Sign inCreate account
← Strategy library

Rule-Compliant Executionthe breaches that have nothing to do with losses

Evidence: ModerateIntermediateProp firm · Operations

A large share of failed evaluations are not losing accounts. They are profitable accounts that broke an operational rule — a position held over a restricted period, a trade placed around a restricted event, a lot size above a cap, a strategy the firm does not allow.

These are entirely avoidable and they are avoidable in code. This page is about turning your firm's rulebook into constraints the bot enforces, so that compliance does not depend on you remembering.

Nothing here states any firm's rules. Firms differ and they change their terms — read your own rulebook and write the numbers into the bot. Every page assumes you have done that.

Applies to
Every evaluation and funded account
Timeframe
Any — enforced continuously, on every order
Common rule categories
Event restrictions · holding periods · maximum lots · minimum activity · prohibited strategies
Where the rules are
Your firm's current written terms. Not a forum post, not this page.
Tools
An EA-level guard that checks every order against the constraints before it is sent

Valid setup

PF-03 · RULE-COMPLIANT EXECUTION — ACCOUNT EQUITY a profitable account · the blocked orders are the reason it is still open EVALUATION 98.5 100.6 102.8 104.9 107.0 109.1 111.3 RESTRICTED WINDOW — orders blocked by the guard LOT CAP — order resized, then blocked HOLDING RESTRICTION — position closed early PROFIT TARGET start 1 2 3 4 110.0 100.0 ① The guard refuses an order inside a restricted window ② A size above the cap is refused rather than trimmed silently ③ A position is closed before a restricted holding period ④ None of these cost much. One breach costs the account ⑤ Every block is logged with its reason ⑥ The rulebook, dated, is the only authority

Exact rules

Entry

  • Write your firm's rules out as a checklist, in their words, and date it. Firms change terms and an undated copy is worse than none.
  • For each rule, decide how the bot enforces it: block the order, close the position, or refuse to start. A rule with no enforcement mechanism is a rule you will break.
  • Add a margin. If a restriction covers a window around an event, widen your own window on both sides — server clocks and event times both move.
  • Re-read the rules before each new account. The terms you passed under are not necessarily the terms you are funded under.

Stop loss

  • Some firms restrict trading around events; some restrict holding through them; some do neither. These are different rules and the bot needs to know which one applies to it.
  • Build a hard pre-order check: if any constraint is unclear at order time, the order does not go.
  • Log every blocked order with the reason. That log is what tells you whether a constraint is costing you trades or saving accounts.

Take profit / exit

  • Some firms require a minimum number of trading days. A strategy that passes in three days can fail on that alone, which is an odd way to lose an account.
  • Some restrict how much of the profit may come from one trade or one day. If your strategy's returns are concentrated, check this before you start rather than after you pass.
  • None of these are stated here as facts about any firm. They are categories of rule to look for in your own terms.

Build Rule-Compliant Execution

Reading this page is free and always will be. Taking it is what costs — the complete MQL5 for the rules above, yours to keep, permanently. Five of them cost $10 and they never expire.

Sign inWhat it costs

More from Prop firm

Trading to a Drawdown Budgetthe maximum loss is the only number that mattersThe Low-Variance Profilemany small trades rather than a few large onesAfter Fundingthe account you keep is not the one you passed

Trading carries risk and most retail accounts lose money. Nothing on this page is financial advice or a recommendation to trade. The chart is an illustration of the rules on constructed candles — it is not a record of a trade and not a backtest.