PILLAR GUIDE · THE RULES
Prop firm rules, explained.
Here's the encouraging truth: the rules are the game, and they're completely learnable. Every prop firm challenge runs on the same four families of rules — drawdowns, daily limits, targets, and trading conduct. Master them and you're immediately ahead of most traders who ever buy a challenge. This guide is your map to all of them.
THE 60-SECOND VERSION
- Drawdown — your account's safety floor. Static, end-of-day trailing, or intraday trailing. This one decides everything.
- Daily loss limit — a per-day cap that resets each morning. Set your own inside it and it never fires.
- Profit target — very reachable with a modest edge and steady pacing.
- Conduct rules — news windows, holding periods, position limits. Know yours and trade freely.
Drawdown rules — your account's safety floor
The single most important family of rules to master. Get these right and you're ahead of most traders on day one.
EOD vs Intraday Trailing Drawdown
The difference between end-of-day and intraday trailing drawdown, proven with a worked trade sequence that passes one and fails the other — plus sizing rules for each.
Read the guide →Static Drawdown Prop Firms
Static drawdown gives you one fixed floor that never moves — the most plannable rule in prop trading. The worked math, the comparison, and how to trade it well.
Read the guide →The PTDD Ratio Explained
The PTDD ratio compares a firm's profit target to its drawdown allowance. Learn the formula, run the worked math, and pick the evaluation you're most likely to pass.
Read the guide →Trailing Drawdown Explained
How trailing drawdown actually works, EOD vs intraday variants, worked dollar examples, and the risk math that puts you in the group that passes.
Read the guide →Daily rules — pacing your sessions
Session-level guardrails that keep one busy day from undoing a good week.
Prop Firm Daily Loss Limits Explained
Master prop firm daily loss limits and you master the skill that keeps funded traders funded. How they work, the enforcement styles, and the easy sizing math.
Read the guide →Prop Firm Profit Targets by Firm
Prop firm profit targets explained: futures dollar targets vs forex percentages, the expectancy math to reach them, and the calm pacing plan that gets you funded.
Read the guide →The Consistency Rule Explained
What prop firm consistency rules require, the best-day percentage math worked in full, the industry debate in context, and how to pace your profits so the rule works in your favor.
Read the guide →Trading rules — what you can trade, and when
News windows, holding periods, position limits and conduct rules — know these and you trade with total freedom.
Prop Firm Copy Trading Rules
Copy trading your own funded accounts is how traders turn a working edge into real income. Here are the rules, the sizing math, and how to scale with confidence.
Read the guide →Prop Firm Max Contracts & Position Sizing
Prop firm max contracts explained: how limits scale by account size, micros vs minis, and the simple math that turns your drawdown room into a safe size.
Read the guide →Prop Firm News Trading Rules
Prop firm news trading rules are usually just a short blackout window. Learn the forms they take, the clock math, and how to pick a firm if news is your edge.
Read the guide →Prop Firm Overnight Holding Rules
Prop firm overnight holding rules decide whether you day trade or swing. Learn what flat-by-close really means, the gap math, and how to find your fit.
Read the guide →Prop Firm Prohibited Strategies
Prop firm prohibited strategies are a short, specific list — and your strategy is almost certainly not on it. Here's how to prove it and collect payouts without friction.
Read the guide →Money rules — costs, resets and getting paid
The full cost picture and how payouts really work, so you pick the best-value challenge and get paid smoothly.
Prop Firm Activation Fee & Data Fees
A prop firm activation fee is the one-time charge to switch on your funded account. Here's the full cost stack — and how to spot the genuine best value.
Read the guide →Prop Firm Payout Rules Compared
Prop firm payout rules decoded: minimum days, profit splits, buffers, and payout cycles — plus the worked math on what each combination really pays you.
Read the guide →Prop Firm Reset
A prop firm reset restarts your evaluation for a fraction of a new challenge. Here's the expected-value math for when to take it and come back stronger.
Read the guide →Prop Firm Scaling Plans
A prop firm scaling plan grows your buying power as your balance grows. See the worked tables showing how 2 contracts become 10 — and what that does to your income.
Read the guide →Know the rules? Time to get funded.
Compare drawdown styles, costs, splits and payout speed across firms — and pick the challenge that fits how you trade.