1. The Combine rules in 2026
The TopStep Trading Combine measures three things at once: hitting the profit target, never touching the daily loss limit, and keeping your best day proportionate to total profit. Fail any one and you don't pass — even if the balance prints green.
Official parameters by account size
| Account | Profit target | Trailing MLL | Daily loss | Max contracts (ES / MES) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50K | $3,000 | $2,000 | $1,000 | 5 / 50 |
| $100K | $6,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 | 10 / 100 |
| $150K | $9,000 | $4,500 | $3,000 | 15 / 150 |
What changed in 2026
- 90/10 profit split in the trader's favor on the Express Funded Account (XFA).
- Automatic XFA activation when the Combine closes — no review queue.
- Tighter enforcement of news-blackout windows (NFP, FOMC, CPI).
- The consistency rule is re-checked at the first XFA payout, not only inside the Combine.
These numbers change over time. Before you trade, verify the current rules in TopStep's official help center.
2. The trailing drawdown: the most expensive trap
TopStep's Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) is intraday trailing. It tracks your highest live equity — floating profit included — and never moves back. Every tick of unrealized profit raises the floor. Once your balance reaches starting + target, the trail freezes at the starting balance and the drawdown becomes fixed.
Example on a $50K account
- 1Start at $50,000. Trailing MLL = $48,000. Room: $2,000.
- 2Long 1 MES, price goes +30 points. Intraday equity touches $51,500. MLL trails to $49,500.
- 3Price reverses, you give back 25 points and exit at +5 ($25). But MLL is now $49,500.
- 4Your effective room is $525, not the $2,000 you started with.
When the trail freezes
| Account | Starting room | Room at 50% of target | Room at target |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50K | $2,000 | $500 | $0 (locked) |
| $100K | $3,000 | $0 (locked) | $0 (locked) |
| $150K | $4,500 | $0 (locked) | $0 (locked) |
Want to go deeper, read [Trailing drawdown explained] — we break the intraday math down with more worked examples.
3. The 50% consistency rule is not optional
Your best day cannot exceed 50% of the profit target. On a $50K that's $1,500. On a $100K, $3,000. On a $150K, $4,500. Going over doesn't disqualify you on the spot — it raises the total required profit until that day stays below 50%, which is usually higher than the original target.
Minimum days per account
| Account | Allowed best day | Theoretical minimum | Realistic minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50K | $1,500 | 2 days | 3–4 days |
| $100K | $3,000 | 2 days | 3–5 days |
| $150K | $4,500 | 2 days | 4–6 days |
The tactical takeaway: when the day's P&L hits 50% of the target, stop. Not 'one more, let's see'. Consistency is won by ending green days early, not enduring red ones.
4. Real sizing math — the numbers nobody publishes
Per-trade risk has to be sized against the locked-trail room, not the starting buffer. This is the table funded traders actually use to pass quickly:
| Account | Per-trade risk (R) | Stop ES/MES | Stop NQ/MNQ | Daily cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50K | $100–150 | 8 pts MES (1 contract) | 5 pts MNQ (2 contracts) | 2R (~$300) |
| $100K | $200–300 | 8 pts MES (2 contracts) | 5 pts MNQ (4 contracts) | 2R (~$600) |
| $150K | $300–450 | 8 pts MES (3 contracts) | 5 pts MNQ (6 contracts) | 2R (~$900) |
Why start in micros
The marginal cost of slippage on MES/MNQ is dwarfed by the survival benefit. A blown account from a bad day with 3 ES costs more in real dollars than the commission difference of an entire Combine traded in MES.
The hard rule: lose 2R in a day, you stop. No exceptions. This single rule prevents the majority of blown Combines.
5. Mistake #1: letting the red day run
The most common cause of a blown Combine isn't a bad strategy: it's a red day left to run. You start down, try to recover, size up, and a day that should have cost 2% ends up costing 8%. Revenge trading is statistically the most expensive habit in retail futures.
Building a real circuit breaker
- Hard cap at 0.7X–0.8X of the official limit — you lose a small day to avoid losing the account.
- Platform lockout when you hit it: if it depends on willpower, it fails.
- Predefine the number of consecutive losers before closing (3 is a good threshold).
- After the close, journal what happened. That log prevents the next repeat.
If you know that at the worst moment of the day you won't respect your limit, don't trust willpower: let the risk engine flatten and lock you out.
6. The 10-day plan to pass the Combine
Days 1–3 · Calibration
- 1 contract MES or 2 MNQ, no exceptions.
- One trade per session. Exit at +1R or stop.
- Goal: end the week with screen discipline, not profit.
Days 4–6 · Build the cushion
- Move to 2 contracts after two consecutive green days.
- Target +$300 to +$500 per day.
- Stop at +$500 — that protects the 50% cap on a $50K.
Days 7–9 · Locked-trail zone
- The trail has locked or is near it. Most dangerous phase of the Combine.
- Drop back to 1 contract.
- A+ setups only. If none appear, you don't trade.
Day 10 · Close it out
- Final $300–$500 push to clear the target while respecting the 50% rule.
- When the target prints, flatten and stop. The Combine is over.
The published 15–25 day average exists because most traders trade every day instead of only days with an A+ setup.
7. What to automate (and what not to)
Inside the Combine, automation isn't for signal generation — your edge is discretionary. It's for turning the non-negotiable rules into infrastructure. This is what [TraderPilot for Topstep] sits on top of your platform to enforce:
| Guardrail | What it does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Daily kill switch | Flatten + lock at –2R | Eliminates revenge trades |
| Daily profit cap | Lock at 50% of target | Protects the consistency rule |
| Contract size ceiling | Blocks orders above N | Prevents post-tilt size-ups |
| News blackout | Blocks entries ±2 min of NFP/FOMC/CPI | Prevents TopStep auto-DQ |
| Live room alert | Warns when buffer drops below X | Surfaces the locked trail |
What NOT to automate
- Entries. Your edge in futures is discretionary 99% of the time.
- Real-time stop tightening. Manual exits beat automated trailing in most intraday futures contexts.
- Dynamic sizing. Size is decided cold, pre-session — not by an algorithm.
If you trade NinjaTrader 8, [TraderPilot Pro for NinjaTrader] applies the same guardrails without touching NinjaScript. Configuration lives in the UI.
8. After the Combine: surviving the XFA
The Express Funded Account opens automatically. The trailing drawdown still applies until you clear a defined buffer above the starting balance — then it freezes. This is where newly funded traders blow up: the dopamine of 'I passed' plus a relaxed consistency rule are the perfect setup for an oversized trade.
Reasonable survival rule: trade the first 10 days of the XFA exactly like the last 5 days of your Combine. Same size, same setups, same daily cap. Then scale.
With 90/10 splits, a $1,500 day pays out $1,350. No reason to swing for $5K days — a steady $500–$1,000 daily pace compounds to six figures annualized.