Prop Firm Consistency Rules Compared: 50%, 40%, 30% and the Variants
3 min read · also published as a field note
A consistency rule is a cap on how much of your total profit any single day may represent at the time you pass — or, at some firms, at the time you request a payout. The percentage sounds like a detail. It sets the minimum number of days an evaluation must take and the maximum size of a good day, which is to say it sets the whole shape of the trading.
Everything in this article about a specific firm is our reading of that firm's published terms at the time of writing, in September 2026. Firms change these often and without much notice. Before you plan anything around a rule, read it on the firm's own site.
The common forms
- 50%. No day may be half or more of total profit. The minimum is two days in theory; in practice three or more, because the biggest day has to stay under half of the *final* total. - 40% / 30%. Tighter caps mean more days and smaller best days. A 30% cap needs at least four days and punishes any single strong session harder. - Minimum qualifying days. Instead of (or alongside) a percentage, some firms require a set number of days each showing a minimum profit before a pass or payout. This shapes pacing similarly but rewards steadiness directly rather than penalising a big day. - Evaluation only vs. carried into funded. Some firms drop the rule at the funded stage; some keep it for payouts. This is the version that matters most for a farm.
The arithmetic of a big day
Suppose the target is a fixed profit and your best day is B. Under a cap of c, you need total profit T such that B ≤ c × T — so T ≥ B / c. A day that is larger than c × target does not fail you; it raises the total you must reach before the pass counts, and every extra day is more exposure to the drawdown. Under a 30% cap a single day equal to the target would triple the distance. That is why operators stop early on a good day rather than let it run.
What a tighter cap does to a farm
The evaluation tree is paced to the *tightest* consistency rule among the firms in it, because the leader's day is every follower's day. If one firm in the tree has a 30% cap and another has 50%, the tree trades to 30%. Mixing those seats slows the whole tree to the strictest member — which may be acceptable, or may be a reason to keep the two firms in separate trees. Evals sync with evals is the rule; this is one of the places it bites.
Where it carries into the funded stage
A funded seat under a consistency rule cannot take one large day and request a payout; it has to show the same paced shape before the money moves. That changes what "cashflow" looks like at that firm and is exactly the kind of column that decides whether two firms' funded seats can share a tree. The rules matrix carries it next to the drawdown column for that reason.
The mindset the rule is asking for
Every version of the rule says the same thing in different arithmetic: the firm does not want to fund one lucky day. It wants to see a process that produces moderate days repeatedly. Trade to that and the rule stops being a constraint and becomes a description of what you were going to do anyway.
Kingdom Portfolios is an independent education company. We're not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any prop firm, broker, or platform named here, and we don't use affiliate links. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation to join any firm or trade any product. Funded-account evaluations cost real money and most participants never pass or get paid — learn first, and trade your own risk. Rules and fees change often; verify current details on each company's own site. Education only.
Common Questions
What happens if I break a consistency rule?
At most firms it does not fail the account outright — it means the pass or payout is not yet valid, and you must continue trading until the biggest day falls under the allowed share of the total. Some firms treat it differently; read the exact terms.
Which consistency rule is best?
The one that matches how you already trade. A paced, moderate-day process barely notices a 50% cap; a process that relies on occasional big days will struggle under any cap. The rule is a filter for the former, by design.