How to Connect Elite Trader Funding to NinjaTrader (Rithmic)

Elite Trader Funding routes NinjaTrader over Rithmic. The setup is standard, with two settings in R|Trader that account for most of the failures people report.

What you need before you start

• The Rithmic credentials Elite Trader Funding issued you, which are separate from your ETF website login.
• NinjaTrader 8 Desktop on Windows.
• Any data agreements in the provider portal already signed.

Connecting Elite Trader Funding to NinjaTrader

Get your Rithmic credentials from Elite Trader Funding

These are provisioned separately from your ETF account and are what NinjaTrader needs.

Download the NinjaTrader Desktop platform

NinjaTrader 8 Desktop, from NinjaTrader directly.

Enable Multi-Provider

Tools, Options, General. Tick Multi-Provider, apply, restart. Skip this and there is no Configure option to click.

Add the Rithmic connection

Control Center, Connections, Configure, add. Choose Rithmic for NinjaTrader Brokerage.

Enter your credentials and choose the System

Type them in. For an evaluation account the System is generally the paper trading entry; confirm the current value against Elite Trader Funding’s own connection guide, because these change and a wrong System rejects a correct password.

Check the two R|Trader settings

For this firm, set Market Data off and plug-in mode off in R|Trader. Running R|Trader with market data enabled alongside NinjaTrader makes the two compete for the same entitlement, and Rithmic resolves that by dropping one of them.

This setting is genuinely firm-specific. OneUp Trader, for instance, requires plug-in mode on. Follow Elite Trader Funding’s instruction here rather than one copied from another firm’s guide.

Select your new connection

Connections, then your Elite Trader Funding connection. A green indicator in the Control Center confirms it.

If it will not connect

If it connects and then throws you out a few minutes later, that is the market data conflict described above rather than a network problem.

• Logon failed. Nearly always a trailing space copied with the credential, the wrong System entry for your account stage, or an agreement still unsigned in the provider portal. Worked through in Rithmic logon failed.
• Connected, but no accounts. Usually account status at Elite Trader Funding rather than anything in NinjaTrader. See no accounts were found.
• No Configure option. Multi-Provider is switched off. See why Configure is missing.
• Connects, then drops. Something else is holding a Rithmic session — R|Trader Pro elsewhere, a second machine, a VPS. See session count exceeded.

Elite Trader Funding and NinjaTrader: questions we get

Can I run Elite Trader Funding next to another prop firm?

Not on the Rithmic route, not out of the box. NinjaTrader marks its Rithmic connections as one at a time, so connecting a second Rithmic firm displaces the first. NinjaTrader Desktop connects one Rithmic account at a time. Unlimited Prop Firm Connections lets you keep several connected at the same time.

A Rithmic session cap still applies per login on top of that, and no add-on can raise it.

Do I need a trade copier as well?

Only if you want one order to reach several accounts. Having the connections open at the same time is what makes copying possible; the copying itself is a separate job, handled by the trade copier.

Is the website login the same as the connection login?

No, and this is the most common setup mistake. NinjaTrader needs the Rithmic credentials Elite Trader Funding issued you, not the username and password you use on their website.

Related

• Connection guides for every prop firm
• How to run multiple Rithmic connections in NinjaTrader 8
• Is Rithmic down, or is it your connection?

Affordable Indicators, Inc. is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rithmic, NinjaTrader, or any prop firm or broker named here; your firm’s and broker’s own terms govern how you may use your account, so check with them first.