The terms that decide your challenge

Defined the way the rules actually measure them — not the way marketing pages round them off. Each definition matches the exact mechanic simulated in the engine.

Drawdown mechanics

Trailing drawdown

A maximum-loss floor that ratchets upward as your equity makes new highs, staying a fixed dollar distance below the peak. It never moves back down. The intraday variant (Apex-style) tracks unrealized equity peaks trade by trade; the end-of-day variant (Topstep-style) only ratchets on closing equity. Same name, very different survival math.

Static drawdown

A floor fixed relative to your starting balance — lose more than the allowance in total and the account fails, but profits never move the floor. The most forgiving variant, standard in 2-step FX challenges (FTMO, FundedNext).

Freeze at initial

A property of some trailing drawdowns: once the floor climbs up to the starting balance, it locks and stops trailing. After the freeze, the account effectively becomes static-floor — which is why the early, pre-freeze days are statistically the most dangerous.

Daily loss limit

A per-day loss cap, usually measured from that day's starting equity. Breaching it fails the account (or the day, at some firms) regardless of total drawdown room. Clustered same-day losses are what breach it — which is why trades-per-day and a daily stop rule move this number more than win rate does.

Pass conditions

Profit target

The percentage gain that completes an evaluation phase (commonly 6% futures, 8–10% FX Phase 1, ~5% Phase 2). Hitting it is necessary but not sufficient — minimum days and consistency rules still apply.

Consistency rule

A pass condition requiring your best single day to stay under a set share of total profit (30–50% depending on firm). If one day dominates, the pass is blocked and you must keep trading — with all loss limits live — until more green days dilute it. Full explanation with the math.

Minimum trading days

The fewest distinct trading days required before a pass can register, regardless of profit. Prevents one-day passes; interacts badly with high-risk styles that hit the target fast.

Phase 2 / Verification

The second evaluation step in 2-step programs: typically half the Phase 1 target under the same drawdown rules. Funding requires passing both — which is why an honest funded probability is Phase 1 × Phase 2, not the Phase 1 number alone.

Your statistics

R-multiple

Profit or loss expressed as a multiple of what you risked. Risk $250 and make $450: a +1.8R trade. Risk $250 and take a full stop: −1R. R-multiples make strategies comparable across account sizes and instruments — the engine's inputs are denominated in R for exactly that reason.

Win rate

Winning trades ÷ all trades. Meaningful only alongside average win/loss R — a 40% win rate with 2.5R winners beats a 60% win rate with 0.6R winners. Use your last 100+ trades, not your best month.

Expectancy

Average R per trade: win rate × avg win R − loss rate × avg loss R − costs. Positive expectancy is the entry ticket; whether it survives a specific firm's rules at your risk size is the actual question.

Risk per trade

The percentage of the account you lose when a stop is hit. The single most powerful lever over pass probability — drawdown failures respond almost linearly to it.

Simulation outputs

Monte Carlo simulation

Running thousands of alternate versions of your trading — each a random sequence drawn from your statistics — against the challenge rules, and reading pass/failure frequencies as probabilities. It answers "what does my edge imply under these rules," not "what will happen."

Pass probability

The share of simulated paths that satisfy every rule — target, drawdowns, minimum days, consistency — inside the time window. For 2-step programs, look at the funded probability (both phases), which is always lower.

Expected attempts

1 ÷ funded probability — the statistically expected number of paid evaluations before you pass. Multiply by the fee and you get expected fee spend: the number that turns a probability into a purchase decision.

Risk of ruin / failure probability

The probability of breaching a loss rule before reaching the target. In challenge context this is dominated by rule mechanics, not just strategy variance.

Survival Score

The engine's 0–100 composite of pass probability, drawdown-failure avoidance, and risk-band discipline for one configuration — a shareable compression, always shown with its components.

Safe risk band

The risk-per-trade range where failure probability stays acceptable without starving the pass rate. Shown as a band, not a point, because live execution never holds a constant.

The business you're entering

Evaluation / Challenge / Combine

The paid tryout: hit the target under the rules and receive a funded account. The fee is non-refundable at most firms if you fail — which is why ~90% failure rates make the median trader pay for 2–4 attempts.

Funded account

The post-evaluation account where you trade the firm's capital for a profit split (commonly 80–90% to you), under continuing — often stricter — rules.

Reset fee

A discounted price to restart a failed evaluation ($80–150 typical). Cheaper than a new fee, still real money — and the reason "expected attempts" belongs in your math before the first purchase.

Profit split / payout

Your share of funded-account profits. Splits are marketing headline numbers; payout gates, minimum days, and consistency requirements on the funded side determine what you actually collect.