Topstep Rules: Complete Deep Dive for Futures Traders

Topstep's rule set is one of the simplest in futures prop trading—on paper.

One rule (don't breach the Maximum Loss Limit), three objectives (hit the profit target, maintain consistency, manage drawdown), and a handful of prohibited activities. But the devil lives in the mechanical details of how those rules are calculated, enforced, and applied across different account stages.

The difference between a trader who keeps their funded account for 6 months and one who loses it in 6 days usually isn't strategy—it's a misunderstanding of exactly how trailing drawdown updates, how the consistency math works at payout time, or how the self-imposed risk controls interact with the broader rule framework. This is the complete, mechanical breakdown of every Topstep rule—how it works, why it exists, and what catches traders off guard.

Why Topstep matters: Topstep is the firm that started the futures prop trading industry. Founded by CME floor trader Michael Patak, they've been around longer than any competitor. I've evaluated their accounts, tracked their payout history, and compared them against every major alternative in the space.

That said, longevity doesn't mean perfection. Topstep has strengths (proven track record, fast payouts, strong platform support) and weaknesses (trailing drawdown, subscription model costs, no affiliate program for reviewers) that I've documented honestly. For a complete breakdown of their account types, pricing, and what to expect at each stage, read my full Topstep accounts overview. For the absolute latest, check Topstep's website or their Help Center.

The Maximum Loss Limit (EOD Trailing Drawdown)

This is the only rule that will kill your account outright, and it deserves the most thorough explanation of any rule in this article.

How It's Calculated

The Maximum Loss Limit is an EOD (end-of-day) trailing drawdown. It starts at a fixed amount below your account's starting balance and moves upward based on your highest end-of-day balance—never your intraday high.

On a 50K account, the initial Maximum Loss Limit floor is $48,000 ($50,000 - $2,000 trailing drawdown amount). If you close day one at $51,200, the floor rises to $49,200 ($51,200 - $2,000). If you close day two at $50,800 (lower than day one), the floor stays at $49,200—it only moves up, never down.

The floor is based on your highest EOD balance, not your current balance. So if your account goes $50,000 → $52,000 (EOD day 3) → $50,500 (EOD day 4) → $51,800 (EOD day 5), the floor history is: $48,000 → $50,000 → $50,000 → $50,000. The floor moved to $50,000 after day 3's close (highest EOD balance of $52,000 - $2,000) and hasn't moved since because days 4 and 5 didn't set a new high EOD balance.

How It's Enforced

Here's the critical distinction that trips up traders: the floor updates at end of day, but it's enforced in real time throughout the trading session. If your current floor is $49,200 and your account balance touches $49,200 at 10:47 AM—even for a single tick, even during a momentary spike—your account is breached. You don't get until end of day to recover.

This creates a specific risk profile. During the trading day, you need to be aware of two numbers: your current trailing floor (which was set based on yesterday's close) and your real-time account balance. The gap between them is your intraday survival margin. If that gap narrows to zero at any point, game over.

The practical implication: if you had a big profitable day yesterday that pushed your EOD balance to a new high, today your floor is higher—and your room between the floor and your current balance might be smaller than you think, especially if you gave back some of yesterday's gains in overnight positioning or early morning trading.

The Drawdown Lock (Funded Accounts Only)

On Express Funded Accounts, the trailing drawdown permanently locks once your end-of-day balance reaches starting balance + drawdown amount + $100. The lock thresholds:

50K account: locks when EOD balance reaches $52,100. Floor locks at $50,100.100K account: locks when EOD balance reaches $103,100. Floor locks at $100,100.150K account: locks when EOD balance reaches $154,600. Floor locks at $150,100.

Once locked, the floor never moves again. If your locked floor is $50,100 and your account grows to $65,000, draws down to $51,000, recovers to $58,000—the floor is $50,100 the entire time. This converts your trailing drawdown into a static drawdown, fundamentally changing your risk profile.

The lock doesn't apply during evaluation—only during the funded stage. During evaluation, the trailing continues throughout without locking (under the current TopstepX system).

The lock is the single most important milestone in your funded account. Before the lock, every profitable day raises the floor and potentially tightens your room. After the lock, profitable days increase your cushion without any corresponding floor increase. Your risk-reward profile permanently improves at the lock point.

The 50% Consistency Target

The Mechanics

Your best single trading day's net profit cannot exceed 50% of your total net cumulative profit at the time of passing the evaluation (or at the time of a payout request on funded accounts).

The formula: Best Day P&L ÷ Total Cumulative Profit ≤ 50%.

This is calculated on realized, closed-trade P&L at end of day. Unrealized intraday profits don't count—only what your account balance shows at the close of each session.

Why It Exists

Without the consistency rule, a trader could pass the evaluation by making one massive bet, winning, and immediately passing with a single day of profit. The consistency rule ensures that passing reflects a pattern of profitable behavior, not a single lucky trade. It's a proxy for "this trader has a repeatable edge" rather than "this trader got lucky once."

The Practical Impact

The consistency target doesn't prevent you from having big days—it prevents you from passing on the back of a single big day without proving you can replicate the performance.

If you make $2,000 on day 1 of your 50K evaluation, you've already covered two-thirds of your $3,000 target. But that $2,000 day is now 100% of your total profit (if it's your only day). To pass consistency, you need your total profit to reach at least $4,000 ($2,000 ÷ $4,000 = 50%). That means you need an additional $2,000 in profit across subsequent days—more than the $1,000 you'd need to just hit the $3,000 target.

This creates a paradox: having one great day early in the evaluation can actually extend your timeline rather than shorten it, because you need to "dilute" that day's percentage with additional profitable days.

The optimal approach is to target consistent, moderate daily gains ($200-500 per day on a 50K account) so that no single day dominates your total. If your best day is $400 and you trade 10 profitable days for $3,500 total, your consistency is 11.4%—far below the 50% threshold with room to spare.

Funded-Stage Consistency

The 50% consistency target also applies when requesting payouts on funded accounts. It's recalculated based on your P&L since your last payout (or since the start of funded trading if it's your first payout). Each payout cycle resets the consistency calculation.

This means a single dominant winning day between payouts can delay your next withdrawal. If you make $800 on Monday and $200 on each of Tuesday through Friday, your total is $1,600 with a best day of $800 = 50%. Right at the threshold. One more $200 day pushes you safely below.

Express Funded Account (XFA) Payout Requirements

XFA Standard

The Standard payout policy requires 5 "winning days" before you can request a withdrawal. A winning day is defined as a trading day where your net profit (after all costs—zero on TopstepX) meets or exceeds the minimum threshold:

50K accounts: $150 per winning day.100K accounts: $200 per winning day.150K accounts: $250 per winning day.

After accumulating 5 winning days, you can request a payout up to $5,000 or 50% of your balance above the drawdown floor, whichever is less. The $30 processing fee applies to each request.

XFA Consistency

The Consistency payout policy requires only 3 winning days but imposes a 40% consistency rule (stricter than the 50% evaluation consistency). Maximum withdrawal is $6,000 or 50% of balance above floor. The higher per-payout cap makes this attractive for traders with very consistent daily performance.

The Balance Requirement

You can only request a payout if your account balance is above starting balance + drawdown amount + $100 (the safety net threshold). On a 50K account: balance must exceed $52,100 to request withdrawal. If your balance is $52,000, you're $100 short of eligibility regardless of how many winning days you've accumulated.

This requirement applies before the drawdown lock. After the lock (once your floor is permanently at $50,100), the payout eligibility threshold effectively drops to the locked floor—but you still need sufficient balance to actually withdraw meaningful amounts while staying above the floor.

Payout Frequency and Amounts

You can request payouts daily once requirements are met. There's no maximum frequency beyond the winning-day requirements between requests. Early payouts may have lower caps that increase as you establish a track record. The $30 fee applies to each request, so frequent small withdrawals are less cost-efficient than less frequent larger ones.

Position Size Limits

Each account size has a maximum position limit measured in standard contracts (or equivalent micro contracts at 10:1 ratio):

50K: 5 standard contracts / 50 micro contracts.100K: 10 standard / 100 micro.150K: 15 standard / 150 micro.

These limits apply per-instrument and represent simultaneous open position maximums. You cannot exceed 5 contracts open at the same time on a 50K account—whether that's 5 ES, 3 ES + 2 NQ, or 50 MES.

Cross-instrument position limits use the standard contract equivalency. One ES contract = 10 MES contracts toward your limit. One NQ = 10 MNQ. If you're holding 3 ES contracts and 20 MNQ, that's 3 + 2 = 5 contracts toward your 50K limit—you're at maximum.

Prohibited Activities

No Automated Trading

All trades must be manually executed. EAs, trading bots, algorithmic systems, and any automated order execution are prohibited on TopstepX. This includes auto-executing signals from external platforms, even if the signal generation itself is manual.

Why: Topstep wants to evaluate the trader's skill and discipline, not an algorithm's performance. Additionally, automated systems can exploit simulation environments in ways that don't translate to live markets—a risk that simulation-based prop firms universally mitigate by prohibiting automation.

No Hedging

Holding opposing positions in the same instrument simultaneously (long and short ES at the same time) is prohibited. This prevents strategies that exploit simulation fills rather than genuine market direction.

No Overnight or Weekend Holds

All positions must be closed by the end of each trading session. No holds through the overnight session or over weekends. This limits risk to intraday price movements and prevents gap risk from affecting the firm's simulated capital.

The enforcement is typically automatic—TopstepX will close open positions at session end. But don't rely on auto-close for risk management; the auto-close may execute at unfavorable prices during the final minutes of the session. Close positions manually before the deadline.

No Account Sharing

Each Topstep account must be traded exclusively by its registered owner. Sharing login credentials, allowing third parties to trade your account, or using someone else's identity to register are all grounds for account termination and payout denial.

No Market Manipulation

High-frequency trading, spoofing, layering, and any strategy designed to exploit system inefficiencies or manipulate market prices are prohibited. While the definition of "market manipulation" in a simulated environment is somewhat ambiguous, the intent is clear: trade with genuine directional conviction, not exploitative mechanics.

Minimum Hold Time

Some documentation references a minimum trade hold time (typically 10 seconds or longer). This prevents strategies that exploit simulation latency by entering and exiting within milliseconds—a technique that works in simulation but not in live markets. Verify the current minimum hold time on Topstep's help center, as this parameter can change.

The Self-Imposed Risk Controls on TopstepX

These aren't rules—they're tools. But they're important enough to cover in a rules article because using them effectively is a major factor in rule compliance.

Daily Loss Limit: Set a dollar amount you're willing to lose in a single trading day. When reached, TopstepX locks your account for the remainder of the session. This prevents the single-day blowup scenario that's the number-one cause of Maximum Loss Limit breaches.

Daily Profit Target: Set a dollar amount at which you want to stop trading for the day. When reached, the account pauses. This prevents the common pattern of banking morning profits, continuing to trade in the afternoon, and giving everything back.

Trade Count Limit: Set a maximum number of trades per session. This prevents overtrading, which erodes profitability through poor decision quality on marginal setups.

The Tilt™ Indicator: Monitors your trading behavior patterns and alerts you when emotional trading may be affecting your decisions. Not a rule enforcement mechanism, but a behavioral feedback tool designed to improve your awareness of tilt-driven trading.

These controls are optional but strongly recommended. The traders who succeed long-term at Topstep almost universally use at least the daily loss limit. Setting a daily loss at 25% of your remaining drawdown room (e.g., $500 on a fresh 50K account with $2,000 drawdown) means you'd need four consecutive maximum-loss days to breach the account—giving yourself four chances to recognize the problem and stop.

Rule Changes: The Evolution Factor

Topstep's rules have evolved significantly over the company's 14-year history. Key changes that have shaped the current rule set include the consolidation from a two-step evaluation to a one-step Trading Combine, the introduction of the Consistency Target, the shift from third-party platforms to TopstepX-only, profit split adjustments from 100% on first $10,000 to 90/10 from dollar one for new traders, and the introduction of XFA payout types.

The pattern is clear: rules have generally gotten more structured over time—adding requirements (consistency, XFA winning days) while also simplifying the evaluation itself (one step instead of two). Whether this represents appropriate maturation or unfavorable tightening depends on your perspective.

The important practical point: rules can and do change. Check Topstep's Help Center at help.topstep.com for current specifications before making account decisions. The information in this article reflects February 2026 rules, and any of these details could be modified in a future update.

The Rule Philosophy

Understanding why Topstep's rules exist—not just what they are—helps you work with them rather than against them.

The Maximum Loss Limit exists because Topstep (eventually) puts capital at risk on funded traders. They need assurance that funded traders can protect downside.

The Consistency Target exists because one lucky trade doesn't prove trading ability. Repeatable performance is the only meaningful signal.

The XFA requirements exist because Topstep needs funded traders to demonstrate ongoing consistency before allowing withdrawals—not just pass-then-extract.

The prohibited activities exist because simulation environments can be exploited in ways that don't translate to live markets—and Topstep needs evaluation performance to predict live performance.

When a rule frustrates you, ask: "What problem is this solving?" The answer is usually some version of "preventing the firm from funding traders who can't manage risk in real markets." You may disagree with the specific implementation, but the underlying logic is defensible.

The traders who succeed at Topstep aren't the ones who try to game the rules or find loopholes. They're the ones who internalize the rules as a framework for disciplined trading—and discover that the framework actually makes them better traders. The Consistency Target forces you to stop swinging for fences.

The daily loss limit forces you to stop revenge trading. The drawdown lock incentivizes building a buffer before extracting profits. Each rule, when embraced rather than resisted, reinforces the habits that separate consistently profitable traders from everyone else.

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