What is Apex Trader Funding's half-contract scaling rule rule?

You're limited to HALF your tier's max contracts until your end-of-day balance exceeds Initial Balance + Trailing Drawdown + $100 (a 50K unlocks full 10 contracts at $52,600). After that the full contract limit stays unlocked even if balance later drops. Watch out: Oversizing before that cushion is reached is a violation that can void payouts/accounts. As of March 2026 Rithmic/Tradovate block over-limit orders automatically — but exceeding it on a platform that doesn't block still violates the rule.

Apex Trader Funding · Max lot size

Apex Trader Funding: Half-contract scaling rule

ConditionalPayout deniedVerifiedUpdated Jun 5, 2026

You're limited to HALF your tier's max contracts until your end-of-day balance exceeds Initial Balance + Trailing Drawdown + $100 (a 50K unlocks full 10 contracts at $52,600). After that the full contract limit stays unlocked even if balance later drops.

The gotcha

Oversizing before that cushion is reached is a violation that can void payouts/accounts. As of March 2026 Rithmic/Tradovate block over-limit orders automatically — but exceeding it on a platform that doesn't block still violates the rule.

The numbers

halfUntil

balance > start + DD + $100

Source: official tos — official page . Confidence: verified.

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Informational only — not financial advice, not affiliated with Apex Trader Funding. Verify against official terms before relying on this. Last reviewed Jun 5, 2026.