How to Connect Elite Trader Funding to NinjaTrader (Rithmic)
Elite Trader Funding supports NinjaTrader over both Rithmic and Tradovate, and this guide covers the Rithmic route. NinjaTrader is not supported on LIVE ELITE accounts. The setup is standard, with one R|Trader data rule that trips people up.
What you need before you start
- The Rithmic credentials Elite Trader Funding issued you, which are separate from your ETF website login.
- NinjaTrader 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 NinjaTrader Desktop
NinjaTrader Desktop, from NinjaTrader directly.
Enable Multi-Provider
Tools > Settings > 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, the rule is about market data: Elite Trader Funding’s guides say you cannot run Rithmic data in R|Trader and in your trading platform at the same time, so if you keep R|Trader open to watch your drawdown, turn Market Data off on its login screen. ETF publishes no instruction about plug-in mode.
Firms differ here. OneUp Trader’s NinjaTrader 8.1 guide, for instance, has you tick plug-in mode so R|Trader Pro and NinjaTrader can run together. Follow Elite Trader Funding’s own instruction 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, check first that R|Trader Pro, another platform or another machine is not using the same Rithmic login or pulling its data at the same time.
- 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. Elite Trader Funding’s own help points first at NinjaTrader’s Global Simulation Mode, which hides live and funded accounts: untick it under Control Center > Tools. If the account is still missing, check its status with Elite Trader Funding. 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 it refuses a second Rithmic firm’s connection while the first one is running. 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
- Elite Trader Funding discount codes and current promo
- 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.