Topstep 50K Trading Combine rules, explained — targets, loss limits, and the MLL mechanic that catches people
The Topstep 50K Trading Combine is one of the most popular futures evaluations in the industry, and on paper its rules look simple: make $3,000 without losing $2,000. In practice, the rule that decides most outcomes isn't the profit target — it's how the Maximum Loss Limit moves. Here's every rule, and the mechanic behind the one that catches people.
The rules at a glance
| Starting balance | $50,000 |
| Profit target | $3,000 |
| Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) | $2,000 — trails your end-of-day balance, locks once it reaches $50,000 |
| Daily Loss Limit (DLL) | $1,000 — an opt-in benefit, not a mandatory breach rule |
| Minimum trading days | 5 |
| Max position size | 5 full contracts / 50 micros |
| Consistency rule | None in the Combine |
| Cost | $49/mo · reset $99 |
The MLL: trailing, end-of-day, and it locks
Topstep's Maximum Loss Limit starts $2,000 below your $50,000 starting balance — at $48,000. From there it trails your end-of-day balance: finish a day at $51,000 and the MLL rises to $49,000. Crucially, it only moves at the end of the session, not tick-by-tick during the day — an intraday high that you give back before the close does not drag the floor up with it.
The part traders love: once the MLL climbs back to $50,000 — your starting balance — it locks there permanently. Bank roughly $2,000 of closed EOD profit and you can no longer breach the account below break-even. That "lock at start" moment is effectively a second milestone before the profit target, and trading toward it deliberately is a legitimate strategy.
The MLL trails your end-of-day balance, not your worst day. A trader who closes Monday at $52,000 now has a floor of $50,000 (locked). But a trader who touches $52,000 intraday Monday and closes at $50,500 has a floor at $48,500 — the intraday peak never counted. If you're mentally tracking your buffer from your intraday high-water mark, you think you have less room than you do; if you're tracking it from your starting balance after a few green days, you think you have more room than you do. Both errors change behavior at exactly the wrong moment.
The DLL is a benefit, not a breach
The $1,000 Daily Loss Limit on the Combine is an opt-in protection: hitting it stops your trading day rather than failing your evaluation outright. That distinction matters behaviorally. A hard daily-loss breach rule punishes one bad day with account death; Topstep's version turns the same bad day into a forced cooling-off period. Used properly, it's free tilt insurance — the account survives to trade tomorrow.
No consistency rule — but don't let that fool you
Unlike many competitors' evaluations, the Trading Combine has no consistency percentage: one monster day can carry the entire $3,000 target. But note that consistency requirements reappear on the funded side — Topstep's payout policy is built around five winning days of $150+ per cycle (covered in our payout rules comparison). Passing the Combine with one lucky outlier day and no repeatable process just delays the reckoning to the account that actually pays.
The 5-day minimum and what it's really for
Five minimum trading days means the fastest possible pass is a week of sessions. The rule exists to prevent pure-variance passes, and it quietly encodes the firm's actual selection criterion: they're not looking for traders who can win once, they're looking for traders whose daily process survives repetition. That's the same thing your own data will tell you, if you audit it.
Know your real odds before the reset fee does
FuturesEdge tracks your evaluation against the actual Topstep breach math — EOD trailing, lock-at-start, daily limits — and runs a Monte Carlo simulation of your pass and payout probability from your real trading behavior. Free for 2 firms, no card required.
Start FreeRule data verified against Topstep's published documentation (Topstep Help — Maximum Loss Limit), last verified June 2026, maintained in FuturesEdge's source-linked firm-rules database. Prop firm rules change frequently — always confirm current rules in the firm's official docs. Educational content, not financial advice. Topstep is a trademark of its respective owner; FuturesEdge is not affiliated with Topstep.