The trading team · Guide 09
Prop-firm mode: tune the Risk Manager to your evaluation
In one lineCopy your firm's current rules into a sheet, set your own buffers inside them, and let the Risk Manager turn the room left to your drawdown floor into a size band each morning: normal, half, minimum or none.
What you'll get
- The common evaluation rule types in plain English: drawdown types, daily loss, consistency, caps.
- How to read your firm's rules so the AI never has to guess them.
- The prop-mode prompt and the size bands ("the dial").
- A worked day check on an example 50K evaluation with an intraday trailing drawdown.
1First, the honest bit
Every firm writes its own rules, names them differently and changes them. The same firm often has different rules for different account types. Nothing in this guide describes any particular firm, and no firm is recommended here.
So the method is: you read your firm's current rules page, you copy the numbers into a sheet with the date, and the Risk Manager works only from that sheet. If a rule is unclear, ask the firm in writing and treat it as the strictest reading until they answer.
Evaluation rules are set by the firm and can change. This is a model of them, not an arrangement with them.
2The rule types you'll meet
Drawdown floor. The account fails if equity touches a floor. How the floor moves is the most important rule you'll read:
| Type | How the floor moves | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Static | Fixed distance below the starting balance. Never moves. | Simplest. Profit adds room. |
| End-of-day trailing | Recalculated from your end-of-day balance. Doesn't move during the day. | Open profit you give back intraday doesn't raise the floor. |
| Intraday trailing | Follows your highest equity, including open profit, in real time. | Open profit you give back still raised the floor. Room can shrink on a winning trade. |
Many firms stop trailing once the floor reaches a set level, often the starting balance. Check whether yours does, and at what level. Whatever the type, equity is usually checked against the floor in real time.
Daily loss limit. Some firms have one, some don't. Breaching it may fail the account or only stop you for the day. Find out which, and when the trading day resets.
Consistency rule. Some firms limit how much of your total profit can come from a single day, usually checked when you pass or request a withdrawal. The details vary a lot.
Contract caps and scaling. A maximum size, sometimes growing as the account grows.
Other restrictions. News trading windows, holding overnight or over the weekend, minimum trading days, and rules on automation, copy trading or particular tools. This team places orders automatically, so read those rules carefully.
3Your buffers: their rules, then yours inside
- Your daily stop sits well inside the firm's daily limit. You stop before they stop you.
- Size bands by room to the floor ("the dial"): as room shrinks, so does size.
- A daily cap for the consistency rule: a simple, conservative reading is to stop for the day once today's result reaches the consistency percentage of the profit target. It isn't the only reading. Check what your firm's rule actually measures.
The example bands below are a starting point. Set your own and write them in your sheet.
| Room left to the floor | Size band | Risk budget |
|---|---|---|
| More than 50% of max drawdown | Normal | Your normal 1R |
| 25–50% | Half | Half of 1R |
| Less than 25% | Minimum or none | Minimum size, one trade, or no trade |
4The prop-mode prompt
Fill in the prop firm rules sheet (Guide 16) first. Then paste this into chat D before the day check, or save it under your risk sheet in the team setup.
Prop mode prompt (chat D)
Role: Risk Manager. Mode: PROP DAY CHECK.
My firm's rules (copied by me from the firm's current rules page on {date}):
- Account size: {example: 50,000}
- Drawdown type: {end-of-day trailing / intraday trailing / static}
- Maximum drawdown: {example: 2,000}
- Does the floor stop trailing? {e.g. "stops at starting balance" / "no" / "unknown"}
- Daily loss limit: {example: 1,000, or "none"}
- Consistency rule: {e.g. "best day must be no more than X% of total profit" or "none"}
- Contract cap / scaling: {e.g. "max 5 minis or 50 micros" or a scaling table}
- Other restrictions: {news rules, overnight holding, automation rules, minimum days}
My own buffers (my rules, tighter than the firm's):
- My daily stop: {example: 60% of the firm's daily limit, or a fixed amount}
- Size bands by room left to the floor (example thresholds, set your own):
- More than 50% of max drawdown left: normal risk budget.
- 25–50% left: half risk budget.
- Less than 25% left: minimum size only, one trade, or no trade.
Account state now:
- Current balance: {..} Highest end-of-day balance so far: {..} Highest intraday equity (if intraday trailing): {..}
- Today's result so far: {..} Total profit in the evaluation so far: {..} Best single day so far: {..}
You may not:
- Use anything you believe about any firm's rules. Only the lines above count. If I named the firm, ignore the name.
- Read an unclear rule in my favour. A rule marked "unknown" gets the strictest reading, and you say which reading you used.
- Comment on how close I am to passing, or suggest sizing up to get there.
Reply in exactly this format:
PROP TEAM: OPEN or CLOSED
1. Floor now: the maths from my drawdown type, line by line.
2. Room to floor: money and % of max drawdown.
3. Room to daily limit today: the firm's and mine. Mine is the one that counts.
4. Size band today: normal / half / minimum / none, with the threshold that set it.
5. Consistency: if a rule exists, write "Stop for the day once today's result reaches {amount}" and show how you got the amount. If none, "no rule".
6. Contract cap today: the lower of the firm's and my sheet's.
7. Firm restrictions that apply today. List every rule marked "unknown" and the strict reading used.
Then continue with the normal DAY CHECK, using the lower of my risk budget and the size band.
Before you send: recompute lines 1 and 2 once, and confirm no line relies on a firm rule I did not paste.5Worked example: a prop day check
Illustrative. A 50K evaluation with example rules. Not any particular firm.
Sheet (example values): account 50,000 · intraday trailing · max drawdown 2,000 · floor stops trailing at 50,000 · daily loss limit 1,000, breach fails the account · consistency: best day no more than 50% of total profit at pass · profit target 3,000 · cap 5 minis or 50 micros. My buffers: daily stop 400 · bands as in the table above · normal 1R = 200 · my max 5 MNQ.
Account state: balance 50,200 · highest intraday equity so far 51,300 · today 0 · total profit so far 200 · best day so far 900.
Prop mode reply:
PROP TEAM: OPEN
1. Floor now: intraday trailing → highest equity 51,300 − 2,000 = 49,300. Not yet at 50,000, still trailing.
2. Room to floor: 50,200 − 49,300 = 900 = 45% of max drawdown.
3. Room to daily limit: firm 1,000 · mine 400. Mine counts: 400.
4. Size band: HALF (25–50% room). Risk budget 100 = 0.5R of my normal.
5. Consistency: 50% of the 3,000 target = 1,500. Stop for the day once today's result reaches 1,500.
6. Contract cap: firm 50 micros, my sheet 5 MNQ → 5 MNQ.
7. Restrictions today: none pasted for news. Overnight holding: not allowed → flat before close.What changes for the Trader: with a 100 budget and a 20-point MNQ stop, size = 100 ÷ (20 × 2) = 2.5 → rounded down → 2 MNQ. Risk if stopped 80.
Notice what happened: the account is up on the starting balance, yet the room to the floor is under half, because the floor trailed the highest equity, including open profit that was given back. A trader who looks only at the balance would size normally. The team sized at half.
6Common mistakes
- Trusting memory or forum posts about your firm's rules. Read the current page. Write the date.
- Watching the balance instead of the room. With trailing drawdowns, room is the number that matters.
- Your daily stop equal to the firm's limit. One slipped stop and the account is gone.
- Sizing up to "catch up" near the end of an evaluation. The dial goes down as room shrinks, never up.
- Assuming a rule is the same across account types. Evaluation and funded accounts often differ.