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Next: size each trade inside the limit
Work out how much a single trade may lose so that a run of losses cannot reach a floor you have written down.
What is included
- What it is, in plain words
- The formula or mechanism, with exact arithmetic
- How it hits grid, martingale and DCA bots
- A check you can run before you switch a bot on
Who it is for
- People who run or plan to run a trading bot
- Anyone reading a backtest or a bot sales page
- Readers who want the numbers, not the pitch
- Not advice, and not a signal service
Key facts
- A firm of this kind publishes a trailing or static loss limit, a profit target, a consistency rule, limits on position size and rules about automation. This page states none of them for any real firm.
- How a trailing floor is measured matters. On a made-up $50,000 account with a $2,000 trail, the floor is $48,900 if it follows intraday highs and $48,600 if it follows closes (calculated by us on 31 Oct 2026, exact).
- A dip to $48,800 crosses the first floor and not the second. The trades are the same. Only the rule changed.
- A consistency rule compares your best day with your total. In a made-up four-day run the best day is 58.1 percent of the profit.
- The firm's terms change. Read the current ones and keep a dated copy.
Why a name search leads here, and what we do instead
People who search for a firm's name want its rules in plain words. We have not saved a dated copy of any firm's rules, so we do not state them. What we can do is teach you to read a rule sheet of this kind, and to turn each line into a number that a bot's test can be held against. The same method works for any firm.
The rule types to look for
- A loss limit that trails. The floor rises as the account's high point rises. Find out whether the high point is taken from the intraday balance or from the end-of-day balance, whether open trades count, and whether the floor stops rising at some level. See trailing drawdown.
- A daily loss limit, if there is one. Covered in daily drawdown rules.
- A profit target. A gain to reach before a stage is passed. Check for a time limit.
- A consistency rule. A cap on how much of the profit one day may supply. See consistency rule.
- Size limits. A cap on how many contracts or lots may be open at once, sometimes rising as the account grows. A bot that scales up can hit it.
- Automation and copying. Whether a bot may place trades, and whether trades may be copied. Read these exactly.
Worked example: the same dip, two floors
Take a made-up firm with a $2,000 trailing limit, and a made-up account of $50,000. The balance rises to $50,900 during a session and closes at $50,600. Later it dips to $48,800.
Follows intraday highs: 50900 - 2000 = 48900
Follows closes: 50600 - 2000 = 48600
| How the high point is counted | Floor | Dip to $48,800 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intraday highs | $48,900 | -$100 vs floor | Limit crossed |
| End-of-day closes | $48,600 | +$200 vs floor | Inside the limit |
The dip to $48,800 is $100 below the intraday floor and $200 above the close-based floor. A bot cannot tell the difference. It has no idea the rule moved when the account touched $50,900 for a moment. This is why the exact wording matters more than the headline limit.
Worked example: the consistency cap
A made-up account makes $200, $300, $150, $900 over four days. Total profit is $1,550. The best day, $900, is $900 / $1,550 = 58.1 percent of it. Suppose a made-up rule of this kind says no day may be more than 40 percent of the total. The run fails it. To pass, the total would have to be at least $900 / 0.4 = $2,250, which is $700 more, earned on other days without making the best day any bigger.
How a bot meets these rules
- A trailing floor and a bot that holds open trades. A large open profit lifts an intraday floor, and a pullback can then end the attempt without any loss at all being booked.
- Scaling up with profit. A bot that raises its size as the balance grows meets the size limit and loses cushion to the trail at the same time.
- Few, large winners. A low-frequency trend system fails a consistency cap even when the total is good.
- Averaging. A martingale or grid bot piles up open loss, and the trailing floor does not wait for it to recover.
How to check your own bot
Write the firm's trailing rule in one sentence: what is trailed, when it updates, whether open trades count. Replay your bot's backtest with that rule. A plain equity curve is not enough. You need the balance during each day, which most backtest reports hide. Check the worst peak-to-trough fall against the trail with the drawdown calculator, and test the odds of the target against the floor in the challenge simulator.
What this page does not tell you
It does not give any firm's rules, targets, fees or limits, and it does not say whether any firm allows automation. We are not affiliated with any firm and there are no affiliate links here. A bot that fits every rule on this page can still lose money.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Topstep rules?
This site does not state them. Rules differ by firm and change, and we have no dated copy. Read the firm's current terms and write each limit as a number.
Does this page recommend Topstep or any firm?
No. We are not affiliated with any firm, there are no affiliate links, and the numbers are for a made-up firm.
What is the difference between an intraday and an end-of-day trailing limit?
One raises the floor whenever the balance touches a new high during the session. The other raises it only from the closing balance. The same trades can cross one and not the other.
Can a bot cross a trailing limit without a losing trade?
It can, if an open profit lifts an intraday floor and the open trade then pulls back. Check whether open trades count in the rule.
Why does a consistency rule matter for bots?
A bot that makes most of its profit on one day can fail a cap on the best day even when the total is high.
Are the numbers on this page real?
Example numbers are made up to show how the maths works, and the page says so. A figure only counts as exact when the page says it was calculated on a stated date. Nothing you enter in a calculator leaves your browser.
Can I use this to decide whether to run a bot?
It can show whether a bot's numbers hold together and how much an account can lose. It cannot say what the market will do, and it is not advice. Use it to ask better questions, then read the terms of your own broker or exchange.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is general education. The numbers are made up and a real firm's rules may differ.
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