This paper investigates the seismic performance of story drift–controlled reinforced concrete (RC) frames with hysteretic dampers. The frame models include a wide range of mechanical properties of dampers, which are defined according to a proportion rule in order to explicitly control the yield story drift of dampers. The story drift response, hysteretic energy dissipation and other parameters are examined to evaluate the effectiveness of dampers. The influence of the global flexural deformation of the frame on the response of dampers is also examined, and an analytical procedure to account for this phenomenon is developed. The obtained results indicate that the seismic performance of the structure is improved by reducing the story drift demand and seismic damage uniformly over the building height. Regarding the global flexural deformation, the proposed analytical procedure can be used for a preliminary estimation of the story number up to which dampers yield before the RC frame.