NinjaTrader Order Flow+: How to Read Footprint Charts for ES and NQ Futures

What Is Order Flow+ and What Does It Show?

Order Flow+ is NinjaTrader 8's licensed add-on charting type that displays a "footprint" chart — a visualization showing the bid and ask volume traded at each individual price level within every candle. Where a standard candlestick shows you four data points (open, high, low, close), a footprint chart shows you the full order flow distribution: how many contracts traded at each price tick, and whether those trades were buyer-initiated (hitting the ask) or seller-initiated (hitting the bid).

The result is a chart that looks like a standard candlestick chart but with a data table inside each candle. Each row of the table represents one price level. The left column shows the number of contracts that traded on the bid (seller-initiated), and the right column shows contracts on the ask (buyer-initiated). The imbalance between these two numbers at specific price levels reveals where aggressive buying or selling occurred within the candle — information that's invisible on a standard candlestick chart.

Key Footprint Chart Concepts for Futures Traders

Volume Delta

Volume delta is the difference between ask volume (buys) and bid volume (sells) within a candle: Delta = Ask Volume - Bid Volume. A positive delta means more aggressive buying than selling occurred; negative delta means more aggressive selling. Delta provides a microstructure confirmation signal: a bullish candle with positive delta (more buyers than sellers) is structurally confirmed. A bullish candle with negative delta (price went up but more selling occurred) is a divergence signal — the price move up was achieved against selling pressure, which is a potential exhaustion indicator.

For ES and NQ futures, monitoring delta divergences at KPL levels is one of the most practical footprint chart applications: if price approaches a KPL resistance level and the candles closing at resistance show increasingly negative delta (selling volume overwhelming buying), the level is likely to hold. If candles closing at KPL resistance show positive delta (buyers still aggressive at the resistance level), a breakout above resistance is more likely.

Imbalances

Footprint imbalances are identified when the ask volume at a price level is significantly larger than the bid volume at the price level directly below it (bullish imbalance), or when the bid volume at a price level is significantly larger than the ask volume directly above it (bearish imbalance). Order Flow+ highlights these automatically when the ratio exceeds a configured threshold (commonly 300–400% — one side has 3–4x the volume of the other).

Imbalances indicate where aggressive directional order flow occurred within the candle. A stack of bullish imbalances (multiple consecutive price levels showing 3:1+ buy/sell ratio) indicates a burst of institutional buying at that price range. When price returns to a level with stacked bullish imbalances in a future candle, those imbalances often act like order blocks — areas where the original buyers defend their positions on pullbacks.

Absorbed Volume (Failed Auctions)

When a candle's high or low has significant volume traded at that extreme but price didn't move through it — large volume "absorbed" at the price extreme without continuation — it indicates that the directional move has been absorbed by the opposing side. High sell volume at a candle's high that stops upward progress is bearish absorption; high buy volume at a candle's low that stops downward progress is bullish absorption. These absorbed levels often become high-probability reversal zones because the opposing institutional interest that absorbed the initial move is now positioned to push price the other way.

How to Set Up Order Flow+ in NinjaTrader 8

Order Flow+ requires the NinjaTrader Order Flow+ subscription ($39/month or included in some NinjaTrader brokerage plans). After subscription activation: open a chart → right-click → Chart Type → Footprint. Configure the footprint settings: Footprint Type (Bid/Ask Volume is the most common starting point), Row Size (1 tick for ES = 0.25 points; this shows every price level), and Imbalance Ratio (start at 300% — 3:1 ratio to highlight significant imbalances).

For ES and NQ futures on a 15-minute chart: set the Row Size to 0.25 (one tick per row, showing every ES price level inside each 15-minute candle). This gives the fullest view of the microstructure within each candle. On busy sessions, a single 15-minute ES candle may have 50–100 price rows — focus on the extreme rows (high and low of the candle) and the rows at KPL levels, not every row in the middle.

Practical Application: Using Footprint Charts with KPL Levels

The most efficient use of Order Flow+ for KPL trading is as a confirmation tool at key levels, not a primary signal generator. The workflow: (1) Identify the KPL level where you're watching for a reversal setup. (2) As price approaches the level, switch to footprint view to read the microstructure in real time. (3) Look for: negative delta at KPL resistance (selling pressure absorbing buying at the level), bullish imbalances appearing at KPL support (aggressive buyers stepping in), or large absorbed volume at the extreme that confirms rejection. (4) Enter when the footprint confirms the KPL setup — rejection at the level with supporting delta and imbalance evidence. This confirmation reduces false signals at KPL levels that would otherwise produce equal-looking setups with very different microstructure quality.