Roundup: EAs, copiers and prohibited strategies on prop accounts, what gets flagged
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 7:51 pm
Roundup: EAs, copiers and prohibited strategies on prop accounts, what gets flagged
Automation and copy rules on prop accounts get asked about constantly and answered vaguely. There are eight threads on the board that each cover a slice of it, so here's the combined picture. Usual caveat from every one of them: firms word these rules differently and change them, so read your own terms.
What's usually allowed and what isn't
The automation overview thread gives a rough map:
"Helper" tools aren't automatically safe
This is where the threads get more useful. The TFT EA policy thread warns that "I only use it for exits" is not a shield. Close-all tools, bracket helpers and news-flatten scripts can all fall under the policy, so check before attaching anything. A reply adds that you should screenshot the platform as well as the rule page, because when many firms moved off MetaTrader, the EA rules changed with the platform.
The whitelist thread and the funded EA restrictions thread take a minimal approach: defensive scripts only, like a daily loss flatten or a blackout-window order block, and nothing that places entries without a click. Anything that manages entries automatically draws more scrutiny. One suggests testing on a throwaway challenge first if you must use a tool you're unsure about.
Prohibited strategies and grey areas
The prohibited strategies thread walks through the list. Latency arbitrage is banned everywhere. Tick scalping is usually defined as trades held under a minimum time, often 30 to 60 seconds, making up a large share of activity. That's the one scalpers need to read carefully, because normal short holds can drift into it. Gap trading before the weekend close and hedging across accounts are also on most lists.
Hedging means three things
The hedging rules thread separates them. Same-account hedging is often allowed on MT5 hedging accounts and banned on netting ones. Hedging across your own accounts at one firm is almost always banned, because it guarantees one passes. Hedging across firms is banned too and gets caught through data sharing or payout reviews.
Copiers
The copy trading thread says copying between your own accounts at one firm is typically fine within a combined allocation cap. Copying from another person or a signal service is usually banned and detected by matching entries across unrelated accounts.
The signals thread gives the trading reasons on top of the compliance ones. Someone else's size, hold time and news policy aren't yours, a signal fine on their book can breach your daily limit in three tickets, and the latency between their fill and yours turns a scalp into a chase.
Where opinions differ
Mostly on how much automation to risk. Some threads run only a flatten script, others run their own full strategies with permission. Nobody argued for commercial EAs or copied signals.
Has anyone had a trade-management tool or copier questioned by a firm's risk desk? What did they ask for?
Threads this pulls from
Automation and copy rules on prop accounts get asked about constantly and answered vaguely. There are eight threads on the board that each cover a slice of it, so here's the combined picture. Usual caveat from every one of them: firms word these rules differently and change them, so read your own terms.
What's usually allowed and what isn't
The automation overview thread gives a rough map:
- Usually allowed: trade-management EAs for break-even, trailing and partial closes, position-size calculators, custom indicators.
- Often allowed with conditions: fully automated strategies you wrote yourself.
- Usually banned: off-the-shelf EAs sold to many traders, HFT and latency tools, arbitrage.
"Helper" tools aren't automatically safe
This is where the threads get more useful. The TFT EA policy thread warns that "I only use it for exits" is not a shield. Close-all tools, bracket helpers and news-flatten scripts can all fall under the policy, so check before attaching anything. A reply adds that you should screenshot the platform as well as the rule page, because when many firms moved off MetaTrader, the EA rules changed with the platform.
The whitelist thread and the funded EA restrictions thread take a minimal approach: defensive scripts only, like a daily loss flatten or a blackout-window order block, and nothing that places entries without a click. Anything that manages entries automatically draws more scrutiny. One suggests testing on a throwaway challenge first if you must use a tool you're unsure about.
Prohibited strategies and grey areas
The prohibited strategies thread walks through the list. Latency arbitrage is banned everywhere. Tick scalping is usually defined as trades held under a minimum time, often 30 to 60 seconds, making up a large share of activity. That's the one scalpers need to read carefully, because normal short holds can drift into it. Gap trading before the weekend close and hedging across accounts are also on most lists.
Hedging means three things
The hedging rules thread separates them. Same-account hedging is often allowed on MT5 hedging accounts and banned on netting ones. Hedging across your own accounts at one firm is almost always banned, because it guarantees one passes. Hedging across firms is banned too and gets caught through data sharing or payout reviews.
Copiers
The copy trading thread says copying between your own accounts at one firm is typically fine within a combined allocation cap. Copying from another person or a signal service is usually banned and detected by matching entries across unrelated accounts.
The signals thread gives the trading reasons on top of the compliance ones. Someone else's size, hold time and news policy aren't yours, a signal fine on their book can breach your daily limit in three tickets, and the latency between their fill and yours turns a scalp into a chase.
Where opinions differ
Mostly on how much automation to risk. Some threads run only a flatten script, others run their own full strategies with permission. Nobody argued for commercial EAs or copied signals.
Has anyone had a trade-management tool or copier questioned by a firm's risk desk? What did they ask for?
Threads this pulls from
- Prop Firms and EAs: What Automation Is Usually Allowed
- EA restrictions on funded accounts: what usually gets flagged
- Expert advisor whitelist blacklist experiences on prop
- EA policy on The Funded Trader: what got flagged in practice
- Prohibited Strategies at Prop Firms: Latency Arbitrage, Tick Scalping, and Grey Areas
- Copy Trading Between Your Own Prop Accounts: Where the Rules Draw the Line
- Prop scalpers: copying signals into prop is a bad idea
- Hedging Rules at Prop Firms: Same Account, Cross Account, and Cross Firm