TradeBB Topstep rules in 2026, and how to check your trades against them
Topstep's rules come in two sets: the Trading Combine, which you pass to get funded, and the Express Funded Account, which decides when you can take a payout. In both, the rule that ends accounts is the Maximum Loss Limit.
Everything below is taken from Topstep's own help center and website, checked on October 22, 2026. Topstep changed several rules this year, and some pages around the web, including a few of Topstep's own older ones, still show earlier versions. If something here differs from Topstep's current help center, the help center wins.
For each rule, you'll also see what to look for in your own trading history, so you can tell whether it's a rule you'd pass or break.
Trading Combine rules
| $50K | $100K | $150K | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit target | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| Maximum Loss Limit | $2,000 | $3,000 | $4,500 |
| Daily Loss Limit (optional) | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Maximum position size | 5 minis or 50 micros | 10 minis or 100 micros | 15 minis or 150 micros |
| Best day's share of profit | Up to 55% | Up to 55% | Up to 55% |
The trading day runs from 5:00 PM to 3:10 PM Central Time, and positions must be closed by 3:10 PM CT or the market's close, whichever is earlier. Topstep doesn't set a minimum number of days; with the 55% rule, the fastest possible pass takes two.
Maximum Loss Limit
On a $50K account, the limit starts $2,000 below your starting balance and moves up as your end-of-day balance makes new highs. It never moves down, and it stops moving once it reaches your starting balance.
It moves at the close, but it's watched in real time, including open trades. Topstep's own example: with the limit at $48,000, a trade that's temporarily down far enough to put the account at $47,750 is a breach, even if it's closed at $48,050. Touch the limit and the account is done for that Combine. How a trailing limit like this behaves over several days is walked through in trailing drawdown, explained.
Consistency target
Your best single day can be at most 55% of your total profit. If it's more, the effective target goes up to best day ÷ 0.55, and the rest has to come on other days. Making more on your best day raises the target further. Losing days don't lower your best day.
Say your best day on a $50K Combine is $2,000. $2,000 ÷ 0.55 = $3,636.36, so you'd need about $3,637 in total profit instead of $3,000. More on how this rule works across firms in the consistency rule.
Daily Loss Limit
On the Combine, the Daily Loss Limit is optional: you choose it at checkout, and the choice is fixed. If you have one and hit it, your positions are closed and you can trade again from the next session at 5:00 PM CT. Hitting it isn't a rule violation.
Express Funded Account rules
The Express Funded Account (XFA) starts at a $0 balance. Its size, $50K, $100K or $150K, sets your buying power, not your starting money.
Maximum Loss Limit. It starts at −$2,000, −$3,000 or −$4,500 and trails your closing balance up, stopping at $0. After your first payout, it's set to $0 wherever it was, so from then on your remaining balance is your entire cushion. The more you withdraw, the thinner it gets.
Daily Loss Limit. Optional, as on the Combine.
Scaling Plan. The number of contracts you can hold is set by your current balance, starting at the lowest tier. A higher tier applies from the next session, not during the day. The tiers themselves are listed on Topstep's Scaling Plan page; check them there, as they change.
Payouts
When you activate an XFA, you choose one of two payout paths, and you can't switch later:
| Standard | Consistency | |
|---|---|---|
| To qualify | 5 trading days with at least $150 net profit each (not necessarily in a row) | At least 3 trading days, with your best day at most 40% of your net profit |
| Maximum per payout ($50K / $100K / $150K) | $2,000 / $3,000 / $5,000 | $3,000 / $4,000 / $6,000 |
On both paths, each payout can be up to 50% of your balance, the minimum is $125, and the profit split is 90/10. The consistency count starts again after each payout. Full details, including a limited-time increase for some accounts, are in Topstep's Payout Policy.
News and prohibited trading
Topstep prohibits deliberately trading into a scheduled major news release at full maximum size, and it briefly restricts trading around top-tier economic releases. Its list of prohibited strategies also covers things like stacking accounts and exploiting simulated fills. Penalties range from a warning to closing the account or withholding a payout. Topstep's Prohibited Trading Strategies and Economic Releases articles have the current list and timings.
What changed in 2026
If the rules you remember don't match the tables above, this is probably why:
- Combine consistency is 55%. Many pages still say 50%. Topstep's help center lists 55% (updated September 2026).
- The Daily Loss Limit is optional on the Combine and XFA. Older pages describe it as applying on some platforms. Today you choose it at checkout.
- A second payout path. The Consistency path for XFA payouts sits alongside the Standard path, introduced in February 2026.
- The loss limit after your first payout. On an XFA, it now goes to $0 after your first payout.
- Payout caps depend on account size. Some older pages show one flat cap for every account.
Rules have changed several times this year, which is also why it pays to check them against your own trading rather than a summary, including this one.
How to check your own trades against each rule
Before you buy a Combine, or before you request a payout, look at your own history the way Topstep will. Keep each Combine and each XFA as its own account in your journal, so one account's results don't blur into another's.
| Rule | What to look at in your trades |
|---|---|
| Consistency (55% Combine, 40% XFA path) | Your best day ÷ your total profit for the period |
| Standard payout | How many days you made $150 or more, net |
| Daily Loss Limit | Your worst days, against the limit you'd choose |
| Maximum Loss Limit | How far your account has fallen from its high, against $2,000, $3,000 or $4,500 |
| Position size | The largest quantity you trade |
| 3:10 PM CT close | Your exit times on the trades you held late |
What this can't tell you: TradeBB works from your closed trades, so it sees your balance after each trade, not how far an open trade went against you. Topstep's Maximum Loss Limit counts open losses. If your history shows you came within a few hundred dollars of the limit, assume the real low was deeper.
Check your trades against Topstep's rules — Start Your Prop Journal →
Frequently asked questions
No. With the 55% consistency target, your best day can't be more than 55% of your profit, so it takes at least two days.
No. With the 55% consistency target, your best day can't be more than 55% of your profit, so it takes at least two days.
On the Combine and Express Funded Account it's optional, chosen at checkout: $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 by account size. Hitting it closes your positions for the day but isn't a violation. On a Live Funded Account, a daily loss limit always applies.
On the Combine and Express Funded Account it's optional, chosen at checkout: $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 by account size. Hitting it closes your positions for the day but isn't a violation. On a Live Funded Account, a daily loss limit always applies.
Yes: on the Combine, your best day can be at most 55% of your total profit. On an Express Funded Account, it applies only if you chose the Consistency payout path, at 40%.
Yes: on the Combine, your best day can be at most 55% of your total profit. On an Express Funded Account, it applies only if you chose the Consistency payout path, at 40%.
It moves up with your end-of-day balance and stops at your starting balance on the Combine, or at $0 on an Express Funded Account. It's checked in real time, open trades included.
It moves up with your end-of-day balance and stops at your starting balance on the Combine, or at $0 on an Express Funded Account. It's checked in real time, open trades included.
No. TradeBB is a trading journal and isn't affiliated with Topstep. The rules here come from Topstep's own pages, with links below, as of the date shown.
No. TradeBB is a trading journal and isn't affiliated with Topstep. The rules here come from Topstep's own pages, with links below, as of the date shown.
Know which Topstep rule you'd break, before it breaks the account.
Bring in your trades, keep each Combine and XFA separate, and check your best day, your worst day and your deepest drawdown against the rules.