Prop firm rules, explained
The rule set is the product. A funded account is a contract whose terms decide which strategies can survive it, and most traders read the profit target and skip the rest. This is the rest.
Every rule that ends a funded account, in one place. The pages below are grouped by the mechanism they describe, not by firm, because the same rule behaves the same way whichever firm applies it — and the firm-specific numbers change quarterly while the mechanics do not. Each linked page carries its own verification date. Firm-by-firm comparisons are in the blog; term definitions are in the glossary.
Drawdown
- Drawdown guide: the models and what each one measures
- Trailing vs static vs daily-loss: the full taxonomy
- EOD vs intraday trailing: which firms run which
- Firms with end-of-day trailing (2026 list)
- Firms with static drawdown
- Buffer rules: which futures firms are flexible
- How to size against trailing drawdown
- 50K vs 100K buffer math on EOD trailing
Consistency and day rules
- Consistency rule explained
- Firms without a consistency rule
- Why traders fail the consistency rule
- Minimum trading days: rules by firm
- The minimum-days trap: filler trades kill passed evals
- Rules that change after you pass
Contracts and scaling
Automation, copying, news
- Is automated trading allowed? Apex, Topstep, MFF
- Best prop firms for automated trading
- Copy trading rules by firm
- News trading rules by firm
- News rule violations in automated trading
Payouts
- Firms with daily payouts
- Fastest payouts
- Why payouts get denied
- Realistic payouts per year
- Time to first payout
Account lifecycle
- What happens when you blow a funded account
- Reset vs new account: which is cheaper
- Which rules can a systematic strategy actually pass?
How to read a rule set before buying
Three questions decide whether a strategy fits a firm, and none of them is the profit target. First, which drawdown model runs on the funded stage — not the evaluation, because several firms switch between the two. Second, whether a consistency rule applies and at which stage. Third, what a qualifying day means, because minimum-day and inactivity rules count winning days, not trading days. The Pass Estimator runs a strategy's statistics against those constraints for the major futures firms.
FAQ
Which prop firm rule ends most accounts?
The drawdown floor — specifically a position sized against account balance rather than against the distance to the floor. Consistency rules and daily loss limits end accounts too, but the floor breach is the most common.
Do prop firm rules differ between the evaluation and the funded account?
Frequently. Several firms run end-of-day trailing in the evaluation and intraday trailing once funded, apply consistency rules only at payout, or reduce contract caps under a scaling plan. Check both stages before buying.
Which prop firm has the simplest rules?
Simplicity depends on the strategy. No consistency rule and static drawdown is simplest for a low-frequency strategy; EOD trailing with no daily loss limit is simplest for one that scales out. There is no universally simplest rule set.
Firm rules verified September 2026. Prop firm rules change frequently; confirm on the firm's site before purchasing an evaluation.