# How to pass the Topstep Trading Combine

> Source: https://fundedsim.com/en/guides/how-to-pass-topstep-combine
> Pass the Topstep Combine: the 55% best-day rule, the end-of-day Maximum Loss Limit, the optional daily limit, the 3:10 PM CT close and a day-by-day plan.

Hit the profit target ($3,000 on a 50K) without your balance touching the Maximum Loss Limit, which trails your end-of-day balance, and keep your best day at or under 55% of total profit. That means at least two days. Close everything by 3:10 PM CT, and plan your days so none of them goes past $1,650 on a 50K.

By FundedSim Desk · updated October 26, 2026

## The rules you're playing by

| Size | Price | Profit target | Max loss | Daily loss limit | Max contracts | Activation | Best-day rule | Room |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 50K | $49 /month | $3,000 | $2,000 | optional | 5 minis / 50 micros | $149 | 55% | 67% |
| 100K | $99 /month | $6,000 | $3,000 | optional | 10 minis / 100 micros | $149 | 55% | 50% |
| 150K | $199 /month | $9,000 | $4,500 | optional | 15 minis / 150 micros | $149 | 55% | 50% |

Three of these decide almost every Combine:

- **Maximum Loss Limit.** It rises with your end-of-day balance, never comes down and stops at your starting balance. It's checked in real time, open positions included.
- **55% best day.** Your best day divided by total profit must be at or under 55%. It isn't rounded and there's no buffer. The day's value locks at 3:10 PM CT.
- **3:10 PM CT.** Every position has to be closed by then, every weekday. No overnight holds.

The daily loss limit is optional. If you add it at checkout ($1,000 on the 50K) it can't be changed, and it follows you into the Express Funded Account. Hitting it flattens you until the next session; it isn't a rule break.

## The plan for a 50K

The target is $3,000 and the biggest day that keeps it there is $3,000 × 55% = $1,650. Build the plan backwards from that:

1. **Pick a daily goal well under the cap.** $600 a day passes in five good days and leaves room for one day that runs further.
2. **Stop the day at the cap.** If you're up $1,500 by noon, you're done. Another $400 doesn't get you closer: it moves the target.
3. **Pick a daily stop you'll respect.** With $2,000 of room, a $500 stop gives you four bad days before the account is in danger. Optional limit or not, decide the number before the open.
4. **Know where the floor is every evening.** After a $1,000 day your floor moves from $48,000 to $49,000. You still have $2,000 of room, but it's measured from a higher balance.

## Why people fail it

- **The big first day.** +$2,200 on day one feels like 73% of the way there. With the 55% rule your target is now $4,000, and you need $1,800 more on smaller days.
- **Giving it back after a good close.** The floor moved up at the close. A normal pullback the next morning can now finish the account.
- **The afternoon trade.** A position still open near 3:10 PM CT gets closed for you, often at the worst price of the day.
- **Revenge after the daily limit.** The limit protects the account for today. Taking it as a challenge tomorrow, with double size, is how the floor gets hit.

Check any sequence of days with the [consistency calculator](https://fundedsim.com/en/calculators/consistency) and the [drawdown calculator](https://fundedsim.com/en/calculators/drawdown).

## When you pass

The Combine closes, the subscription is cancelled and the profit doesn't carry over. You activate an Express Funded Account: $149 on the standard path, nothing if you bought the no activation fee path. The XFA has its own drawdown and payout rules, laid out on the [Topstep XFA rules page](https://fundedsim.com/en/guides/topstep-express-funded-account-rules). Comparing firms first? See [Apex vs Topstep](https://fundedsim.com/en/compare/apex-vs-topstep).

## Practice the exact account

FundedSim runs the Topstep 50K, 100K and 150K Combines with the published rules. Trade a week there with your real plan and see which day breaks it.

## Questions people actually ask

**How many days does it take to pass the Topstep Combine?**

Two at the least. The 55% best-day rule means no single day can make the whole target, so the fastest pass is two days of about $1,500 each on a 50K.

**What happens if I hit the Maximum Loss Limit in the Combine?**

Your positions are liquidated for the rest of the day and the Combine can't earn funding until you reset it. The reset costs the same as a month of that Combine on the standard path.

**Does a losing day reset my best day?**

No. Topstep says losses don't reset your best day. Only more total profit brings the percentage back under 55%.

## Blow it here, not on a paid eval

Run the same rules on your own trades in the simulator. Free, no card, and a blown account costs you nothing but pride.

[Start practicing](https://fundedsim.com/app)

## Keep going

- [Topstep Trading Combine: rules, costs and the drawdown that ends most accounts](https://fundedsim.com/en/prop-firms/topstep)
- [Consistency rule calculator](https://fundedsim.com/en/calculators/consistency)
- [Topstep Express Funded Account rules](https://fundedsim.com/en/guides/topstep-express-funded-account-rules)
- [Apex vs Topstep: which 50K eval fits how you trade](https://fundedsim.com/en/compare/apex-vs-topstep)

Blow it here, not on a paid eval

[Start practicing](https://fundedsim.com/app)