Topstep Daily Reset Time & Drawdown Rules
Last updated: September 2026
Prop firms / Topstep
Topstep is a futures firm, and futures rules are not forex rules. The trading day does not begin at midnight anywhere — it begins at the 17:00 Chicago session open, in line with the CME trading session.
Its maximum drawdown also trails intraday, following your peak account value as it happens rather than waiting for the end of the day. That is stricter than an end-of-day trail, because a peak you reached and immediately gave back still counts against you.
When the Topstep trading day resets
The daily limit resets at 17:00 in Chicago time (America/Chicago). That zone observes daylight saving, so the equivalent time in your own timezone moves by an hour twice a year — which is exactly why working it out once and writing it down goes wrong.
How Topstep measures drawdown
Intraday trailing drawdown — follows your peak equity in real time.
The distinction matters more than the percentage. A static drawdown sits under your starting balance and never moves, so your worst case is fixed from day one. A trailing drawdown climbs behind your profits, which means the level that breaches you is a moving target — and where a firm lets that floor climb past your starting balance, you can fail while still showing a profit.
Why Topstep accounts actually fail
- The 17:00 Chicago boundary moves against UTC twice a year with US daylight saving, and it does not line up with the European DST changes.
- An intraday trail reacts to peaks you may never have noticed — a spike during a fast move can lift your floor permanently.
- Futures P&L is driven by tick value and contract size, so a position-sizing error scales far faster than in forex.
Track it without doing the arithmetic
The Pips Project keeps a live count of the headroom left on each limit, measured on Topstep's own reset clock rather than your local midnight, and follows a trailing floor when the firm trails one. It also tells you which limit binds first, because that is the number that actually stops you. See how it works, or read our guide to journalling a prop-firm challenge.
Frequently asked
When does the Topstep trading day start?
At 17:00 America/Chicago, matching the CME session open, rather than at midnight. Because Chicago observes US daylight saving, the equivalent UTC time shifts twice a year.
Is Topstep drawdown trailing?
Yes, and it trails intraday — it follows your peak account value in real time rather than only at the end of each day, so a peak reached and given back inside one session still raises the level you must stay above.
Not affiliated with Topstep. Rules change — always confirm the current terms in your own Topstep dashboard. Nothing here is financial advice; see our disclaimer.