TradingFlow Evaluation Rules
Complete MT5 evaluation rules and requirements for TradingFlow evaluation accounts. Read carefully before starting your evaluation.
Last updated: June 4, 2026
⚠️ By participating in a TradingFlow evaluation, you acknowledge that evaluation decisions are final and based solely on data received from your linked MT5 account.
Rules in plain English
Visitors should be able to understand the framework quickly here, then use the sections below for the detailed requirements and calculations.
Evaluation model clarification
TradingFlow evaluates trader performance in a demo environment connected to the trader’s MT5 account. Passing the evaluation does not mean trading live company capital. Qualified traders may become eligible for performance-based rewards under the program rules.
Only approved and whitelisted MT5 demo servers are supported. Your connection must use a valid investor/read-only password.
We evaluate trading performance and rule compliance in real time using MetaApi. Rules are enforced consistently for all participants to ensure fair evaluation.
Important:
TradingFlow does not execute, place, modify, or block trades. All enforcement is based on detected activity in your linked MT5 account.
1. Profit Target – TradingFlow Evaluation Requirement
You must reach the profit target based on account equity.
Formula:
Example:
- $10,000 account
- 10% target
- Required equity: $11,000
Profit is measured using equity, not just closed trades. Floating P&L counts.
Important: Ineligible Trades & Floating P&L
For qualified reward accounts, trades opened or modified during news windows are marked as ineligible for payout.
- Profits from ineligible trades are NOT included in floating P&L or equity calculations
- Losses from ineligible trades ARE included (losses always count)
- This ensures your account equity reflects only eligible profits while still accounting for all losses
2. Drawdown Rules (Daily & Maximum Drawdown Explained)
Daily Drawdown
Your equity must not fall below the daily peak equity minus the daily drawdown limit.
Formula:
- Daily peak equity resets at server day start
- The daily drawdown shown in your dashboard is the worst daily loss reached so far today
- Breach occurs immediately upon detection
Example:
- Daily peak: $10,000
- Daily DD limit: 5%
- Minimum allowed equity: $9,500
Maximum Drawdown
Your equity must never fall below the maximum drawdown threshold calculated from starting balance.
- The max drawdown shown in your account is the worst drawdown ever reached across the life of the account
- The breach threshold itself is still enforced from your current equity versus the allowed floor
Example:
- $10,000 account
- Max DD 10%
- Minimum equity allowed: $9,000
⛔ Breach is permanent and immediate
3. Trading Days
Minimum Trading Days
- A trading day counts when at least one trade is opened
- Days do not need to be consecutive
- Minimum must be met before passing
Maximum Trading Days
If the max trading days are reached without passing, the account expires.
Expired accounts cannot trade further
4. Position Risk Limit (VERY IMPORTANT)
Maximum risk per trade: 2.5% of equity
Risk is calculated using:
Risk is evaluated at trade open and again if the stop loss is added or widened later
⛔ Trades exceeding 2.5% risk result in account breach and permanent lock
5. Stop Loss Requirement
- All trades must have a stop loss attached within 2 minutes of opening
- If no stop loss is attached within 2 minutes, the account is breached and permanently locked
- The 2 minute grace window exists only to support MT5 quick-trading workflows, not to allow unmanaged risk
Stop losses protect both trader and evaluation integrity.
6. Leverage Requirements
- All evaluation accounts require 1:100 leverage
- Your MT5 demo account must match exactly
- Incorrect leverage results in connection rejection or account lock
6.5. Automated Trading Prohibition
Automated trading systems, expert advisors (EAs), scripts, and trade copiers are not permitted during the evaluation phase.
These rules are designed to protect disciplined traders and ensure fair evaluation for all participants. Our goal is long-term trader success, not avoidable rule failures.
TradingFlow evaluates discretionary trading skills under realistic conditions. Accounts exhibiting automated or algorithmic behaviour may be flagged and disqualified.
Allowed Trading Methods:
- ✅ MT5 Desktop - Manual trading via MetaTrader 5 desktop application
- ✅ MT5 Mobile - Manual trading via MetaTrader 5 mobile app
- ✅ MT5 Web - Manual trading via MetaTrader 5 web platform
Prohibited:
- ❌ Expert Advisors (EAs) - Automated trading robots
- ❌ Scripts - Automated trading scripts
- ❌ Trade Copiers - Copy trading systems
- ❌ Bots - Any automated trading system
Detection:
TradingFlow automatically monitors for EA-like behavior patterns, including:
- Unrealistic win rates (>85%) with very short trade durations
- Perfect timing patterns (trades at exact intervals)
- Unrealistic profit rates (impossible profit per second)
- Bot-like consistency (very low variance in trade patterns)
Accounts exhibiting these patterns will be flagged for manual review and may be disqualified. Rules are enforced consistently for all participants.
6.5. Allowed Trading Instruments
You can only trade the following instrument types:
✅ Allowed Instruments:
- Forex (FX) Pairs - Major, minor, and exotic currency pairs (e.g., EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY)
- Indices - Stock market indices (e.g., US30, US500, NAS100, UK100, DAX)
- Commodities - Metals (Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium) and Energy (Oil, Natural Gas)
❌ Prohibited Instruments:
- Cryptocurrencies - BTCUSD, ETHUSD, and all other crypto pairs are NOT allowed
- Individual Stocks - Stock CFDs are NOT allowed
- Bonds - Government or corporate bonds are NOT allowed
- Other - Any instrument not explicitly listed in the allowed instruments list
Enforcement Rules:
Evaluation Accounts (Phase 1 & Phase 2):
- Trading a disallowed instrument → ❌ Results in account breach and permanent lock
- Account is locked permanently
- You must purchase a new evaluation account to continue
Qualified Reward Accounts:
- Trading a disallowed instrument → ✅ Trade is synced, but marked as ineligible for payout
- Profits from disallowed instruments: NOT included in eligible payout balance
- Losses from disallowed instruments: ARE included (reduce eligible payout balance)
- Account balance stays in sync with MT5 (includes all trades)
7. High-Impact News Trading Restrictions
Trading during high-impact news windows is restricted. The rules differ for evaluation accounts (Phase 1/2) and qualified reward accounts.
Restriction Window:
- 5 minutes before the scheduled news release time
- 5 minutes after the scheduled news release time
- Total restriction: 10 minutes per high-impact event
- All restricted high-impact events use the published event time only; the lock window does not rely on estimated duration
- Applies to affected currency pairs/instruments only
- Official reference source: Forex Factory. TradingFlow records and enforces restricted events from its internal copy of that official reference.
Evaluation Accounts (Phase 1 & Phase 2):
- Opening new trades during restricted windows → ❌ Results in account breach and permanent lock
- Modifying SL/TP on existing positions during restricted windows → ❌ Results in account breach and permanent lock
- Removing SL/TP during restricted windows → ❌ Results in account breach and permanent lock
- Placing pending orders that would activate during restricted windows → ❌ Counts as a rule breach and permanent lock upon detection (TradingFlow does not cancel broker-side MT5 orders)
Qualified Reward Accounts:
- Opening trades during restricted windows → ✅ Allowed, but profits are ineligible for payout
- Modifying SL/TP during restricted windows → ✅ Allowed, but profits are ineligible for payout
- Losses always count - even from ineligible trades, losses impact your account equity
- Profits don't count - profits from ineligible trades are excluded from floating P&L and payout calculations
✅ Always Allowed:
- SL/TP orders triggered by the market (automatic executions)
- Existing positions remaining open during news
- Closing positions before the restriction window
TradingFlow does not block orders — violations are enforced upon detection via MT5 sync.
TradingFlow uses Forex Factory as its official reference calendar for restricted high-impact news events. Traders remain responsible for checking market news independently and planning around those published releases.
8. Trade Monitoring & Enforcement
Rules are enforced consistently for all participants. All rules are enforced as soon as violations are detected.
- Detection occurs within seconds of MT5 data sync
- These rules are designed to protect disciplined traders and ensure fair evaluation
Once breached:
- Account is locked
- TradingFlow MT5 sync connection is disconnected (broker-side MT5 positions/orders remain under your control)
- Breach report is generated
9. Commissions & Payouts
Commissions are applied only at payout time, not during trading. This means your account equity always matches what you see in your MT5 platform.
Commission Structure
| Account Size | Per Lot (per side) | Round Trip |
|---|---|---|
| $10K–$49K | $7 | $14 |
| $50K–$99K | $6 | $12 |
| $100K+ | $5 | $10 |
How it works: Commission is charged per lot per side (entry + exit). For a closed trade, multiply the rate by 2 for the round trip.
Payout Calculation Flow:
Profit Split After Commission:
- 10K → 80% to you, 20% to TradingFlow
- 50K → 85% to you, 15% to TradingFlow
- 100K → 90% to you, 10% to TradingFlow
The split is applied to Net Profit (after commissions are deducted).
Note: Commission charges cover platform costs, payment processing, and currency conversion fees. Currency conversion fees (if applicable) are included in the commission structure and do not result in additional charges.
10. What Happens If You Breach
- Account locked permanently
- Trading disabled
- New evaluation required to continue
You can purchase a reset for a discounted fee (25-40% of original price) to restart the same evaluation. Maximum 2 resets per account.
11. Account Limits
To ensure fair evaluation and manage risk, TradingFlow enforces the following account limits:
Active Evaluation Accounts
You can only have 1 active evaluation account in Phase 1 or Phase 2 at a time.
- Complete or fail your current evaluation before starting a new one
- This ensures focused evaluation and prevents gaming the system
Qualified Reward Accounts
If you have a qualified reward account, you can purchase and start another evaluation.
- Maximum of 2 qualified reward accounts per user
- Maximum combined balance of $200,000 across all qualified reward accounts
- This limit ensures sustainable risk management
Example Scenarios
- Scenario 1: You have 1 active Phase 1 account → Cannot start a new evaluation until you complete or fail it
- Scenario 2: You have 1 qualified reward account ($50k) → You can start a new evaluation
- Scenario 3: You have 2 qualified reward accounts ($100k + $50k = $150k) → You can start a new evaluation (total would be $200k)
- Scenario 4: You have 2 qualified reward accounts ($100k + $100k = $200k) → Cannot start a new evaluation (at balance limit)
12. Important Disclaimers
- TradingFlow does not control broker execution
- Slippage, spread widening, gaps, and latency are broker-side
- Evaluations are based solely on MT5-reported data
Frequently Asked Questions
❓ "Why wasn't my trade blocked?"▼
Because TradingFlow does not execute or block trades. Violations are enforced upon detection.
❓ "I didn't know there was news"▼
TradingFlow uses Forex Factory as its official reference calendar for restricted high-impact news events and enforces those windows automatically. Responsibility for checking market news remains with the trader.
❓ "My SL was hit during news"▼
Allowed. SL/TP market executions are never blocked. Only modifying SL/TP during news is restricted.
❓ "I modified my SL/TP during news"▼
Evaluation accounts: This results in account breach and permanent lock. Qualified reward accounts: The trade is marked as ineligible for payout, but losses still count.
❓ "Do ineligible trade profits affect my equity?"▼
No. Profits from ineligible trades are excluded from floating P&L and equity. However, losses always count and will reduce your equity.
❓ "Broker slipped me into DD"▼
TradingFlow evaluates based on MT5 data only. Broker execution risk is trader responsibility.
❓ "MetaApi lag caused a delay"▼
Enforcement occurs immediately upon detection. Minor sync delays do not invalidate violations.
❓ "Can I trade during rollover?"▼
Yes, trading during rollover is allowed. Rollover (swap) is a normal part of forex trading and does not trigger any restrictions. Only high-impact news events have trading restrictions.
❓ "What happens if my internet disconnects?"▼
Internet disconnections do not affect rule enforcement. TradingFlow syncs data from your MT5 account via MetaApi, which operates independently of your internet connection. If your MT5 broker's server is still running, trades will continue to sync. However, you remain responsible for managing your positions and ensuring compliance with all rules.