Copy trading with prop firm accounts: what to check before you connect

Updated 2026-11-07

Traders who pass a prop firm challenge often want the same trades on several accounts: on a second funded account, on a personal account, or from a personal account to the funded one. Technically this is ordinary copying between MT4 or MT5 accounts. What makes it different is that the firm’s rules decide whether it is allowed, and breaking them can cost the account or the payout.

This guide does not tell you what a particular firm allows: firms differ and change their rules. It lists the kinds of rules to look for, the SnapCopier settings that help you stay within them, and what a copier does not do for you.

Rules to look for in your firm’s terms

Copying someone else’s trades. Many firms want the trading on a funded account to be your own, and do not allow copying a signal provider or another trader.
Copying between your own accounts. Some firms allow it, often up to a total account size; others do not. The terms usually say so under copy trading or account management.
Opposite positions across accounts. Holding a buy on one account and the same sell on another is commonly forbidden, at the same firm and sometimes across firms.
The same trades as other traders. Identical trades on many unrelated accounts can be flagged, even when every account is yours.
Expert advisors and third-party tools. Some firms list what software may trade the account.

If the terms are unclear, ask the firm’s support in writing before you connect, and keep the answer.

Settings that keep copies within your limits

Setting	Use it for
A multiplier or a fixed lot	Sizing the copy by the funded account’s own risk plan, not by the master’s balance
Maximum lot	A hard cap on any single copy, whatever the master trades
Symbol whitelist	Copying only the instruments the firm allows, or that you trade on that account
Magic number filter	Copying only the trades of a selected expert advisor, or leaving one out
Margin guard	Reducing or skipping a trade that would need more than 90% of the free margin
Stop loss and take profit	Copying the master’s stops, so a copy is protected on its own

Reverse copying opens the opposite direction of the master. Between two prop accounts that is exactly the opposite-positions case above, so check the rules before you switch it on.

What a copier does not know

Your daily loss and drawdown limits. The copier sizes and places trades, but it does not stop copying when an account gets close to a loss limit. The same goes for a cap on the total open lots or on the number of open trades. None of these is available at the moment, and we are considering adding them. Until then, size the copies so that the master’s worst day stays within the funded account’s limit.
Your firm’s rules. It does not read or enforce them.
Where the orders come from. A cloud copier places the copies from its own servers, not from your computer or VPS. If your firm asks how the account is traded, that is the answer.

Pausing a link stops new copies at once. If copies are open, you choose what happens to them: keep managing them (the master’s closes and stop changes still reach them), leave them open for you to manage, or close them now.

What happens to stops when the connection drops

With stop loss and take profit copying switched on, the stops are set on the follower’s copy right after it opens, as a separate request, so that a level the follower’s broker refuses cannot cost the entry. A pending order gets its stops together with the order. Once set, the stops sit on the follower’s broker server. If the copier loses its connection they stay where they are, and the broker still executes them. With both switched off the copier places no stops at all.

For the moment between the fill and the stop request the copy has no stop. If the broker refuses the level, or the connection drops in that moment, the comparison described below puts the stop on.

While everything is connected, a stop the master moves is copied to the follower right away. After an interruption the follower is compared with its master as soon as the master or the follower is back. The same comparison also runs in the background every five minutes, as a safety net for anything that was missed. It puts right what differs.

A stop the master moved meanwhile is changed on the follower to match.
A trade the master closed meanwhile is closed on the follower too, unless Close orphaned positions is switched off.
A partial close that was missed is repeated in proportion.
A trade the master opened meanwhile is copied late, but only if the follower’s price is still within Max slippage of the master’s entry.

The one thing the copier cannot do is place or change anything while the follower’s own connection to its broker is down. If the master moves a stop in that time, the follower gets it after the reconnect. If the broker hits a stop meanwhile, the trade closes as usual.

Setting it up

1Read the firm’s rules on copy trading, and ask if they are unclear.
2Add the master to SnapCopier; the investor password is enough. Add the prop account as a follower with its trading password.
3Choose the lot rule and the maximum lot from the funded account’s risk plan, and switch on stop loss copying if the master uses stops.
4Restrict the symbols if the firm or your plan limits them.
5Copy a small trade first and compare the copy’s size and stops in the copy log.

Questions

Is copy trading allowed on prop firm accounts?

It depends on the firm. Some allow copying between your own accounts, many do not allow copying other traders, and opposite positions across accounts are commonly forbidden. Your firm’s terms decide.

Can the copier stop at my daily loss limit?

Not at the moment. The copier does not track a firm’s loss or drawdown limits. We are considering adding it. Until then, keep the copy size small enough that the master’s worst day fits within them, and pause the link if you need to stop.

What happens to my stops if the copier loses its connection?

With stop copying on, the stops are set right after the copy opens and then sit on the follower’s broker server, so they stay there if the copier loses its connection. When the connection is back, the follower is compared with its master, a missing stop is put on, and a stop the master moved meanwhile is changed to match. A copy whose master trade was closed is closed too. While the follower’s own connection to its broker is down, nothing can be placed or changed.

Can I copy from a funded account to my personal account?

Technically yes: the funded account can be the master with its read-only investor password. Whether the firm allows it is in its terms.

Try it with your own accounts

Connect a master and a follower and watch the first copy appear in the log.

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