At FundingTraders, passing an evaluation or booking a profitable week is not enough on its own. We reward traders who protect capital and build durable careers, not short-lived, high-risk approaches aimed only at rapid wins. What matters is how the result was achieved.
The Discipline Program is the framework we apply to funded accounts. This article is the reference for the rules and the numbers behind them. Your own status against every rule, including any flagged trades, strikes, deductions, and graduation progress, is tracked live in the Clarity Desk inside your FundingTraders dashboard.
Why Risk Management Matters
High leverage and aggressive position sizing are the most common reasons accounts breach limits. Experts typically recommend risking no more than 1.5% of an account per trade idea, which helps traders extend the lifespan of the account, survive losing streaks, maintain emotional discipline, and stay inside daily and overall loss limits.
For the fuller case, see Risk Management at FundingTraders and Toxic Trading Practices in the Help Center.
What We Monitor
Our Risk team reviews funded accounts for patterns that resemble unsustainable or "all or nothing" trading. Behaviors that commonly trigger review include:
Risking 2% or more per trade idea or trade group
Using excessive leverage or oversized lots relative to account balance
Stacking multiple entries that compound margin or risk quickly
Opening immediately after losses in a way that looks emotional
Repeatedly pressing daily loss limits
Trading without a stop-loss, or with systematically negative planned risk/reward
Rolling or stacking accounts to game evaluation or payout economics
Depending on severity, outcomes range from a warning, to placement in the Risk Management Group, to profit deductions at payout, to tier escalation, to account discontinuation for hard breaches.
How Strikes Work
A strike is one step up the Discipline Program ladder.
Several flags found in the same review usually count as one strike, not one strike per rule. A flagged trade in the Clarity Desk is not a strike on its own, since strikes are applied on review.
Strikes come from two places: the four core rules, and the risk hygiene patterns below. Both escalate the same ladder.
The Four Core Rules
Rule 1 — Overleverage
Single-trade margin usage above 30% of the account is the maximum allowed.
Rule 2 — Outsized risk
Planned stop-loss risk on a trade idea exceeds 2% of account size, across the same symbol and direction, whether overlapping or opened within 2 minutes of each other.
Rule 3 — Revenge
After a losing trade of 0.5% of account size, a new position opens within 5 minutes on any symbol.
Rule 4 — Overexposure
Approaching the product daily loss limit on 3 or more days within a 30-day window, meaning within 0.5% of the limit. This is a coaching flag: it counts toward the ladder but carries no payout deduction.
What Counts as a Trade Idea?
A trade idea includes all trades floating at the same time on the same symbol and direction, or those opened within 2 minutes of each other.
Risk means the planned USD loss if the stop is hit. It is not realized P&L, and it is not the stop's distance as a percentage of price. Margin caps and idea-risk caps are both evaluated with this definition in mind.
Risk Hygiene and Abusive Patterns
Beyond the four core rules, unhealthy patterns can trigger independent strikes when they dominate a payout period. These apply from a minimum of 10 closed trades, and trades already flagged under another rule are not struck twice.
Unrealistic trade duration
More than 50% of trades held under 2 minutes, or a majority of period profits coming from those trades.
Negative risk/reward
More than 60% of comparable setups carrying negative planned R:R, meaning reward under 0.9x risk, or more than 60% of period profits coming from them. The first detection on your profile is a courtesy warning only, with no strike and no Risk Management Group placement. A second detection places the account in Warned RMG if you are still Standard, or applies a strike if you are already in RMG.
Trading without a stop-loss
At least 50% of closed trades with no stop at exit, or a majority of period profits from unprotected trades.
What Happens During Evaluation?
During evaluation you trade toward the profit target as usual. The Clarity Desk is not included on evaluation logins.
When you reach the target, our Risk Management team reviews the evaluation history before or as the account is funded. If behavioral violations are present, we may assign a starting tier on the funded account: Warned RMG, Tier 1, or Tier 2, with protective controls in place from day one.
Repeating a behavior we already flagged on a prior evaluation can move the starting tier one step higher. In the most severe repeat cases we may offer a free retake instead of funding at the top of the ladder.
The Risk Management Group
After a risk review, or after a first strike, an account may be placed in the Risk Management Group. RMG is a guided environment rather than a penalty box: your account typically remains active, and at Warned RMG your profit split is unchanged.
Leverage caps while in RMG:
FX: 1:30
Indices: 1:10
Oil: 1:10
Metals: 1:9
Commodities: 1:1
Crypto: 1:1
You must also respect a maximum margin usage of 30% at any time, a maximum risk per trade idea of 1% of initial account balance, which is roughly $1,000 on a $100,000 account, and a stop-loss on every trade.
Tier Ladder and Payout Deductions
Strikes escalate the account through four tiers.
Warned RMG — first strike
Account stays active. Your product's profit split is unchanged. RMG controls apply. No deductions at this tier.
Tier 1 — second strike
Profit split moves to 70/30, replacing your product's standard split. 50% deduction on each violating trade at payout. RMG controls remain.
Tier 2 — third strike
Profit split moves to 60/40. 100% deduction on each violating trade at payout. RMG controls remain.
Tier 3 — fourth strike
Account discontinuation due to repetitive behaviors. There is no new split schedule, and this account is closed.
Deductions are recorded when a strike occurs and applied at your next payout request. Nothing is withdrawn from your balance at the time of the strike.
Profit on a payout request is that period's closed-trade net, floored at $0, not violation profit. Overexposure adds no clawback. Profitable revenge trades in the period are deducted in full, while losing revenge trades add none. If deductions meet or exceed eligible profit, the payout may be held at $0 net payable, and your account may still remain active unless it has been discontinued.
Returning to Standard Trading Conditions
Graduation is automatic once the criteria for your current tier are met at the same time. No reassessment request is required. A strike during a cycle resets the counters for that tier.
Warned RMG — softer path
2 successful completed payouts with no strikes in those cycles
Account at its original funded starting balance in live cash
No open positions at the time of review
Tier 1 and Tier 2 — full criteria
3 consecutive clean payout cycles
10% cumulative account growth within that tier
3 profitable trading days, each at least 0.25% net realized P&L
Completing the set on Tier 2 steps you down to Tier 1. Completing it on Tier 1, or on Warned RMG, returns you to Standard. Counters reset whenever you enter a new tier. Tier 3 is discontinuation, so there is no graduation path.
Do These Rules Apply Across Multiple Accounts?
In specific cases, yes.
3 or more strikes across funded accounts within 30 days may place all active accounts into Warned RMG at user level.
New Instant Funded accounts purchased while an existing account is in RMG typically start in Warned RMG.
Discontinuation at Tier 3 applies to that account only. Other accounts are not automatically closed by the same notice, though user-level actions are separate where applicable.
Hard Breaches
Some Terms of Service violations are hard breaches. They can result in immediate account discontinuation and are not handled as ordinary strikes. Examples include hedging, cross-account coordination or copy trading in breach of the Terms of Service, and other serious violations published on fundingtraders.com/terms-of-service.
Product hard rules also remain in force regardless of your tier: maximum drawdown, daily loss limit breaches, consistency, Instant Funded news rules, and the 1-Step and 2-Step Pro news profit cap.
Where to Track All of This
Every rule in this article is monitored live on your funded account and shown in the Clarity Desk.
The Clarity Desk shows your Discipline score and current tier, flagged trades under each of the four rules, your risk hygiene, what your next payout would pay after split and deductions, your product's payout gates, and your progress toward graduation. Check it before requesting a payout. Full walkthrough in the Clarity Desk article.
Appeals and Contact
If you believe a strike or escalation was issued in error, reply to the notice email or contact accounts@fundingtraders.com. Our risk team reviews appeals within 48 hours.
FundingTraders' Commitment
Membership in the Risk Management Group is an opportunity to sharpen risk control while you continue trading live capital. The tier ladder exists to make consequences predictable and the way back visible, not to end careers.
Repeated violations of protective rules, or hard breaches of the Terms of Service, can end funding for that account. Discipline is non-negotiable for long-term partnership.