Trailing vs static drawdown

The floor your account cannot cross

A maximum drawdown limit sets a loss floor for your account. Cross the firm's breach threshold and you can lose evaluation eligibility or have the account closed. Balance means account value after closed trades. Equity includes profit or loss on open trades. An open loss can trigger a breach before you close the position.

A daily loss limit controls losses within a trading day. A maximum loss limit controls the account's overall loss floor. You must follow both when both apply. FTMO's Challenge: 2-Step has a daily loss limit of 5% of initial simulated capital and a maximum loss limit of 10%. Staying within the maximum limit does not excuse a daily-limit breach.

Daily limits do not always mean account failure. Tradeify Growth uses a soft breach: hitting its daily loss limit stops trading for the day without failing the account. Topstep's maximum loss breach makes a Trading Combine ineligible for funding until reset; an Express Funded Account is permanently closed.

We read the official rules in October 2026. Before paying, check the specific plan and account stage. Challenges are paid evaluations on simulated accounts. Most traders do not pass, and the fee is usually lost when they fail. Funded accounts are also simulated at most firms.

Static drawdown keeps the floor fixed

Static drawdown sets the maximum loss floor from your starting balance and leaves it there. Profits do not raise that floor. If your account grows, the distance between its current value and the fixed floor grows too. If you give profits back, that distance shrinks, but the floor does not change.

FTMO's Challenge: 2-Step uses a static maximum loss limit of 10% of initial simulated capital. Its separate daily loss limit is 5%. The static rule suits traders who want profits to create more room above the maximum floor, rather than move the floor upward. It does not remove the daily restriction.

Topstep also offers a static plan, so the firm's name alone does not tell you the drawdown type. The Topstep Labs Static Drawdown Trading Combine has a $2,000 static maximum loss limit on its 50K account. That larger Static Combine also has a mandatory $1,000 daily loss limit, a $4,000 profit target, and a 90-day lifespan.

A fixed maximum floor can be simpler to track, but the daily limit, target, and expiration still constrain your trading. FTMO's static Challenge: 2-Step and end-of-day trailing Challenge: 1-Step use different floor mechanics.

Intraday trailing follows open profit

Intraday trailing drawdown moves the floor upward as your real-time equity reaches new highs. It includes unrealized gains: profit on a trade you have not closed. The floor does not fall when that open profit disappears. A trade can raise your floor and then pull back toward it without ever banking the peak profit.

Apex's Intraday Trailing Drawdown Evaluation follows the highest achieved account value in real time, including unrealized gains. Its 50K account has a $2,000 maximum intraday drawdown and a $3,000 profit target. There is no daily loss limit during this evaluation, but the moving maximum floor still restricts how much you can give back.

This catches traders who watch only their entry price or closed-trade balance. After an open-profit peak raises the floor, returning toward entry can use up the remaining room. The relevant distance is from current equity to the raised floor, not from your starting balance to the original floor.

Intraday trailing is harder on strategies that regularly surrender substantial open profit before exiting. Track the current threshold alongside your position's profit and loss. Apex's evaluation also has 30 calendar days of access with no extensions; the absence of minimum trading days does not remove that deadline.

End-of-day trailing updates at the close

End-of-day trailing separates when the floor moves from when it can be breached. The floor updates from qualifying closing account values rather than following every open-profit peak. That reduces the effect of intraday profit reversals on the next floor adjustment. It does not mean you can ignore the existing floor during the session.

Apex's EOD Evaluation recalculates its threshold once per trading day, using the account's closing balance. It trails the highest achieved end-of-day balance and never moves downward. Its 50K example has a $2,000 maximum drawdown, while the 50K EOD Evaluation also has a $1,000 daily loss limit.

Topstep's Trading Combine example starts at $50,000 with a $48,000 floor. A $500 gain brings the closing balance to $50,500 and raises the floor to $48,500. A subsequent $500 loss returns the balance to $50,000, but the floor stays at $48,500. A losing day does not restore the original cushion.

Topstep explicitly shows that unrealized losses can breach an end-of-day trailing floor intraday. In its example, an open loss takes account value to $47,750 and triggers liquidation. The final realized balance recovers to $48,050 during the exit, but that recovery does not undo the breach.

FTMO's Challenge: 1-Step uses end-of-day trailing, with a 10% maximum loss amount and a 3% daily loss limit. My Funded Futures Builder adjusts its maximum loss limit only after the market closes, based on the closing account value. Its default maximum loss is $2,000; the add-on version uses $1,500. Check the selected version before comparing limits.

A locked floor stops rising

Trailing-then-locks drawdown starts with a moving floor and becomes fixed after a stated trigger. The trigger may be an account value or a payout event. Locking stops further upward movement; it does not erase the floor or let you trade through it. Confirm both the trigger and the locked level.

Topstep's Standard and No Activation Fee Trading Combine paths trail end-of-day balance increases until the maximum loss floor reaches the starting balance. It then locks permanently. This combines end-of-day trailing with a cap on how far the floor can rise.

The account stage changes the figures. A Topstep 50K Express Funded Account starts with a -$2,000 floor, which locks at $0 when the account balance reaches $2,000. After the first payout, Topstep sets the floor to $0 regardless of its previous level. Its example withdraws $5,000 from $10,000, leaving $5,000 above that fixed floor; hitting $0 closes the account.

Apex's Live Prop Trading Program uses a different trigger. Its initial end-of-day drawdown is $3,000. When the live account profit balance reaches +$3,100, the floor locks at +$100. A balance of $100 or less closes the live account. This is a live-program rule, not a rule to assume for Apex evaluations.

My Funded Futures Pro ties the change to the first payout. After that payout, its maximum loss floor becomes static at $50,100, $100,100, or $150,100 for the respective account sizes. Check the account-stage terms before assuming an evaluation's floor continues unchanged after funding or withdrawal.

Match the floor to your trading style

Compare how much open profit your strategy gives back, whether it holds positions across sessions, and whether it trades scheduled news. Drawdown type answers only the floor question. Holding restrictions, daily limits, and payout-related changes can still make a plan unsuitable.

• Scalpers: Intraday trailing requires close attention to open-profit peaks and pullbacks, even during short trades. Static or end-of-day trailing avoids raising the maximum floor with every intraday unrealized high, but you must still protect the active floor.
• Swing traders: A fixed floor does not grant overnight permission. Tradeify prohibits overnight holding, and My Funded Futures Builder requires positions to close before the session ends. FTMO's pages we read do not state weekend-holding permission; confirm it before choosing.
• News traders: Check permission separately from drawdown. Tradeify allows news trading without restrictions. FTMO forbids gap trading by opening trades around scheduled market-moving news, and My Funded Futures Rapid funded trading prohibits Tier 1 news trading.
• Beginners: Static drawdown has fewer moving parts because the maximum floor stays fixed. Still track the separate daily limit. End-of-day trailing needs an updated floor after profitable closes, while intraday trailing also requires tracking unrealized peaks.
• Traders planning withdrawals: Check the post-payout floor and the balance left above it. Topstep sets the Express Funded Account floor to $0 after the first payout, while My Funded Futures Pro makes its stated floor static after the first payout.