FTMO rules for EA traders: every limit, verified.
Most “FTMO rules” articles recycle numbers from 2023. We pulled every figure below from FTMO's own Trading Objectives, Forbidden Practices and FAQ pages on October 1, 2026 — the daily loss is equity-based with a midnight reset, the 1-Step runs 3% daily with a trailing max, activity is capped at 2,000 server requests per day, and the 2-Step carries no consistency rule — and mapped each rule to how you should configure an automated TradingView → MT5 setup so a robot never costs you the account.
The rules at a glance
(SOURCE: FTMO.COM, OCT 1, 2026) · CLICK A RULE TO JUMP TO WHAT IT MEANS FOR A ROBOT
Every figure re-checked Oct 1, 2026 against FTMO's Trading Objectives, Forbidden Practices and FAQ (news and weekend rules re-verified 4 October 2026 in the FTMO FAQ) — prop-firm rules change, and this page is dated for a reason: confirm on ftmo.com before you fund.
What each rule means when a robot is trading
Max Daily Loss: the one that kills EA accounts
The daily limit is measured on equity, not balance — floating losses count in real time, and the line is fixed at 00:00 CE(S)T on that midnight's balance (day 1: your initial capital). FTMO's own example: a 100k 2-Step account gets a 95,000 floor that holds until the following midnight. An EA holding three open positions into a spike can breach 5% (or 3% on 1-Step) without ever closing a trade. Two configuration rules follow: size positions so your worst realistic simultaneous drawdown stays under roughly half the daily limit (our lot size calculator does this math for prop-firm limits), and run a hard equity guard: SignalForge's Prop Firm Shield watches equity in real time and flattens everything before the line, because a breach at 00:01 is just as terminal as one at 16:00 New York.
Max Loss: static vs trailing changes your EA math
On the classic 2-Step, 10% from initial capital is a fixed floor — simple. On 1-Step it trails: it is recalculated at end of day, so profits raise your floor and yesterday's cushion is not today's. Trailing drawdown punishes EAs that give back open profit (martingale-style recoveries especially). If your strategy scales into winners, test it against a trailing floor before paying for a 1-Step challenge.
Consistency: none on the 2-Step, a 50% Best Day on the 1-Step
On the classic 2-Step, FTMO's FAQ is explicit: there are no additional consistency requirements beyond the Trading Objectives. The 1-Step model carries a Best Day rule, in evaluation and funded: your best day must stay at or below 50% of the profit of your positive days — and it is not an instant breach, you keep trading until the ratio comes down. For automated setups this still argues for uniform position sizing — one fixed risk percentage per trade, every trade — rather than confidence-weighted sizing. A strategy that makes its month on two NFP days will sit waiting on a 1-Step until it dilutes that day.
News rules: free in evaluation, ±2 minutes on a funded Standard account
Verified on 4 October 2026 against FTMO's news FAQ (last modified 30 September 2026): during the Evaluation Process (Challenge and Verification) there is no news restriction, whatever the account type. On a funded FTMO Account of the Standard type you may not open or close trades — pending orders filling included — from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after selected high-impact scheduled releases (rate decisions, NFP, CPI, GDP and the others on FTMO's list). The Swing account type is exempt. The same split applies to holding: a funded Standard account must close positions shortly before the weekend close or any market break longer than 2 hours, while Swing accounts and the evaluation can hold overnight and over the weekend (FTMO FAQ, verified 4 October 2026). What FTMO also publishes, in the Forbidden Practices, is a gap-trading ban: opening positions when major global news, macroeconomic events or corporate reports are scheduled, or within 2 hours of a market close, plus artificially spreading profit across days to dodge the Best Day rule. For unattended EAs the safe setup does not change: run the news filter — SignalForge's blocks execution around high-impact events out of the box — because on a funded Standard account it keeps you out of the ±2-minute window, and even where no news rule applies, a spike is the fastest way to burn a 3-5% equity budget.
The EA policy fine print
FTMO explicitly allows algorithmic trading and EAs, with three caveats that matter in practice. First, marketplace EAs are risky: FTMO flags that many traders running the identical EA can hit capital-allocation limits — a bridge executing your own TradingView strategy avoids this, since your entries are yours, not a shared robot's. Second, forbidden practices: exploiting platform errors (prices, delays), ultra-high-speed tools and mass-data entry end accounts; alert-driven execution (one webhook, one order) is nowhere near these. Third, activity limits: an account that sends more than 2,000 server requests per day (trades plus pending orders) is treated as hyperactive, and strategies must be reasonably replicable in the actual market — if your Pine strategy can fire runaway alerts, cap it (our webhook setup guide covers alert throttling).
Backtest these exact rules before you pay for the challenge
An EA that survives a plain TradingView backtest can still die on FTMO's daily line: the 5% is equity-based, resets at 00:00 CE(S)T on the midnight balance, and on the 1-Step the max loss trails your best midnight balance — none of which a standard equity curve shows. The companion guide walks a 7-step TradingView method to replay your alerts against each firm's exact drawdown math (FTMO, The5ers, FundedNext, FundingPips, Alpha Capital) before you buy a challenge: backtest prop firm rules before you buy.
Multiple FTMO accounts: a $400k ceiling, not an account cap
FTMO does not cap the number of accounts — it caps total allocated capital at $400,000 per trader or per strategy (pre-scaling), and registering multiple identities to bypass it is prohibited. Trading your own strategy across your own accounts is not listed as an infringement; what the rules prohibit is third-party management and coordinated trading between different people's accounts, including opposite simultaneous positions on connected accounts. FTMO also confirms VPS/VPN use is generally allowed, so hosted terminals are on the table. If you want one TradingView alert driving several MT5 accounts, the architecture and the per-firm copy rules are covered in copy trading across multiple prop accounts.
FAQ
THE SIX QUESTIONS WE GET ABOUT RUNNING AN EA ON FTMO.
Does FTMO allow Expert Advisors and trading bots?
Yes. FTMO permits discretionary, algorithmic and EA trading. The practical risks are shared marketplace EAs (capital-allocation limits when many accounts trade identically) and forbidden practices: exploiting platform errors, hyperactive accounts (more than 2,000 server requests per day) and ultra-high-speed tools.
Is the FTMO daily loss based on balance or equity?
Equity — open floating P/L, swaps and commissions all count, and the line is set at 00:00 CE(S)T on the midnight balance (day 1: initial capital; on a 100k 2-Step account the day-one floor is 95,000). An open position can breach the limit without being closed.
Can my EA trade the news on FTMO?
Verified 4 October 2026 against FTMO's FAQ: during the Evaluation Process (Challenge and Verification) there is no news restriction, whatever the account type. On a funded FTMO Account of the Standard type you may not open or close trades, pending-order executions included, from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after selected high-impact scheduled news releases; the Swing account type is exempt. Separately, the Forbidden Practices ban gap trading — opening into scheduled major news or macro events, or within 2 hours of a market close.
How many FTMO accounts can I have?
There is no cap on the number of accounts. The ceiling is total allocated capital: $400,000 per trader or per strategy before scaling, and registering multiple identities to bypass it is prohibited. FTMO also confirms VPS/VPN is generally allowed.
Is there a consistency rule at FTMO?
Not on the 2-Step: FTMO's FAQ states there are no additional consistency requirements beyond the Trading Objectives. The 1-Step runs a Best Day rule — best day at or below 50% of your positive-day profit — and you keep trading until you meet it, so it is not an instant breach.
Does SignalForge work with FTMO?
Yes — FTMO accounts run on MT4/MT5 and allow EAs, and SignalForge executes your own TradingView strategy with Prop Firm Shield enforcing your daily loss limit automatically. 14-day free trial, no card.
Comparing prop firms for your EA? The sister post covers the other big name, rule by rule: FundedNext EA rules & fees (2026) — the additional EA usage fee, the $300,000 cap per strategy and the banned-EA list. For the full FTMO picture for automated traders — models, platforms and connecting TradingView — see our FTMO hub.
Benjamin SF is the founder of SignalForge and an expert in trading algorithm automation. He builds and operates the SignalForge bridge for prop-firm traders and maintains its public latency benchmark (~0.5 s median from webhook to confirmed order, measured 19–23 Sep 2026).
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