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How to Pass Topstep Evaluation with a Pine Script Strategy

Updated May 2026 · ~8 min read

Topstep is one of the most established prop firms in the futures space. Their Trading Combine evaluation is straightforward — hit the profit target without blowing the drawdown — but the specific rules interact with algorithmic strategies in ways that catch traders off guard. Here's what to know before you start your combine.

Topstep Trading Combine rules at a glance

Why EOD trailing drawdown changes your strategy

Because Topstep's drawdown floor only moves on closed trade equity at the end of each day, intraday unrealized gains don't raise your floor. This means:

• You can hold a position that's up significantly without permanently raising your drawdown floor — as long as you don't close it profitably
• A trade that goes +$500 then reverses to a $200 loss doesn't cost you drawdown cushion the way it would on Apex intraday trailing
• You have more flexibility to let winners run during the session

The flip side: if you close a string of profitable days and then have a losing day, you've raised the floor and are now trading closer to it. EOD trailing still follows your profit — just at a day-end cadence rather than tick-by-tick.

The 10-day minimum trading rule

Topstep requires at least 10 trading days before you can complete the evaluation. For algo traders, this means your strategy must fire at least once per session across 10 separate days. If your session filter is too restrictive — say, only taking trades in the first 30 minutes when there's a specific confluence setup — you might blow through 10 calendar days without accumulating enough trading days.

How to handle this: During the evaluation, slightly widen your entry criteria to ensure the strategy takes at least 1-2 trades per session. The evaluation phase is more about demonstrating activity and consistent profitability across days than maximizing individual trade quality. Once funded, you can tighten back to your optimal filter settings.

Daily loss limit: $1,000 on a 50k account

Topstep's daily loss limit is hard — you cannot lose more than $1,000 in a single day on a 50k account. Your Pine Script strategy must have a daily loss kill switch that stops new entries once this threshold approaches.

Recommended configuration:

• Set your kill switch at $800 (80% of limit) — gives you buffer in case an open trade runs further before your stop fires
• After the kill switch triggers, allow existing positions to reach their stops naturally — don't manually close them, which can cause slippage that itself breaches the limit
• Reset the kill switch counter each session at the RTH open

Recommended contracts for Topstep evaluation

Starting conservative (1-3 contracts) and scaling only after 3-4 profitable sessions is the recommended approach. On Topstep's EOD trailing, a big day early raises your floor and actually makes subsequent days more precarious.

Session filter for Topstep MES/MNQ strategies

Topstep doesn't restrict what times you trade during RTH, but the market does. For MES and MNQ strategies optimized for Topstep's EOD drawdown structure:

• Primary session: 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM ET (MES performs well through this window)
• Secondary session: 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM ET (afternoon trend for ES/MES)
• Avoid: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM ET (low volume, false signals) and the 3:30-4:00 MOC window unless you have a specific MOC strategy

Reaching the profit target without maxing out risk

The 50k Topstep combine needs $3,000 profit. At 10 minimum trading days, that's an average of $300/day. On 3 MES contracts with an 8-point profit target and 6-point stop:

• Win: 3 contracts × 8 points × $5 = $120 per winning trade
• Loss: 3 contracts × 6 points × $5 = $90 per losing trade
• At 55% win rate: (0.55 × $120) – (0.45 × $90) = $66 – $40.50 = $25.50 expected value per trade
• At 3 trades/day: ~$76.50 expected per day
• Needed: ~39 trading days to reach target at these averages

This illustrates why sizing matters. Doubling to 6 MES contracts halves the time required — but also doubles the daily loss risk. The evaluation is a balancing act between speed and risk control.

Topstep vs Apex: which is better for algo traders?

Both are solid choices. The key difference:

• Topstep's EOD trailing drawdown is more algo-friendly if your strategy has wide swings on individual trades
• Apex's intraday trailing drawdown is more restrictive — but Apex's larger account sizes and lower eval fees can make repeat attempts cheaper
• If your strategy is proven and consistent day-to-day, either works. If your strategy has high per-trade variance, Topstep's EOD trailing is meaningfully better.