How to Read dYdX's Order Book and Choose Order Types

A dYdX market order doesn’t sit and wait for a fill, by default it’s submitted as immediate-or-cancel, meaning whatever portion can fill right now does, and anything left over is simply cancelled rather than resting on the book.

This guide is part of TradeOnDEX’s dYdX how-to series within Perpetual Futures.

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dYdX’s core order types

Limit order. Executes only at your specified price or better, a buy limit fills at your limit price or lower, a sell limit at your limit price or higher.

Market order. Executes immediately at the best available price given current order book liquidity. By default, the interface submits market orders as immediate-or-cancel: whatever fills immediately does, and any unfilled remainder is cancelled rather than left resting.

Stop market order. Triggers a market order once the oracle price or last traded price crosses your specified trigger, once triggered, it fills immediately at the best available book price.

Stop limit order. Triggers once the oracle price or last traded price crosses your trigger, then places a limit order at your specified price, which may fill immediately or rest on the book exactly like a normal limit order would.

How to read the order book and depth chart

The order book shows a live list of bids (buy orders) and asks (sell orders) at each price level, sourced from dYdX’s real-time orderbook data feed. The depth bar at each price level represents the cumulative order size that would need to be filled before an order at that price level gets crossed, a longer bar at a given price means more liquidity sitting there, and correspondingly more size a market order would need to absorb to move through that level.

This means for you, concretely: checking depth before placing a market order, especially a large one, gives you a sense of how much the price might move as your order works through the available liquidity at each level.

How to choose the right order type, step by step

1. If price certainty matters more than immediate execution, use a limit order at your target price.
2. If immediate execution matters more than price certainty, use a market order, understanding it may only partially fill given current book depth (with the rest cancelled, not left resting).
3. If you want a loss-limiting or profit-taking order to trigger automatically at a future price level, use a stop market (for guaranteed-ish immediate execution once triggered) or stop limit (for price control once triggered, at the cost of a fill guarantee).
4. Check current order book depth before placing a large market order, to gauge likely price impact.

Risk: what each order type doesn’t guarantee

A market order’s immediate-or-cancel default means a large order in a thin book may only partially fill. Don’t assume a market order will always execute your full intended size. Check current depth first, especially for a less liquid market or an unusually large order.

A stop limit order’s fill isn’t guaranteed once triggered, unlike a stop market order. Once a stop limit’s trigger condition is met, the resulting limit order behaves like any other limit order, it can rest unfilled on the book if the market moves past your specified limit price before it’s matched, unlike a stop market order which fills immediately at the best available price once triggered.

Order book depth is a snapshot that changes continuously. A depth chart showing ample liquidity a moment ago can shift meaningfully by the time your order actually executes, particularly during volatile conditions. Treat depth as directional guidance, not a locked-in guarantee of your execution price.

Oracle price and last-traded price can diverge briefly, affecting exactly when a stop order triggers. As covered in the stop-loss and take-profit guide, understand which price reference your specific stop order uses before relying on it during a fast-moving market.

Order types compared

See it for yourself

Before placing a market order of meaningful size, check the current depth chart for that specific market to estimate likely price impact, rather than assuming instant execution at the last displayed price. You can review live order book depth at dydx.trade.

Frequently asked questions

Will a dYdX market order always fill my entire requested size?

Not necessarily, market orders are submitted as immediate-or-cancel by default, so any portion that can’t fill immediately given current book depth is cancelled rather than left resting.

What’s the difference between a stop market and a stop limit order?

A stop market order fills immediately at the best available price once triggered; a stop limit order places a limit order once triggered, which may rest unfilled if the market moves past your specified price before it’s matched.

What does the depth bar on the order book actually represent?

The cumulative order size at and before that price level that would need to be filled before an order at that price gets crossed, a useful gauge of how much liquidity sits at each level.

Which price reference triggers a stop order, oracle price or last traded price?

It depends on the specific order’s configuration; check which reference your stop order is using, since the two can diverge briefly, particularly during volatile conditions.

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TradeOnDEX may earn a commission if you sign up or trade through a link on this page, at no extra cost to you. dYdX’s own affiliate/referral terms are still being confirmed for this site, so links here are direct and untracked for now. This article is educational and is not financial advice. See our disclaimer for the full risk warning.