Resting order (resting liquidity)
A resting order is a limit order that sits in the order book waiting to be filled, displayed at its price until it trades, is modified or is cancelled. Resting liquidity is the sum of such orders at each level; it is what the DOM ladder and the liquidity heatmap display, and what aggressive orders execute against.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
Passive orders and the aggressors who hit them
Every trade pairs a resting order with an aggressive one. The resting order was placed at a price away from the market, or at the best bid or ask, and waited. The aggressive order crossed the spread to meet it. The footprint attributes the trade's volume to the aggressor's side: ask volume when a buyer lifted a resting offer, bid volume when a seller hit a resting bid.
Resting orders are therefore the passive half of order flow. Absorption, where heavy aggressive volume fails to move price, is the visible effect of resting liquidity being refilled or being larger than displayed.
- A resting order's displayed size can be smaller than its real size (iceberg).
- A resting order can be pulled at any time; its presence is not a commitment.
- Stop orders are not resting liquidity: they sit outside the book and become aggressive orders when triggered.
How resting liquidity is observed
The heatmap guide describes the brightness of a band as the size resting there; a band that persists as price approaches, then vanishes, is a pull; one that shrinks as trades print through it is a fill. The two look alike on a single snapshot and different across time.
| View | What it shows | Time dimension |
|---|---|---|
| DOM ladder | Displayed size per level right now | Instant |
| Liquidity heatmap | Displayed size per level, painted as colour over time | History |
| Liquidity tracker (MBO) | Individual orders: placed, modified, cancelled, filled | Per order |
In Senzoukria
The Heatmap page paints resting orders over time; the guided tour states that bright bands are liquidity waiting in the book. The two-colour mode labels the sides "Bid — resting buy orders" and "Ask — resting sell orders". The "Low floor (lots)" setting hides any resting level smaller than a chosen size so that walls stand alone, and the DOM profile's "Minimum size" does the same for the level-by-level view.
The "Right space (%)" setting leaves room after the live edge so that resting liquidity ahead of price stays visible. The liquidity tracker panel reads each order's life from the MBO feed, and its empty state explains that it needs that feed rather than aggregated totals. On crypto, depth history is recorded while you watch; on Rithmic and Databento it follows the account's depth entitlement.
Common mistakes
- Reading a bright band as a level that will hold. It is displayed size, subject to cancellation.
- Treating a pulled order as proof of spoofing. The DOM guide separates the observable cancel from the unobservable intent.
- Assuming trade history can show where orders rested. Only recorded book data can.
- Confusing resting size with executed volume. The heatmap's executed-volume columns and the footprint show executions; the bands show waiting orders.
Related
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- Is a limit order always a resting order?
- A limit order rests only if it does not execute on arrival. A limit buy priced at or above the best ask trades immediately and is aggressive; a limit buy below the best ask enters the book and rests. The same order type can therefore be passive or aggressive depending on where it is priced relative to the BBO.
- How does a resting order show up on a footprint?
- It does not appear until it trades. A footprint records executions by price and by the aggressor's side, so a resting bid becomes visible as bid volume at that price when sellers hit it. Its size before the trade, and any part of it that was cancelled, is only visible on the DOM or the heatmap.
- Why did a large resting order disappear when price got close?
- Either it was filled, in which case executed volume printed at that level, or it was cancelled or modified, or the feed dropped an update. The ladder alone cannot distinguish these; the heatmap shows whether volume traded through the band, and an order-by-order feed shows the cancel itself.