The Futures Desk Assessment Rules

The Assessment Desk is the evaluation stage where you prove you can trade responsibly. It is simulated trading based on live market conditions. The point is not to see whether you can have one great day.

It is to see whether you can manage risk, trade with discipline, and build profit without blowing up.

That is why the rules focus heavily on risk structure, daily boundaries, and consistency concepts. In other words, The Futures Desk want to see “repeatable trader behavior,” not lottery-style PnL.

Instead of memorizing every number, start by understanding the rule categories.

These are the rules that protect the account from large losses:

static minimum balance
drawdown floor logic (static, not trailing)
daily loss limit parameters

These are the rules that define what it means to pass:

profit target
minimum trading days (often 7 on static plans)
consistency logic (expressed through base hits)

These are the rules around “what happens if…?”:

extensions and renewals
reset process
account limits and how many you can run
how scaling is handled as you progress

When you see the rules this way, you stop treating the evaluation like a puzzle. It becomes a normal trading plan with guardrails.

Below is a simple summary of the three static plan sizes and the key evaluation parameters.

Do not worry if those numbers feel like a lot at first. The Futures Desk are going to walk through what each one means and how to trade inside it without feeling restricted.

Let’s start with the most important concept: static minimum balance.

This is your fixed drawdown floor. It does not trail behind you as you profit. It stays where it is.

That matters because trailing drawdown models can “punish” profitable traders. You can be right, build profit, and then one normal losing day taps a trailing threshold that has moved upward. With a static floor, your cushion remains stable.

Your account starts with a buffer.

That buffer is your maximum allowable drawdown from the starting point.

If you violate the static minimum balance threshold, the evaluation is failed for that run.

Many traders treat the drawdown amount like “spendable money.”

It is not. It is a backstop for rare events, not a daily operating range.

If you are regularly getting close to the floor, the issue is not the rules. It is almost always:

Your position size is too large
Your risk per trade is too high
Your max attempts per day is too high
You are trading emotional sessions instead of planned sessions

This is what consistent traders do:

They create a personal daily stop that is tighter than the program’s hard boundaries.

So if the plan has a daily loss limit of $800, the trader might stop at $500.

That way, the platform never needs to stop them. They stop themselves while they still have a clear head.

This is a big deal. Most evaluation failures happen after a trader crosses into emotional decision making.

The daily loss limit is a guardrail for your worst day.

It is not meant to control you. It is meant to prevent a single rough session from turning into an account-ending event.

A daily stop exists for three common scenarios:

1. You are off your game and your reads are wrong
2. The market is in a weird condition and your edge is not active
3. You are tilted, and you start trading to “get it back” instead of trading the setup

That third one is the most dangerous. The daily stop is basically a seatbelt for your psychology.

Here is a simple structure you can use:

Pick your maximum risk per trade first
Pick your max number of attempts per day second
Pick your personal daily stop third

For example, if your plan has a daily loss limit of $400:

You might risk $50 to $75 per trade
Allow 3 to 5 attempts
Stop for the day at around $250

That is how you create breathing room.

You still have “evaluation safety,” but you are not operating near it. You are operating in a comfortable range.

It is usually not because they took one clean loss.

It is because they took one clean loss, then another, then started forcing trades to recover.

That is why the number exists.

Your real edge as a trader is not just entries. It is knowing when not to trade.

Next up is the profit target.

Targets are simple on paper, but they create pressure in real life.

The moment a trader starts “trading the goal,” they usually stop trading the setup.

That is where things get messy.

The profit target is not asking you to be perfect. It is asking you to show you can build profit while staying inside risk boundaries.

That includes how you handle:

red days
small green days
normal chop
small streaks of losing trades
days you sit out because conditions are poor

In other words, the target is proof you can survive.

Pick a “base day” number that is realistic for your strategy, then aim to stack those.

Do not aim to smash the target in one day.

If you need 7 minimum trading days on your plan, trying to pass in 2 or 3 sessions usually means you are oversizing.

And oversizing is the fastest way to hit the daily stop, break discipline, or create a consistency issue.

If your profit target is $4,000:

Aim for $300 to $600 per day, depending on your strategy
Accept that some days will be near breakeven
Allow a red day or two, but keep them controlled
Let time do the work

Most traders could pass far more evaluations if they simply slowed down.

Let’s talk about base hits, because this is where traders tend to get nervous.

The concept is meant to encourage repeatable performance rather than one huge day.

If you have ever seen a trader yolo a position, hit a monster day, and pass, you also know why many firms add consistency constraints.

The goal is to prevent “one-day passes” that do not reflect real risk management.

A base hits number is basically a “solid day” measurement for your plan.

It encourages the idea that progress should come from multiple days of controlled execution.

It also discourages the gambler habit of trying to make the whole target in one session.

If you have a big day above your base hit amount, the system is designed so you are not punished with weird multipliers.

Instead, that “overage” simply increases the remaining target by that amount. Think of it like the evaluation saying: “Nice day, but The Futures Desk still want to see consistency.”

So you do not lose profits in a strange penalty.

You just do not get to use a single oversized day to shortcut the process.

Here is what not to do:

Do not force trades late in the session just to reach a number
Do not increase size after a win because you are close
Do not hold a trade beyond your normal plan just to hit a threshold

That is how traders turn a good rule into bad behavior.

Trade your best setups early.

If you have a solid green day, consider stopping early even if you did not “max out” the base hit number.

The evaluation rewards consistency over time, not obsession over one daily figure.

This is one of the most underrated skills in trading: knowing when you are done for the day.

On the static plans path, minimum trading days are listed as 7.

The purpose is simple: it prevents the evaluation from being a one-session lottery ticket.

Traders see “7 minimum days” and they overtrade for 7 days straight.

That is not what it means.

It means you need at least 7 days of participation, not 7 days of intense trading.

Some days can be small. Some days can be one or two trades. Some days can be near flat.

The goal is to show consistent discipline.

If your edge is strong, you do not need to trade all day to prove it.

The contract limit is the cap on how much you can trade at once.

For example, on static plans:

Static Mini: 1 mini or 10 micros
Static Core: 2 minis or 20 micros
Static Pro: 3 minis or 30 micros

This is a safety feature. But it is also a performance feature.

It prevents a trader from using brute force size to “fix” a day.

If you have ever tried to pass an eval with oversized positions, you know how it goes:

One big win feels great
Then a normal pullback hits
You panic
You cut early or revenge trade
The day spirals

Contract limits reduce that spiral risk by limiting the size of the emotional mistake.

Micros allow smoother scaling.

If you need to step in with 2, then 4, then 6 micros, micros give you that flexibility.

Minis require more precision because PnL moves faster. If you are not fully comfortable, micros are often the better choice during evaluation.

There is no ego in passing with micros. Passing is passing.

Now let’s talk about time, because time pressure creates bad decisions.

The Futures Desk do not want you rushing because a clock is about to expire.

That is why extensions and renewals exist.

On the static plans page, the evaluation shows:

31-day extensions: $29
Reset plus 31-day extension: $99

That is helpful because it means if you need more time, you can extend rather than forcing trades.

Use extensions when you are trading well but need more time.

Do not use extensions as a way to avoid accountability.

If you are constantly extending because you are stuck in bad habits, the answer is not more days.

The answer is adjusting your risk plan and tightening your process.

Resets exist for one reason: sometimes you fail.

Even good traders fail.

Markets get weird. Life happens. You have a rough session.

A reset gives you a clean restart so you can trade again under the same parameters.

Do not treat resets like a cheat code.

If your mindset becomes “I can always reset,” you will start trading recklessly.

Then you will keep paying for resets, and you will never build the skill the evaluation is designed to test.

If you reset, do a quick post-mortem first.

Ask:

Did I oversize?
Did I trade outside my setups?
Did I ignore my personal daily stop?
Was I emotionally reactive?
Did I trade a session that I normally should sit out?

If you fix the reason before you reset, your next attempt has a real chance.

If you reset without fixing anything, you are simply buying another copy of the same problem.

Scaling is not just a payout feature. It is a risk feature.

The idea is: you start small, prove control, then earn more capacity.

Scaling is not a reward for passing the evaluation.

Scaling is a reward for staying consistent after the evaluation.

Many traders can focus for a week. Fewer can stay disciplined for months.

Scaling is built for the second group.

Account rules can be confusing across prop firms, so let’s keep this clean.

On the static plans page, it states you can have up to 4 accounts with a maximum combined drawdown of $6,000, and when moving to live trading, accounts must be combined down to a maximum of 2 live accounts.

That is the risk-based limit that matters.

Why does it matter?

Because “number of accounts” is not the real risk. Combined drawdown is the real risk.

So instead of thinking “How many accounts can I have?” think:

How much combined exposure am I managing?

If you can trade one account well, you can expand.

If you cannot, adding accounts just multiplies the chaos.

This section is important, and it is not just legal fine print.

All activity in the assessment is monitored by risk and compliance. Behavior that looks like gambling or exploiting simulation can be reviewed.

Actions can include removing a trading day and its profits, restarting the account, closing the account, or restricting access for repeat issues.

That is not meant to scare you. It is meant to keep the playing field fair for real traders.

If you trade like a professional, you are fine.

If you trade like you are spinning a roulette wheel, eventually you will get flagged somewhere in the industry.

Most traders do better when they remove decision fatigue.

Here is a routine that fits the evaluation environment well.

Check the economic calendar
Identify the one or two time windows you will trade
Write down your allowed setups
Decide your max risk per trade and max attempts
Set your personal daily stop

Take only A setups
If you go red early, cut size, do not increase it
If you hit your personal stop, stop for the day
If you hit a clean green day, consider stopping early

Tag your trades and write one honest sentence:

What did I do well?
What do I need to improve tomorrow?

If you do this daily, passing becomes a side effect of process.

Passing is not the end. It is the beginning of the “real” path.

After passing, you move forward to build a buffer and progress into live brokerage with daily payout capability.

The key idea is simple:

You pass, then you build the withdrawable buffer, then you move into live.

It is almost always risk control. Traders oversize, then hit the daily loss limit, then spiral. If you trade smaller and stop earlier, your pass rate goes up dramatically.

On the static path, the drawdown floor is fixed. Your static minimum balance does not trail upward as you profit.

No. You need to hit the profit target while respecting risk rules and minimum days. Trying to do it too fast usually forces bad trades.

Base hits are a consistency concept. They encourage steady progress rather than one oversized day. If you go far above the base hit amount in a day, the evaluation is designed so you are not hit with weird multipliers. Instead, that excess typically increases the remaining target so the process still reflects consistency.

Yes. On the static plans path, extensions are available, and the plan page lists 31-day extensions along with reset options.

Reset when you fail an attempt and want to start fresh, but only after you identify what caused the failure. If you reset without changing anything, you will repeat the same result.

On the static plans path, the framework is based on combined drawdown, with up to 4 accounts allowed within a maximum combined drawdown limit, and live accounts ultimately combined down to a maximum of 2.

The traders who pass are rarely the ones with the flashiest strategies.

They are the ones who:

Respect the daily loss limit
Size small enough to stay calm
Aim for steady days instead of jackpot days
Let minimum days happen naturally
Treat base hits as a consistency guide, not a daily trophy
Use extensions to remove time pressure
Reset only after they fix the underlying mistake