Topstep's daily loss limit at a glance
Optional and fixed on the Trading Combine and the Express Funded Account (XFA), automatic on the Live Funded Account (LFA). The Maximum Loss Limit is the other line, the one that ends an account.
| Account size | Combine and XFA (optional) | Live Funded Account (starting) | Maximum Loss Limit, for comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50K | $1,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| 100K | $2,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| 150K | $3,000 | $4,500 | $4,500 |
Sources, checked 2026-10-22: Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, Live Funded Account Parameters, What is the Maximum Loss Limit?.
What happens if you hit the Topstep daily loss limit?
Your trading day ends; your account doesn't. Topstep's trigger: "Net P&L hits or exceeds the DLL during the trading day (5 PM CT – 3:10 PM CT)." Then:
- "Open positions are flattened"
- "Pending orders are canceled"
- "No new trades until 5 PM CT next session"
Commissions count too: Topstep's pricing page says commissions and fees "show up in your Net P&L," the figure the limit is measured on.
"Triggering it is not a rule violation — it's a forced break for the rest of that session," and the "Account stays eligible for funding." Topstep's own example: a $150K Combine with a $3,000 limit whose net P&L hits −$3,000 is liquidated and back at 5 PM CT the next day.
Open trades count. Topstep monitors its risk limits "in real-time using Net P&L — both realized and unrealized," and that applies to the Daily Loss Limit as to the Maximum Loss Limit. A trade that dips to the limit and fills back above it has still triggered it: "Final balance above the limit doesn't matter. The breach happened first."
No payout that day. The payout policy: "Hitting the Daily Loss Limit puts your account in a Temporary Violation. It lifts at the start of the next trading session." Then you can request a payout again if you meet the rest of the policy.
5 PM CT is 6 PM ET; 3:10 PM CT is 4:10 PM ET. Topstep starts flattening open positions at 3:08 PM CT anyway, since "All positions must be closed by 3:10 PM CT every weekday."
Sources, checked 2026-10-22: Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, What is the Maximum Loss Limit?, Topstep Payout Policy, Topstep Pricing and Payment Questions, When and What Products Can I Trade?.
Is the daily loss limit mandatory on Topstep?
Not on a standard Combine or XFA. "The Daily Loss Limit (DLL) is optional in the Trading Combine® and Express Funded Account® (XFA). It's automatic in the Live Funded Account® (LFA)." It is also automatic in a few other places:
| Account or situation | Daily Loss Limit |
|---|---|
| Standard Trading Combine or XFA | optional, $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000 |
| Any new Combine or XFA while you're in the Responsible Trading Program | automatic, the same amounts |
| Topstep Labs $25K Static Trading Combine, its XFA and Live account | mandatory $500 |
| Topstep Labs $50K Static Drawdown Trading Combine, its XFA and Live account | mandatory $1,000 |
| Topstep Labs $250K Freedom Trading Combine | mandatory $5,000 |
| Topstep Labs Challenges ($1.5K, $3K, $6K and their variants) | none |
| Live Funded Account | automatic, from $2,000 / $3,000 / $4,500 |
The Responsible Trading Program is where Topstep places traders whose behavior it doesn't consider sustainable, for example when "Multiple accounts hit the Maximum Loss Limit in one day" or "You disrespect your daily limits."
Sources, checked 2026-10-22: Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, What is the Responsible Trading Program?, Topstep Labs, Live Funded Account Parameters.
Can you change the Topstep daily loss limit once it's set?
Not the one you add at checkout. "Daily Loss Limit at checkout is fixed (no changes later)," it "Applies to your Express Funded Account after you pass," and Back2Funded adds that "The DLL stays with the account for its full lifetime — Trading Combine® → Express Funded Account® → Reactivation." You can add it when you buy a Combine, or when you activate or reactivate an XFA.
What you can change is a limit you set yourself, the Personal Daily Loss Limit.
Daily Loss Limit or Personal Daily Loss Limit?
Two different things with similar names. The DLL is Topstep's, added at checkout. The Personal Daily Loss Limit (PDLL) is a TopstepX risk setting you add "in Risk Settings any time."
| Daily Loss Limit (DLL) | Personal Daily Loss Limit (PDLL) | Trailing PDLL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set where | at checkout or XFA activation | TopstepX Risk Settings | TopstepX Risk Settings |
| Amount | $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000 | yours | yours, under your highest balance |
| When it hits | flattened until 5 PM CT | Do Nothing, Liquidate, or Liquidate and Block | liquidates; then resets to "Do Nothing" |
| Can you change it | no | yes, unless locked or set to Liquidate and Block | yes, re-enable it after a liquidation |
| Counts for the payout-cap offer and discounts | yes, if added at purchase | no | no |
- The trailing version. It "rises as your balance grows": Topstep's example starts at $50,000 with a $500 limit, liquidation at $49,500, then a $51,200 balance moves it to $50,700. You pick "Unrealized Gains — adjusts in real time with open trades" or "Realized Gains — adjusts only after closing a profitable trade."
- A trap when you edit it. "If the loss amount is adjusted in your risk settings, the current amount that has been lost for the day will be reset to $0." Raise a PDLL mid-session and its count of the day's losses starts again from $0.
- After a Liquidate. "You must increase your PDLL by the liquidated amount OR switch to 'Do Nothing' before trading again." Topstep's example: a $200 limit liquidated at $209 needs at least $210 to resume.
- Locking it. TopstepX's Daily Risk Lock covers "PDLL, PDPT, and Trade Limits," "Unlocks at 5 PM CT," and "Support cannot reverse a lock once applied."
Sources, checked 2026-10-22: Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, TopstepX, Back2Funded.
Which comes first: the daily loss limit or the Maximum Loss Limit?
Whichever is closer to your balance. The daily limit sits a fixed $1,000 (on 50K) under each session's starting balance. The Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) trails $2,000 under your highest end-of-day balance and locks at your starting balance. On a fresh account the daily limit is $1,000 closer. After red days, it isn't.
Four invented days on a 50K Trading Combine with the limit added
| Day | P&L | Close | Maximum Loss Limit after the close | Daily loss line next session | Room to the Maximum Loss Limit | Next session, the first line you reach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | −$700 | $49,300 | $48,000 | $48,300 | $1,300 | the daily loss limit |
| 2 | −$1,000, limit hit | $48,300 | $48,000 | $47,300 | $300 | the Maximum Loss Limit |
| 3 | +$900 | $49,200 | $48,000 | $48,200 | $1,200 | the daily loss limit |
| 4 | +$1,200 | $50,400 | $48,400 | $49,400 | $2,000 | the daily loss limit |
Day 2's loss reaches $1,000, and Topstep flattens the account for the day: not a violation, and the Combine survives. But going into day 3 the account is only $300 above its Maximum Loss Limit, and the daily limit's line, $47,300, is under it. A $300 loss on day 3 would have ended the Combine, and the daily limit couldn't have stopped it.
Once a fresh 50K Combine is $1,000 down, its $1,000 daily limit sits on or under the Maximum Loss Limit, and it can no longer save the account.Day 3 went the other way, and day 4's $50,400 close is a new high, so the MLL trails up to $48,400. How the MLL trails and locks, with a check that runs your own days, is in Topstep trailing drawdown. What a day's open losses leave of the $1,000 is what the daily-loss allowance calculator works out: a $50,000 baseline and 2% give Topstep's $1,000, though the calculator doesn't add back a green day's profit.
Sources, checked 2026-10-22: What is the Maximum Loss Limit?, Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, Trading Combine® Parameters.
The payout caps and discounts Topstep ties to the limit
Two incentives, both only for a limit added at purchase.
Doubled payout caps, for a limited time. Since 3:30 PM CT on June 2, "Traders who voluntarily add a Daily Loss Limit to their account unlock double per-request payout caps." It must be added when you buy the Combine: "Adding it at the XFA stage doesn't unlock the higher cap." Both XFA paths qualify.
| XFA | Standard path, cap | with the limit | Consistency path, cap | with the limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50K | $2,000 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 |
| 100K | $3,000 | $6,000 | $4,000 | $8,000 |
| 150K | $5,000 | $10,000 | $6,000 | $12,000 |
Each payout is still at most 50% of the account balance. Topstep hasn't said when the offer ends: "Keep an eye on our social channels." Our free Topstep payout calculator applies the doubled caps when you mark the limit as added at Combine checkout; every other payout rule is in Topstep payout rules.
The Responsible Trading Discount. With the limit added at purchase, a No Activation Fee Combine costs $10, $20 or $30 less on 50K, 100K or 150K, and a Back2Funded reactivation $50 less. The pricing page says the discount "recurs monthly." What it does to the No Activation Fee path's total, against the Standard path's $149, is in Topstep activation fee.
Sources, checked 2026-10-22: Topstep Payout Policy, Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, Topstep Pricing and Payment Questions, Back2Funded.
The Live Funded Account's daily loss limit
Always on, and it moves. A Live account starts at $2,000, $3,000 or $4,500 by size. Below certain balances it drops, whatever the size:
| Tradable balance | Daily Loss Limit | Max position size |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 or below | $2,000 | 5 |
| $5,000 or below | $1,000 | 3 |
"These limits update on Fridays and return to standard levels once your balance rises back above the thresholds." Going up, Topstep's Dynamic Live Risk Expansion adds $500 to the starting limit at $15,000, $20,000 and $50,000 of Live profit, each after 10 active trading days in the tier, and larger limits from $100,000 on. The rest of Live, from the 20% you trade at first to the reserve, is in Topstep XFA rules.
Sources, checked 2026-10-22: Live Funded Account Parameters, Dynamic Live Risk Expansion.
Where Topstep's pages disagree
- A violation or not? The Daily Loss Limit article: "Triggering it is not a rule violation." The payout policy: it "puts your account in a Temporary Violation." The Maximum Loss Limit article says touching any risk limit is "a violation." None of them disagrees on what happens: flattened for the day, and payouts back at the next session.
- Which purchases get the discount? The Daily Loss Limit article lists "No Activation Fee Trading Combines and Back2Funded Reactivations." The pricing page adds "Express Funded Account Activations," and its table, like the article's, prices only the first two.
- A day, or day one? The Daily Loss Limit article: "Over 63% of traders have lost account in a single day." The payout policy: "63% of Traders lost their Combine on day 1." The two aren't the same claim.
- Can a Personal Daily Loss Limit be removed? The Daily Loss Limit article: "Manual PDLLs can be adjusted or removed." Its FAQ, answering whether Topstep can remove a DLL or PDLL for you: "Once set, it can't be removed mid-session." Its own note reconciles them: you can, "unless risk settings are locked," and one set to "Liquidate and Block" can't be removed.
- The $250K Freedom account's Live limit. The Topstep Labs page's Live table for it says "Mandatory $5,000." The same page says that once moved to Live it "will follow our standard Live Funded Account Parameters and be treated as a $150K," whose limit starts at $4,500.
Not published
- When the doubled payout cap offer ends.
- The Responsible Trading Discount for an XFA activation, if the pricing page's mention means one exists.
- Whether the $250K Freedom XFA has a Daily Loss Limit: its Combine and Live tables say "Mandatory $5,000," its XFA table has no such row, and the FAQ calls the limit "automatic."
Where we sit
We don't run a prop firm, we're not affiliated with Topstep, and we earn nothing if you buy from Topstep. We sell the Prop Firm Challenge Toolkit, a TradingView indicator that turns rule numbers you enter into dollar buffers on your chart. Its "Daily limit is soft (session lock, not fail)" setting was written for a limit like Topstep's. Its Topstep Combine preset has no daily limit, resets at 5 PM New York time, an hour before Topstep's 5 PM CT, and dates from May, so use Custom. For a 50K Combine with the limit:
| Toolkit setting (Custom) | 50K Topstep Combine | From |
|---|---|---|
| Daily loss % | 2 | $1,000 of $50,000 |
| Daily anchor | Day-start balance | the balance you type, as the day's start |
| Daily limit is soft | On | flattened until 5 PM CT, not failed |
| Max loss % | 4 | $2,000 of $50,000 |
| Drawdown mode | Trailing EOD | end-of-day balances |
| Trailing DD locks AT initial balance | On | the limit locks at your starting balance |
| Reset timezone, hour | America/Chicago, 17 | 5 PM CT |
Where it differs from Topstep, plainly. It takes the daily limit as a percentage of the day's starting balance, so on a $51,000 morning 2% is $1,020, not Topstep's fixed $1,000; on 100K and 150K the same 2% gives $2,000 and $3,000 at the starting balance. It can't see losses you've already closed today: keep Current balance at the session's starting balance and put the day's running P&L, closed and open, in Open floating P/L. The Maximum Loss Limit is 3% on 100K and 150K. It doesn't read Topstep's dashboard: you type the balance in, and the high it trails is the balance you type, so after a pullback from a higher close its Maximum Loss Limit sits under Topstep's. An XFA starts at $0, which the Toolkit can't take, so enter the account size and add it to the balance Topstep shows. It knows nothing of a Personal Daily Loss Limit.
Sources and their last edits
Each page was read on 2026-10-22. Dates are the help center's own last-edit stamps (UTC).
- Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, 2026-06-30; TopstepX, 2026-10-22.
- What is the Maximum Loss Limit?, 2026-09-18; Trading Combine® Parameters, 2026-09-24; When and What Products Can I Trade?, 2026-07-13.
- Topstep Payout Policy, 2026-10-13; Topstep Pricing and Payment Questions, 2026-10-15; Back2Funded, 2026-09-29.
- What is the Responsible Trading Program?, 2026-10-15; Topstep Labs, 2026-10-20.
- Live Funded Account Parameters, 2026-10-20; Dynamic Live Risk Expansion, 2026-09-24.
Disclosure
The four days above are invented and use Topstep's published rules. They aren't a forecast, and they don't say whether a Topstep account is worth buying. Your Topstep dashboard shows your real limits, not this page. If a number here no longer matches Topstep's pages, email support@pulltrade.app and we'll correct it in public.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Topstep daily loss limit?
A cap on how much you can lose in one trading day, 5 PM to 3:10 PM CT. It's optional on the Trading Combine and the Express Funded Account, at $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 for 50K, 100K or 150K, and automatic on the Live Funded Account, where it starts at $2,000, $3,000 or $4,500. When your net P&L, open trades included, reaches it, Topstep flattens your positions until 5 PM CT.
What happens if I hit my daily loss limit on Topstep?
Your open positions are flattened, pending orders are canceled and you can't trade until the next session opens at 5 PM CT. Topstep's Daily Loss Limit page says it isn't a rule violation and the account stays eligible for funding. Its payout policy calls it a Temporary Violation that lifts at the next session, so you can't request a payout until then.
Is the daily loss limit mandatory on Topstep?
Not on a standard Trading Combine or Express Funded Account, where you choose it at checkout or activation. It is automatic on every Live Funded Account, on all new Combines and XFAs while you're in Topstep's Responsible Trading Program, and on some Topstep Labs accounts, such as the $50K Static Drawdown Trading Combine with a mandatory $1,000.
What is the daily loss limit on a 50K Topstep account?
$1,000 on a 50K Trading Combine or Express Funded Account if you add it, and $2,000 on a 50K Live Funded Account. The 50K Maximum Loss Limit, the separate trailing limit that ends the account, is $2,000.
Can you change or remove the Topstep daily loss limit?
Not one added at checkout: Topstep says it's fixed with no changes later, and it carries from the Combine into the XFA and through a Back2Funded reactivation. A Personal Daily Loss Limit you set yourself in Risk Settings can be adjusted or removed, unless it's set to Liquidate and Block or your risk settings are locked for the day.
What is the difference between Topstep's DLL and PDLL?
The DLL is Topstep's limit, added at checkout, fixed in size and counted for its payout-cap offer and discounts. The Personal Daily Loss Limit is one you set in TopstepX Risk Settings, in any amount, with an action: Do Nothing, Liquidate, or Liquidate and Block. A trailing version follows your highest balance, open or closed gains as you choose.
Does adding a daily loss limit increase the Topstep payout cap?
For now, yes, if you add it when you buy the Trading Combine. Topstep's limited-time offer, running since June 2, doubles the per-request cap once you pass and activate the XFA: $4,000 instead of $2,000 on a 50K Standard path. Adding it later, at XFA activation, doesn't count, and Topstep hasn't said when the offer ends.
