# Prop firms guide

Proprietary trading firms (short prop firms) are expanding rapidly, and interest in trading with them is growing just as fast. To support your success and help you remain compliant, we've created this guide with key recommendations.

Before anything else, make sure you thoroughly read and understand the specific rules of your chosen prop firm. The guidelines provided here are meant to assist you in staying compliant. They **must not be used to bypass or circumvent** the firm’s official rules in any way.

We recommend starting with smaller accounts to test and refine your settings. Ultimately, **you are fully responsible** for ensuring your trading activities remain within the firm’s guidelines.

## Settings reccomendations

1. **Use** [**Risk Limits**](/features/basic-features.md#risk-limits) **and** [**Profit Targets**](/features/basic-features.md#profit-targets)**:** Set clear limits to manage your exposure and ensure disciplined trading.
2. **IP Address Considerations:**
   * If the prop firm monitors IP addresses, use either a [**dedicated IP**](/features/pro-features.md#dedicated-ip) or your [**home IP/VPS**](/tutorials/my-home-ip.md).
   * When using your home IP, configure it at the [**project level**.](/tutorials/my-home-ip.md#limitations)
   * When using a dedicated IP, make sure to **disable the** [**fallback option**](/features/basic-features.md#fallback-setting).
   * When adding a new account to MetaCopier, select either the dedicated IP or your home IP to ensure that the first connection is also made using your own IP address.
3. **Lot Size Limitations:** Some prop firms impose limits on lot sizes per trade. If necessary, define [**custom lot size limits per symbol**](/features/basic-features.md#max-lot-size).
4. [**Disable Trade Comments**](/features/basic-features.md#settings-1)**:** Turn off the comment feature in the copier to avoid any potential flagging.
5. **Limit Open Positions:** Use the copier’s [**max open positions**](/features/basic-features.md#max-open-positions) feature to control the number of simultaneous trades.
6. **Avoid Identical Trades:** To prevent trades from being too similar, consider
   1. enabling the [**TP/SL (Take Profit / Stop Loss) management**](/features/pro-features.md#tp-sl-management) feature on the copier and setting a value for the "*Additional TP points*" and "*Additional SL points*" to introduce variation in the position parameters
   2. enabling also the "*Adjust with master distance*" option in the TP/SL Management feature to to further randomize TP/SL values based on the slippage and spread of the slave account
   3. enabling the [Delayed execution](/features/pro-features.md#delayed-execution) feature to apply a random delay for opening and closing positions
7. [**Minimum holding time**](/features/basic-features.md#minimum-holding-time) **a position must stay open:** Sometimes, closing trades too quickly may violate certain rules or restrictions.
8. [**Block Hedge Positions**](/features/basic-features.md#block-hedging): Prevents opening a trade if an opposite position (BUY vs SELL) on the same symbol already exists, helping you stay compliant with prop firm no-hedging rules.


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