Published
What is Deep Reload?
In an order book, large resting orders move constantly: posted, pulled, posted again. That back and forth is invisible on a standard chart and unreadable by eye on a scrolling DOM. Deep Reload watches the book in real time and marks the moments when a significant amount of fresh liquidity reappears in a narrow price band around the market after being pulled. That is the signature of a participant holding a view and redeploying rather than abandoning the level.
What DeepCharts does better
The tool measures dynamics rather than just presence, with two distinct thresholds: Total Value sets the minimum amount of new liquidity required to draw a zone, Pull Value sets the minimum cancellation size that qualifies the event as a genuine reload. Both can stay automatic or be set by hand, which matters when you move from NQ to a thinner contract. Number of Levels sets the width of the band watched around price. Adjacent events are aggregated into a single zone, which keeps the chart readable even zoomed out, and an optional trend filter keeps only reloads aligned with the short-term move. Zones plot as horizontal bands, green on the bid, purple on the ask, with alerts available.
Using it day to day
The setting that really matters is the threshold pair. Too low and you get a wall of bands and no information; too high and you only see extreme events, once or twice a session. The sound method is to run automatic for a week on your instrument, note the size of the reloads that actually held, then switch to manual with that number. Keep the trend filter for directional days: in a range it removes exactly the reversal reloads you care about.
Typical case on NQ late morning: price drifts down toward yesterday's support. A green band forms two ticks below price, disappears, then redraws at the same spot a minute later, thicker. Someone pulled their orders during the approach, let the aggression through, then redeployed at the same price. That is a defended level, not a chart support. It changes your stop as much as your entry.
⚠ The trap to avoid
The trap is treating a band as a floor. A reload can be cancelled one more time, and the level sometimes gives way on the third pass precisely because the participant defending it has finished getting filled. The second trap is confusing reload and iceberg: a reload is visible replenishment in the book, an iceberg is hidden size revealed through execution. They often happen together, but they are not the same evidence.
Combine it with
Deep Reload flags the place, the Iceberg Detector says whether hidden size is actually being filled there, and the footprint says whether the aggression gives up. A reload zone matching an absorption on the footprint and a visible wall on the heatmap is one of the rare alignments where three independent tools tell the same story.
FAQ
What is a reload in an order book?+
It is significant passive liquidity reappearing at the same place after being pulled. The participant is not abandoning the level: they cancel during the approach then repost, often to get filled without showing their full size at once.
Deep Reload versus the Iceberg Detector?+
A reload shows in the book, on the displayed resting orders coming back. An iceberg shows in the executions, as hidden size revealed fill after fill. The first shows redeployed intent, the second shows concealed size.
How should I set Total Value and Pull Value?+
Run automatic mode for a few sessions on your instrument, note the size of the reloads that actually held, then switch to manual with that value. A single threshold does not travel between contracts: NQ and a thinner contract are not on the same scale.
Want to get better at order flow?
We discuss flow, liquidity and our trades live, every day, on the OrderFlowFutures Discord. Join us, it's free.
Join the Discord for free5 online·35 members·Free · instant access