summary: the number you type into a take-profit or stop-loss field is a percentage of the setup's range, not a price. the algo converts it into a level on your chart, which reads as a much bigger number than the % you set. that's expected, and here's the math behind it.
this one comes up a lot: you set your take-profit to something like 45%, then look at the chart and the take-profit level is sitting way above that. it looks like the algo ignored your setting. it didn't. the % and the plotted level are two different kinds of number, and once you see how they connect it makes sense.
the short answer
the value you type into a take-profit (or stop-loss) field is a percentage of the setup's range — the IB height on the IB algo, or the opening range size on the ORB. it's not a price, and it's not a percentage of your entry price.
the algo takes that % and plots it as an actual price level on your chart. so the number you typed (a percentage) and the number you see on the chart (a full price quote) are never going to look the same. nothing is broken.
what the % actually measures
entry, take-profit, and stop-loss are each measured as a percentage — or a multiple — of the setup's range:
the range is the IB height (IB algo) or the opening range size (ORB).
extensions like 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, and 2x are the same idea written as multiples. a 1x extension means price moved 100% of the range beyond the breakout level.
your take-profit % is how far beyond the breakout the target sits, as a percentage of that range. a 45% target sits 45% of the range beyond the breakout.
measuring in percentages of the range instead of fixed points keeps the target comparable across quiet and volatile days. a 10-point range and a 40-point range both use the same percentages, so your setting means the same thing every day.
a worked example
round numbers make this obvious. say you're trading NQ and the initial balance forms between 20,000 (low) and 20,050 (high). that's an IB height of 50 points.
price breaks above the IB high at 20,050, and you've set your take-profit to 100% (a 1x extension). the algo plots the target at:
breakout level + 100% of the range = 20,050 + 50 = 20,100.
you typed "100," a percentage. the level on the chart reads 20,100, a price. same setting, two completely different-looking numbers, because one is a distance and the other is where that distance lands.
set it to 45% instead and the target is 20,050 + (0.45 × 50) = 20,072.5. still a full price, still a bigger number than the "45" you entered, and still sitting above the level you broke out from. that's exactly why the take-profit looks "more than" what you set.
stop-loss works the same way
the stop-loss field follows the same rule. it's a percentage of the range, plotted on the opposite side of the breakout from your target. so the same "why is the number so different" question has the same answer: the % you set is a fraction of the range, and the chart shows you where that lands as a price.
the 3 percentages people mix up
most of the confusion comes from three different percentages that all live near each other:
retracement % (IB entry) — how deep price pulls back into the range before the algo enters. this is about your entry, not your target.
take-profit % / extension — how far beyond the breakout your target sits, as a percentage of the range. this is the one that sets your take-profit level.
run-up % (in the reports and analyzer) — the instrument's own price move from entry to its peak. it's not a percentage of the range at all.
if the plotted level surprised you, it's almost always because one of these got read as another.
this is expected, not a data error
a take-profit level that reads as a bigger number than the % you set is just the % being converted into a price. it's working as designed, not a bug, and not a sign the report or algo is showing you wrong data.
where to set it and how to validate
you change the target in your algo settings — the take-profit extension level, or the TP1 / TP2 levels on the 2 TP variants. before you lock a level in, check it against the data:
pull up the IB by levels or ORB by levels report for your instrument.
set the session and use a 6-month lookback as your baseline.
see how often each extension level has actually been reached before you set your take-profit there.
if your take-profit is set to a 2x extension but the 2x level has only been reached 30% of the time on your instrument over the last 6 months, that's worth knowing before you go live. landing on a level that fits your instrument takes a bit of customization and testing, and that's the work that makes the setting yours.