Topstep rules: the Trading Combine, in dollars

Topstep's Trading Combine is a one-step futures evaluation in three sizes. On the 50K you need $3,000 of profit without letting your balance touch the Maximum Loss Limit, $2,000 below your best end-of-day balance. The MLL only moves at the close, but it is enforced in real time, open losses included, and it stops trailing once it reaches your starting balance. You must be flat by 3:10 PM CT every day.

Here are the numbers for every size, a worked example, and the rules that end the most Combines.

Combine numbers by size

Prices are promotional and rebill monthly until you pass or cancel. A No Activation Fee path costs more per month. Check the current price on Topstep's site.

How the Maximum Loss Limit moves

The Daily Loss Limit is a pause, not a fail

Hitting the DLL flattens your positions and stops trading until the next session at 5:00 PM CT. It is not a rule violation. Topstep's help centre describes the DLL as optional in the Combine and Express Funded Account and automatic in the Live Funded Account, while another Topstep article says it is automatic on new Combines. Check your own account settings.

Consistency, news and automation

• Consistency: Topstep's Combine parameters describe a consistency target at 55%. A best day above it does not fail you, it raises how much you must make. Read the exact figure in your Combine dashboard before planning around it.
• News: allowed, but trading your full maximum position size directly into a scheduled major release is prohibited.
• Overnight: not allowed. Be flat by 3:10 PM CT; the risk system starts flattening at about 3:08 PM CT.
• Automation and copiers: automated strategies are allowed with conditions. Trade copiers are allowed across your own accounts. Cross-account hedging is banned.

After you pass: the Express Funded Account

The XFA starts at a $0 balance with the MLL at minus $2,000, $3,000 or $4,500, and the MLL is set to $0 after your first payout. On the Standard path you need 5 winning days of $150 or more, then you can request up to 50% of the balance, capped at $2,000, $3,000 or $5,000. The Consistency path needs 3 trading days with your largest day at 40% or less of net profit. Split is 90/10, minimum payout $125. Up to 5 XFAs at once.

What ends Topstep Combines

A session plan for a 50K Combine

Pick a dollar risk per trade that gives you room for a normal losing day. On the 50K, $200 per trade gives five losses before the $1,000 Daily Loss Limit and ten before the $2,000 MLL on a fresh account. On MES that is a 10-point stop at 4 contracts; on MNQ, a 50-point stop at 2 contracts.

Set a personal daily stop at $600, three losses, so the DLL is never what ends your day. At a 2R average winner of $400, the $3,000 target is about eight net winners, which most traders spread over a week or two.

The biggest single improvement for most Combine traders is a hard exit time. Be flat by 3:00 PM CT, ten minutes before the rule, so you choose your exit price, not the risk system.

Track a Topstep Combine in the RB journal

The journal includes Topstep presets for the 50K, 100K and 150K Combine.

1. Add a prop account in Risk Manager and choose Topstep, Trading Combine at your size.
2. Futures platforms do not run the RBSync EA, so import your fills from a CSV export of your platform (the journal reads NinjaTrader and Tradovate exports, and the generic CSV mapper handles others).
3. Log each session's closing balance so the trailing MLL steps up with you. The journal trails on live equity, which is stricter than Topstep's end-of-day step.
4. Before the open, read Daily room left and Room Left. Size each trade to under a quarter of the smaller one.
5. Mark a Combine breached or passed with the reason, so your Topstep spend and payouts stay in one record.

See our Topstep trading journal page for setup.