A breach is a rules event designed to mark the violation of a defined risk limit — most commonly the daily loss limit or maximum drawdown — ending the evaluation or funded period.

Programs distinguish hard breaches (immediate, automatic, account-ending — drawdown violations are almost always hard) from soft breaches (rule violations such as prohibited news trading, which may void specific trades or trigger warnings instead). The breach data across an industry is remarkably consistent: most account losses come from daily-limit breaches during high-volatility sessions, not from slow drawdown erosion.