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    How to pass a prop firm challenge

    Passing a prop firm challenge means reaching the profit target without the balance touching the maximum drawdown floor or losing more than the daily loss limit in one day. Where the program sets them, no single day may make more of the profit than the consistency cap allows, and the account must trade the minimum number of days.

    By PropTraderCheck editorial team. Published , updated .

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    A challenge ends in one of two ways: the account reaches the profit target with every rule intact, or it breaks a rule first. Four rules decide which: the maximum drawdown and how its floor moves, the daily loss limit, the consistency cap and the minimum number of trading days, plus a time limit on some programs. This page covers rule mechanics only. It gives no trading strategy and no pass rate; for what firms disclose about pass rates, see what pass rates tell you.

    The four rules that end most attempts

    Maximum drawdown and its mode

    The maximum drawdown sets a floor below the starting balance, and an account that falls to it fails. The mode decides whether the floor moves. A static floor stays at the starting balance minus the drawdown. An end-of-day trailing floor follows the highest closing balance. An intraday trailing floor follows the highest point the account reaches during a session, open profit included. Some floors stop rising at the starting balance; each firm states where in its own terms. Static vs trailing drawdown covers the modes in depth.

    Daily loss limit

    A daily loss limit caps what the account may lose in one trading day, inside the maximum drawdown. With a daily limit at half the drawdown, the floor is at least two days at the limit away from the start. Firms differ on whether a breach fails the account or only ends the day, and on whether open losses count. The firm's terms decide; our rules pages show the firm's wording where we hold it.

    Consistency cap

    A consistency cap limits the share of total profit that may come from the best trading day. With a 40 percent cap, the best day can be at most 40 percent of the profit when the account passes. One large day therefore raises the profit the account needs before it can pass. The consistency rule explainer covers how firms word and check it.

    Minimum days and time limits

    A minimum sets the fewest days with a trade before an evaluation can pass, so reaching the target early does not end the attempt. Some programs also set a time limit, the number of days within which the target has to be reached. Both are stored per program and per size, and they can differ between two programs of the same firm.

    How the rules interact

    Each rule is simple on its own; the combinations decide whether a plan fits a program. The three examples below are computed from programs in our database when the page is built. Each names the firm, the program, the account size and the date its row was last checked, and none of them uses a price.

    A trailing drawdown and a profit target

    With a trailing floor, the room below the balance never grows beyond the drawdown amount, however far the account has run. A target larger than the drawdown has to be made without ever handing back the full drawdown from a high.

    Worked example 1

    Apex Trader Funding EOD Trail, $50,000 account

    WatchRecent complaints, rule changes or payout delays we are tracking. Not an accusation. What our labels mean
    Profit target
    $3,000
    Maximum drawdown
    $2,000, end-of-day trailing
    Daily loss limit
    $1,000
    Minimum days
    1 day
    Time limit
    30 days
    1. The floor starts at $48,000, $2,000 below the $50,000 starting balance.
    2. If a day closes at $51,000, the floor moves up to $49,000 at the close. A losing day after that does not move it back down.
    3. The $3,000 target is reached at $53,000. On the way there, a fall of $2,000 from the best closing balance reaches the floor, so the target has to be made without ever giving back $2,000 from a high.
    4. The daily loss limit is $1,000: 2 days that each lose the full limit, from the start, reach the $48,000 floor.
    5. The row sets a time limit of 30 days for the attempt.

    Data checked · Source: apextraderfunding.com

    A consistency cap and a big first day

    A cap is easy to meet with even days and harder after one large day: the larger the best day, the more total profit the account needs before that day falls under the cap.

    Worked example 2

    Lucid Trading LucidFlex Eval, $50,000 account

    WatchRecent complaints, rule changes or payout delays we are tracking. Not an accusation. What our labels mean
    Profit target
    $3,000
    Consistency cap
    40 percent
    Maximum drawdown
    $2,000, end-of-day trailing
    Daily loss limit
    $1,200 (soft breach)
    1. 40 percent of the $3,000 target is $1,200. If the account finishes exactly on the target, no single day can count for more than $1,200 of the profit.
    2. A first day of $2,000 is more than that. For $2,000 to be no more than 40 percent of the total, total profit has to reach $5,000, $2,000 more than the target.
    3. That extra $2,000 is traded under the same $2,000 maximum drawdown and $1,200 daily loss limit.

    Data checked · Source: lucidtrading.com

    Minimum days and a fast target

    A static floor gives the account more room as profit builds, which makes a fast target look safe. A minimum number of trading days keeps the attempt open after the target is reached, and every rule still applies on those days.

    Worked example 3

    FTMO 2-Step, EUR 50,000 account

    Profit target
    EUR 5,000
    Maximum drawdown
    EUR 5,000, static
    Daily loss limit
    EUR 2,500
    Minimum days
    4 days
    1. The floor is EUR 45,000 from the first trade and stays there. When the balance reaches the target at EUR 55,000, the floor is still EUR 45,000, EUR 10,000 below it.
    2. If the target is reached on trading day 2, the attempt cannot pass yet: the row sets a minimum of 4 days, so 2 more trading days have to follow under the same EUR 45,000 floor and EUR 2,500 daily loss limit.
    • Whether the balance has to stay at or above the target on those days is not in our data. The target we hold is the one on this row; the next step of a two-step program has its own. See FTMO's rules.

    Data checked · Source: ftmo.com

    Checklist before you buy

    Read these on the firm's own terms before paying for an attempt. Our rules pages list them per program, with the date each value was checked.

    What this means for you

    Read the drawdown mode before the price. Two programs with the same drawdown amount can leave very different room once the account is in profit.

    Do the arithmetic on the program you plan to buy: the floor at the start, the floor after a good day, the most a single day may make under the cap, and the earliest day the account can pass.

    Treat a rule our data does not state as unknown, not absent. Where an example above says the row does not cover something, the firm's own terms are the answer.

    Data note

    The worked examples are computed from the PropTraderCheck database each time the site is built, and again when the page loads; each names the date its row was last checked [1]. They show rule arithmetic only and predict no result. Rules change, so check the firm's own terms before you buy.

    Data checked · Source: proptradercheck.com

    Each worked example is read from our database and names the date its row was last checked.

    Related data on this site

    Related research

    Sources

    1. [1] PropTraderCheck methodology, PropTraderCheck, 2026

    This article is general information, not personal financial advice. Prop firm rules and prices change; check the firm's own terms before you buy. Found an error? Tell us and we will correct it.