Quick Answer — Alpha Futures Rule Framework
- • EOD-trailing MLL (4% of starting balance, locks at starting balance once reached)
- • Daily Loss Guard triggers at -2% intraday P&L, flattens positions, day-locks account
- • Consistency rule: 50% Eval (Standard + Advanced), 40% Qualified (Standard + Zero), None on Advanced Qualified or Zero Eval
- • News: 2-min buffer on Standard Qualified + Zero Qualified; none on Advanced
- • No EAs/bots, no HFT, no tick-scalping (under 2 min + under 10 ticks as pattern)
- • Positions flat by 4:20 PM ET daily; no weekend holdings
Funded Alpha Futures trader, 15 months in: I've been trading Alpha Futures accounts since early 2025 — multiple evaluations passed, multiple funded accounts, and around $8,000 in cumulative payouts. The rules below come from navigating them on live funded capital, not from reading help-center articles.
The rule that catches most Alpha Futures traders is the EOD-trailing Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) — it trails once per session at close, until it hits your starting balance, then locks. I broke down every rule in my complete Alpha Futures rules guide. For the full picture, read my complete Alpha Futures review. Save 20% with code ALPHA20 via Alpha Futures, or check their help center for the absolute latest.
Alpha Futures' rule framework is built on four core mechanisms — the EOD-trailing Maximum Loss Limit (MLL), the Daily Loss Guard (DLG), the consistency rule, and news-trading restrictions — with each mechanism varying in how it applies across the three plan types (Standard, Advanced, Zero) and the two phases (Evaluation and Qualified). Layered on top are universal rules covering prohibited strategies (EAs, bots, HFT, tick-scalping), daily position management (flat by 4:20 PM ET, no weekend holdings), and account-level compliance (up to three accounts with $450K combined allocation, copy trading allowed, hedging across accounts prohibited).
This article is the complete Alpha Futures rules reference: every rule explained with numeric specifics, plan-and-phase applicability matrices, worked examples, and the common edge cases that catch first-time traders. All data is verified against the Alpha Futures help center at help.alpha-futures.com as of April 2026 and cross-referenced against my 15 months of direct trading experience with multiple funded accounts.
For the detailed drawdown breakdown see the Alpha Futures Maximum Loss Limit guide.
Rule framework at a glance
| Rule | What it does | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) | Hard account floor; breach ends account | All plans, both phases |
| Daily Loss Guard (DLG) | Day-locks account at -2% intraday P&L | Standard Qualified, Zero Eval + Qualified |
| Consistency rule | Caps single-day profit share | Varies by plan and phase |
| News-trading buffer | No orders 2 min before/after high-impact news | Standard Qualified + Zero Qualified |
| 4:20 PM ET flat | All positions closed by 4:20 PM ET daily | All plans, both phases |
| No weekend holdings | No positions held into weekend | All plans, both phases |
| EAs/bots prohibited | Fully-automated execution banned | All plans, both phases |
| HFT prohibited | Sub-second algorithmic trading banned | All plans, both phases |
| Tick-scalping prohibited as pattern | under 2 min holds + under 10 ticks profit sustained | All plans, both phases |
| Max 3 funded accounts | $450K combined allocation cap | Across plans |
| No hedging across accounts | Opposite positions in same contract across accounts banned | All plans |
The Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) — EOD-trailing, 4% of starting balance
The MLL is the defining rule of Alpha Futures. Most futures prop firms use intraday-trailing drawdowns that can break a funded account mid-session on an unrealized drawdown. Alpha Futures does not.
How it works:
- MLL starts at 4% below the account's starting balance (50K account → starting MLL $48,000, trail distance $2,000)
- MLL trails upward at end-of-day close only — never intraday, never on unrealized profits
- Once MLL reaches the account's starting balance, it locks permanently at that level as a static floor
- Breach condition: end-of-day balance at or below the MLL
Worked example on a 50K Standard account:
- Day 1 start: balance $50,000, MLL $48,000
- Day 1 close: balance $52,000 (+$2,000 profit realized at session end). MLL moves to $50,000 (initial balance level)
- Day 2 forward: MLL locked at $50,000 permanently. No matter how high the balance grows, MLL stays at $50,000.
Why this matters: For traders whose edge tolerates intraday drawdown — mean-reversion, swing-into-close, event-trade-hold-through — Alpha Futures' EOD-trailing MLL is structurally better than Topstep's intraday-trailing drawdown, Take Profit Trader's intraday trail, or TickTickTrader's intraday trail.
MLL rates by account size:
| Size | Starting MLL | Trail Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Zero 25K | $24,000 | $1,000 |
| Zero 50K / Standard 50K | $48,000 | $2,000 |
| Zero 100K / Standard 100K | $96,000 / $96,000 | $4,000 |
| Standard 150K | $144,000 | $6,000 |
| Advanced 50K | Starting-balance-based, 3.5% trail | $1,750 |
| Advanced 100K | Starting-balance-based, 3.5% trail | $3,500 |
| Advanced 150K | Starting-balance-based, 3.5% trail | $5,250 |
(Advanced has slightly tighter MLL in dollar terms — traded for the other Advanced advantages: 90% flat split, no Qualified consistency, no DLG.)
The Daily Loss Guard (DLG) — soft breach, day-lock
The DLG is a second-layer risk control that prevents accounts from taking catastrophic single-day losses. When intraday P&L reaches -2% of the account, the DLG fires:
DLG mechanics:
- Trigger: open or closed P&L at -2% during the trading day
- Firing: all open positions flatten instantly, pending orders cancel
- Lockout: account locked until 6 PM ET the next trading day
- Next-session reset: trading resumes with no additional penalty
DLG is NOT an account closure. The MLL is the account-closure rule. The DLG is a session-end rule.
DLG applicability:
| Plan | Evaluation DLG | Qualified DLG |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | None | $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000 (50K/100K/150K) |
| Advanced | None | None (trader-settable) |
| Zero | $500 / $1,000 / $2,000 (25K/50K/100K) | Same |
Why Zero has DLG on both phases: Zero is the instant-funded plan — the firm takes risk immediately without a proven-edge evaluation filter, so the DLG adds a session-level brake on catastrophic losses.
Why Advanced has no DLG: Advanced is the premium evaluation plan; traders pay higher monthly fees in exchange for the firm's willingness to remove the session-level cap. Traders can set their own DLG through platform tools if they want the protection.
The consistency rule — plan and phase specific
The consistency rule caps any single trading day's profit as a share of total cycle profits. It exists to filter traders whose "edge" is actually single lucky days rather than repeatable-pattern trading.
Consistency rule matrix:
| Plan | Evaluation | Qualified |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 50% | 40% |
| Advanced | 50% | None |
| Zero | None | 40% |
How it works — Standard Evaluation 50%:
- Rule: no single day's profit exceeds 50% of total evaluation profits
- Example: you need $3,000 profit to pass the 50K Standard Evaluation
- If one day produces $1,800 and the rest of your trading adds $1,200, you have 60% concentration ($1,800 / $3,000) — ABOVE the 50% limit. Pass is blocked.
- Workaround: add trading days until the big-day share drops below 50%
How it works — Standard Qualified 40% at payout time:
- Rule: at payout request, no single day's profit can exceed 40% of total profits since last payout
- Example: since last payout you accumulated $5,000 profit. If one day was $2,500 (50% concentration), payout is held
- Workaround: trade more days to dilute the concentration; payout releases when ratio falls below 40%
Who gets caught: Traders whose edge depends on a few big single-day wins rather than many small-to-medium wins. News-reactive event traders often hit this on CPI/FOMC days.
Who doesn't get caught: Traders with distributed winning-day patterns (many $200-$500 winning days rather than 1-2 $2,000 days).
News-trading restrictions
News trading is restricted on Standard Qualified and Zero Qualified only. Advanced has no news restrictions on either phase.
The 2-minute rule: No orders may be executed within 2 minutes before or 2 minutes after high-impact news events. This includes FOMC announcements, CPI releases, NFP, ECB rate decisions, and other scheduled high-impact events.
News-restriction matrix:
| Plan | Evaluation | Qualified |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | None | 2-min buffer around high-impact news |
| Advanced | None | None |
| Zero | None | 2-min buffer around high-impact news |
How "high-impact" is defined: Alpha Futures uses the standard economic calendar classifications (ForexFactory, Economic Calendar providers) to identify high-impact events. FOMC/CPI/NFP are universally high-impact; individual earnings reports typically are not.
For event traders: Advanced is the plan designed for you. The combination of no news restrictions either phase + no Qualified consistency + no DLG makes Advanced meaningfully better than Standard or Zero for event-reactive strategies.
Prohibited strategies and trading styles
What's prohibited:
| Prohibited | What it means |
|---|---|
| Expert Advisors (EAs) | Fully-automated trading via platform EAs |
| Trading bots | Any hands-off algorithmic execution |
| High-frequency trading (HFT) | Sub-second algorithmic strategies exploiting latency |
| Tick-scalping as pattern | Sustained pattern of under 2-minute holds with under 10-tick profit targets |
| Hedging across accounts | Long in account A + short same contract in account B |
| Latency arbitrage | Exploiting platform or routing timing gaps |
| Third-party signal copying | Trading from paid signal services |
What's explicitly allowed:
| Allowed | Notes |
|---|---|
| Scalping (2+ min holds, 10+ tick targets) | Standard scalping, not tick-scalping |
| Swing trading within day | Hold all session, close by 4:20 PM ET |
| News trading | Per plan-specific rules |
| Martingale (manual) | Position-size-increases after losses — allowed if manual |
| Copy trading across own accounts | Platform-native or third-party copiers |
| Semi-automated strategies | Alerts trigger manual clicks |
| Discretionary trading with indicators | Chart-based analysis with indicator confirmations |
Daily position management
4:20 PM ET flat:
- All positions must be closed by 4:20 PM ET daily
- Open positions at 4:20 PM ET are automatically flattened by the platform
- No warning alarm before auto-flatten — close on your own schedule
No weekend holdings:
- Positions cannot be held from Friday into Saturday
- Friday flat cutoff aligns with 4:20 PM ET standard daily rule
- Sunday 6 PM ET session open provides 48+ hours of flat time
Typical trader day:
- 9:30 AM ET market open
- Active trading window 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET
- Position management / cleanup 4:00-4:20 PM ET
- 4:20 PM ET hard cutoff
Multi-account rules
Account cap:
- Up to three funded accounts simultaneously
- Combined $450,000 allocation cap across all accounts
- Can mix plans: one Standard + one Advanced + one Zero is permitted
- Can stack same plan: three Standard 150K accounts would exceed the $450K cap, so this combination isn't possible
Copy trading:
- Allowed across your own accounts
- Platform-native copiers (Tradovate) or third-party copiers both work
- Each account must maintain independent risk compliance
Hedging:
- Hedging across accounts is PROHIBITED
- Long ES in account A + short ES in account B is a hedging violation
- Long ES + short NQ across accounts is fine — different instruments, independent directional bets
Evaluation vs Qualified — what changes
When you pass evaluation and activate Qualified, several rules change:
| Rule | Standard Eval → Qualified | Advanced Eval → Qualified | Zero Eval → Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consistency | 50% → 40% | 50% → None | None → 40% |
| Daily Loss Guard | None → Applies | None → None | Applies → Applies |
| News restriction | None → 2-min buffer | None → None | None → 2-min buffer |
| Profit split | n/a → Tiered 70→90% | n/a → 90% flat | n/a → 90% flat |
| Payout eligibility | Begins after bi-weekly cadence | Begins after 5 winning days $200+ | Begins after 5 winning days $200+ |
Activation fee of $149 applies to Standard and Advanced only (not Zero, which has no evaluation).
Rule breach consequences
Hard breach (account closure):
- End-of-day balance below MLL
- HFT pattern detected
- Tick-scalping pattern detected
- Hedging across accounts detected
- KYC failure involving restricted-country residency/citizenship
Soft breach (day-lock only):
- Daily Loss Guard trigger (-2% intraday)
- Temporary restricted behavior that doesn't reach hard-breach threshold
Payout delay (not breach):
- Consistency rule violation at payout request time
- Account held until trader adds more days to dilute concentration
- Not an account closure — just a payout held pending compliance
Minor rule warnings:
- Occasional rule approaches that don't breach — support may issue warning
- Persistent approach-the-line behavior escalates through support
Edge cases and clarifications
"Does intraday go below MLL trigger breach?" No. The MLL is checked at end-of-day close. Intraday dips below the MLL level don't trigger breach as long as you recover by session close.
"Can I take a big position on a news event?" Depends on plan. Advanced: yes, no news restrictions. Standard Qualified / Zero Qualified: only outside the 2-minute buffer around high-impact news.
"Do holiday sessions count?" Yes. Holiday-shortened sessions are still trading days. Positions flat by 4:20 PM ET on the shortened session.
"What if the platform lags and I can't close by 4:20 PM ET?" Platform-level auto-flatten kicks in. If the auto-flatten produces a bad fill, contact support — edge cases around platform issues are typically resolved.
"Can I reset a failed evaluation?" Yes, effectively. On monthly-subscription model, a 'reset' means continuing the subscription for another evaluation attempt without buying a new account. If the account is funded and breaches, you need a new evaluation (with the same subscription continuing).
Cross-reference to rule-specific articles
- Maximum Loss Limit deep dive — worked examples per account size
- Consistency rule calculator — 40% and 50% calculations with examples
- Payout rules complete — all plan cadence + min/max
- Activation fees — when $149 applies and when it doesn't
- News-trading policy — exact high-impact event definitions
- Profit split mechanics — Standard tiers, Advanced and Zero flat 90%
- Profit targets by account — $1.5K to $12K by plan and size
- Minimum trading days — cadence implications
The bottom line
Alpha Futures' rule framework is more forgiving than peer futures prop firms on the critical mechanism (EOD-trailing MLL) and more complex than competitors on the variation-by-plan dimension (Standard/Advanced/Zero each with different consistency, DLG, and news rules). The forgiveness is a real edge for day traders and scalpers who hold through intraday volatility. The complexity demands that you read the specific rules for your plan before trading. Standard is the cheapest entry and most traditional; Advanced is the premium plan without consistency or DLG; Zero is the instant-funded plan with DLG on both phases. Match the rules to your trading style, respect the MLL and DLG, and Alpha Futures' framework becomes workable across the full evaluation-to-Qualified progression.