Source: https://whitepips.com/blog/what-happens-when-you-break-a-rule Summary: Hard breaches, warnings, strikes, reviews and resets at WhitePips: what each kind of rule does when it is broken, and why no detector closes an account. Last updated: 2026-10-28 # What happens when you break a prop firm rule Hard breaches, warnings, strikes, reviews and resets at WhitePips: what each kind of rule does when it is broken, and why no detector closes an account. - October 11, 2026 - 8 min read - 8 sections - Risk **In this article 8** 1. What kinds of rule are there? 2. What happens when you hit a loss limit? 3. How do warnings work? 4. What is a strike? 5. Which rules only hold back a payout? 6. What happens when the risk desk reviews your trading? 7. Do prohibited strategies on futures end the account at once? 8. Can you reset or restart after a breach? Back to top October 11, 2026 8 min read Risk ## In short - Loss limits are hard: the CFD Max Daily Loss and Max Loss, and the futures Maximum Loss Limit, end the account at once. - Warning rules allow two warnings each, and the second closes the account. An exposure warning on an account in profit resets the profit. - Strikes on Instant cut the next payout to a 10% split; recoverable rules pause payouts on that account until the figure is back inside. - Prohibited strategies go to the risk desk. A clear case pauses the account, but a person decides, and no detector closes an account on its own. - Resets and restarts exist, each with its own conditions and price. It depends on the kind of rule. At WhitePips, reaching a loss limit (the Max Daily Loss or Max Loss on a CFD account, the Maximum Loss Limit on futures) is a hard breach that ends the account at once. Warning-based rules give a warning first and close the account only on the second, some rules only hold back a payout, and suspected prohibited strategies go to a person on the risk desk, because no automated detector closes an account on its own. The legal text is in the [Trading Rules](https://whitepips.com/legal/trading-rules) , and the [trading rules explained](https://whitepips.com/rules) page shows every rule with its figures. This article walks through what each kind of rule does when it is broken. ## What kinds of rule are there? The rules page sorts every rule into six kinds, and the kind tells you the consequence before you read the detail: - **Ends the account.** A hard limit; touching it closes the account. - **Warning.** The first time is a warning on your record; the second closes the account (2 of 2). - **Recoverable.** Cross it and payouts on that account are paused until the figure is back inside. - **Risk desk reviews.** A person looks at the trades. - **Payout waits.** Not a breach; the payout request waits until the condition is met. - **Objective.** What you trade towards; there is nothing to break. ## What happens when you hit a loss limit? On every CFD plan the Max Daily Loss and the Max Loss are hard limits, both measured on equity, open losses included. When either is reached, trading is switched off, open positions may be closed automatically, and the account ends. Simulated profit on a hard-breached account is void and carries no entitlement to a payout. The Terms add a point worth knowing: a hard breach of a loss limit is a normal outcome of an evaluation, not misconduct. Nothing follows from it beyond the end of that account, although its fee is not refunded. You are emailed when you have used 80% of each limit, and again if it is reached. On futures, the Maximum Loss Limit is the hard limit. The Daily Loss Limit is soft: reaching it closes your positions and stops trading for the rest of that day, and the account trades again the next day. **Worked example.** On a $100K Edge 1 Step the Max Daily Loss is $4,000 and the static Max Loss is $7,500. If yesterday closed at $101,000, today's floor is $97,000, and equity touching $97,000 at any moment, even on a position that later recovers, ends the account. The Max Loss floor sits at $92,500 for the life of the account, however high the balance climbs first. The habit that protects you is described in [the daily loss limit](https://whitepips.com/blog/the-daily-loss-limit) . ## How do warnings work? Warning-based rules allow two warnings each, counted separately for each rule. The second warning on any one rule closes the account, whatever its standing on the others. On CFD accounts the main ones are: - **Max. Exposure.** The combined notional value of all open positions as a share of the balance: $1,250,000 on a $100K account. Going over is warning 1 of 2, and trading goes on. If the account is in profit at that moment, the profit is reset: the balance returns to the starting balance and the target counts from zero again, though profitable days already earned are kept. In loss, nothing is reset. - **Max Floating Loss per Trade.** How far one open trade may run against you: 2% of the starting balance, or 1.5% on Instant, checked once an account is funded. The warning works the same way as Max. Exposure. - **Weekend Holding.** Without the add-on, positions still open at 4:45 PM New York time on Friday are closed by the system. The first time is a warning: the account stays open and nothing is reset. The second time closes the account. Warnings carry over to the next account on a phase pass or a Challenge Reset. On a $100K Edge 1 Step standing at $103,500, an exposure breach takes the balance back to $100,000: the $3,500 of progress is gone, the account is still open, and the next exposure breach ends it. Both rules are covered in more depth in [max exposure and floating loss](https://whitepips.com/blog/max-exposure-and-floating-loss) . ## What is a strike? A strike is a soft breach that costs money rather than the account. On Instant Pro and Instant Go, the open positions on one symbol may not together float below 1.5% of the starting balance. A 1% floating loss sends a notice, the first 1.5% breach is a formal warning, and each breach after that is a strike, which means the next payout cycle is paid at a 10% split. On a funded Instant Pro at 75%, a strike before a payout on $2,000 of profit means $200 is paid instead of $1,500; the cycle after that is back at 75%. The Trading Rules also set a ceiling: accounts run on a five-strike system, and reaching it closes the account. Futures have their own steps. Going over the Maximum Position Size once is a warning, and a second time puts the account under review. On a funded futures account, a trade opened or closed from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after a high-impact USD release has its profit removed while any loss stays; the first and second violations are warnings, and the third goes to compliance review. A news violation is never an automatic breach. ## Which rules only hold back a payout? Some rules never end an account. On CFD accounts, HFT (scalping) and Profit Concentration are recoverable: while either is over its limit, payouts on that account are paused, and once profit from other trades brings the share back down, they open again by themselves. On futures, the Consistency Rule and Microscalping hold the payout, or the pass, until the figures are back within their limits, and the account stays open. Profitable days, minimum payouts and payout cycles work the same way: the request simply waits. ## What happens when the risk desk reviews your trading? Prohibited practices, such as copying someone else's trades, hedging across accounts or exploiting stale prices, are not measured on a dashboard card. The risk desk reviews them from the order history, the terminal addresses and the price feed. The rules page sets out what a review means: - **A finding is raised.** The system matches a pattern and stores the evidence. You are not told which pattern, so it cannot be gamed. - **A clear case pauses the account.** When the evidence is strong, trading is paused at once: open positions are closed, payout requests wait, your dashboard shows that the account is under review, and you get an email. A borderline reading goes to the desk without pausing anything. - **A person decides.** The risk desk looks at the trades themselves and emails you the outcome. - **The outcome.** Cleared: trading and payouts are back on. A warning: the trades are noted and you carry on. Confirmed: the profit of those trades is removed, a payout is held, or the account is closed; repeated or deliberate behaviour closes every account named. The pause is not a closure. The Trading Rules say no account is closed by a detector alone, and the Privacy Policy draws the same line: a loss-limit breach is an objective measurement, while a prohibited-trading flag is normally reviewed by a person before an account is closed or a payout refused. You are expected to cooperate with a review, which can mean explaining your strategy, providing an expert advisor, or joining a short video call. ## Do prohibited strategies on futures end the account at once? Futures accounts have a published list of 17 prohibited strategies, each with its consequence. Ten go to manual review by the risk desk first, which can lead to anything from a warning to a permanent ban. Six are immediate termination, with profits and any pending payout forfeited: latency arbitrage and feed errors, spread and exchange arbitrage, market manipulation, high-frequency or algorithmic exploitation, and account sharing or device sharing, which close every account of both traders. Frequent IP changes, a VPN or a proxy start an enhanced identity check. Immediate still means confirmed first. It means no warning beforehand once the risk desk confirms the conduct; no account is closed by an automated detector alone. ## Can you reset or restart after a breach? - **Challenge Reset (CFD, free).** On a live evaluation with no open positions, at break-even or better, the balance returns to its starting figure and the phase starts again. It does not remove warnings. - **Challenge Restart and Funded Restart (CFD, paid).** After an evaluation breach, the same plan and size from Phase 1. After a funded breach, Edge and Prime go back through their evaluation, and Instant comes back funded at its starting balance. A restart is offered for 7 days after the breach, and nothing is reset while a compliance review is open. - **Funded Reset (CFD, paid).** For a funded account that has not been breached, on the conditions in the Trading Rules. Unlike a Challenge Reset, it clears warnings and strikes. - **Futures.** A breached One Step evaluation can be restarted within 14 days for the reset fee printed beside the price, which equals it: $81, $107, $179 and $239 on the $25K to $150K accounts. A funded One Step that breaches can be reset within 14 days at five times the evaluation fee ($535 on $50K), at most twice and only before its first payout. Instant has no reset; a new account at a reduced price is offered for 3 days. Five patterns that end evaluations, and how to spot them from the inside, are set out in [how evaluations are actually lost](https://whitepips.com/blog/how-evaluations-are-lost) . More in Risk [EOD trailing drawdown, explained with an example](https://whitepips.com/blog/eod-trailing-drawdown-explained) [Scalping on a funded account: the 120-second rule](https://whitepips.com/blog/scalping-on-a-funded-account) [Why there is no deadline, and what to do with it](https://whitepips.com/blog/no-time-limit) [Read next The five ways evaluations are actually lost Risk ยท 2 min read](https://whitepips.com/blog/how-evaluations-are-lost) Educational content, not financial advice. Trading carries risk and most people who attempt an evaluation do not pass it. Accounts are simulated; the rules that bind yours are the ones printed on your plan and in the trading rules. [All articles](https://whitepips.com/blog) ## Related articles Risk August 24, 2026 2 min read ### The five ways evaluations are actually lost Not bad analysis. Five recognisable failure patterns, and what each one looks like from the inside on the day it happens. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/how-evaluations-are-lost) Risk October 2, 2026 7 min read ### Max exposure and max floating loss: two rules to watch What the Max Exposure and Max Floating Loss rules measure, how a warning becomes a closed account, and how to size so you never see one. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/max-exposure-and-floating-loss) Risk September 26, 2026 8 min read ### Prop firm rules explained: every limit in one place Daily Loss Limit, Maximum Loss Limit, exposure, floating loss, consistency, news and weekends: what each rule measures and what crossing it costs. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/prop-firm-rules-explained) ## Ready to see the plans? Every plan, size and price, with the rules printed before you buy. 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