Legs | 20 | 1 to 100 | The oldest drawn leg is dropped past this. |
Display
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show Box | On | A box over the leg's bars, wicks included. | |
| Show Labels | On | The leg's size in ATRs, on the box. | |
| Label Size | Small | Tiny, Small, Normal, Large, Huge | |
| Show State Pane | Off | A sub-pane pulsing the size in ATRs as each leg confirms, signed by direction. The tool's internal state, and what the automated checks read. |
Colours
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullish | #089981 | A leg that travelled up. | |
| Bearish | #f23645 | A leg that travelled down. | |
| Label | #b0b3b8 |
Alerts: displacement.
How it works
The script follows runs of bars moving in one direction. By default a bar continues the run when it closes beyond the previous close. Leg Basis can switch that to each bar's own body, which is how most ICT material draws it. The two readings differ on bars that open against the run and close with it.
What qualifies a leg is how far price settled, from the close before the first bar to the close of the last, not the high to low range. A bar with a long wick and a small body was rejected rather than displaced. Min Bars sets how many bars the run needs, one by default, because a single large candle is the classic case. Require Imbalance, off by default, only accepts legs that left a fair value gap behind.
A leg is only known to be over when a bar fails to continue it, so its box is drawn on the bar after it ends and its alert fires then. The box never moves afterwards.
Limitations
- Reported one bar late. The leg is confirmed on the bar after it ends. Drawing it earlier would mean a box that grows and shrinks as the run continues or is cut short.
- No bar colouring. The leg's own bars cannot be tinted after the fact, so the box is the only marker.
- The threshold decides everything. Min Size is the single number that separates displacement from noise. The right value differs by market and timeframe.
- Big moves can exhaust. A large displacement leg late in a trend can be the climax rather than the start. The script does not tell the two apart.
- Higher timeframes need a matching chart. When reading legs from a higher timeframe, the chart's own period must divide it exactly.
Get Displacement
Premium scripts are a one-time purchase in the Altrady marketplace and need a paid Altrady plan to run.
- Displacement $7 This script on its own.
- SMC / ICT bundle $35 7 premium scripts, Displacement included.
- Altrady Complete Suite $109 All 36 premium scripts.
Frequently asked questions
A run of consecutive bars moving one way whose close to close travel is at least Min Size times the average true range. With the default Min Bars of 1, a single bar can qualify.
No. A leg is drawn on the bar after it ends, once it is known to be over, and the box never changes afterwards.
It only accepts legs that left a fair value gap behind, using the same gap definition as the FVG component of Imbalances. It is off by default.
One, displacement. It fires when a leg is confirmed, with a message saying whether it is bullish or bearish.
Yes. Displacement is a closed-source premium script. It runs on Altrady's servers, so only its output reaches your chart and the code is never shared. You buy it once in the Altrady marketplace, on its own, in the SMC / ICT bundle or in the Altrady Complete Suite, and it needs a paid Altrady plan to run. It is also included with your first annual Premium subscription.
Use the Get it in Altrady button on this page to open its listing in the Altrady marketplace. Once it is in your account, open the indicator picker on any chart in Altrady Charts and add Displacement like any other indicator. Its settings are in the indicator's settings panel.