Prop firm drawdown rules: trailing vs static

A static drawdown is a fixed floor (for example $90,000 on a $100,000 account). A trailing drawdown moves up with your highest balance, so giving back profit counts against you. We ran the same 20,000 simulated 30-day accounts through both: with daily swings of 1.5% of the account, the static 10% floor ended 8.8% of them and the trailing 10% floor 16.9% - about twice as many.

Checked 5 November 2026 · sources below

Share of 20,000 simulated accounts that hit the floor within 30 trading days (10% floor, 5% daily limit, small positive edge)

The four kinds of floor

• Static: fixed at the start balance minus the limit. It never moves.
• Trailing (intraday): follows your highest equity, including open profits during the day.
• Trailing end-of-day: follows your highest closing balance only; intraday peaks do not move it.
• Trailing that locks: stops moving once it reaches the start balance (or after a first payout on some plans).

Firms also differ on balance (closed trades only) versus equity (open losses count). Equity-based floors can be hit by a trade that later recovers.

How named firms set it (rule pages read 5 November 2026)

• Topstep Trading Combine 50K: $2,000 maximum loss, trailing end-of-day, locks at the starting balance (rule page).
• Lucid Trading LucidFlex 50K: $2,000 end-of-day trailing from the highest closing balance, locking once the balance passes a set level (rule page).
• My Funded Futures Flex 50K: end-of-day trailing, fixed after the first payout (rule page).
• FTMO 2-step 100k: 10% static, floor $90,000 (rule page).
• Maven Standard 2-step 100k: 8% static from the initial balance (terms).
• Breakout 1-Step Classic 100k: 6% of the initial balance, static (rule page).

In the plans we read, futures firms mostly used end-of-day trailing floors and forex/CFD firms mostly static ones.

Why trailing ends more accounts

With a static floor, every dollar of profit adds room. With a trailing floor, room never grows above the limit, and a normal pullback after a good run uses it up. In our test the gap widened as daily swings got bigger: at 1% swings the two floors were close; at 1.5% the trailing floor ended about twice as many accounts. A floor that locks at the start balance helped only a little inside 30 days, because most accounts never got far enough ahead for the lock to matter.

How the test was run

Simulated accounts, not real traders: $100,000 start, 30 trading days, daily results drawn at random with a small positive average (one-tenth of the daily swing), a 5% daily loss limit and a 10% floor. Same random days for every rule, so only the rule differs. Real trading has streaks and fat tails, so real breach rates are likely higher than these; the comparison between rules is the point.

Questions

What is a trailing drawdown in a prop firm?

A loss floor that rises with your highest balance (or equity). If the limit is $2,000 and you reach $52,000 on a $50,000 account, the floor moves from $48,000 to $50,000.

Is end-of-day trailing better than intraday trailing?

Usually easier: intraday peaks you give back before the close do not raise an end-of-day floor. It still trails your best closing balance.

Does the trailing drawdown ever stop?

On many plans it locks at the start balance, or after a first payout. Check the firm's rule page - in the plans we read, wording differed by plan.

Balance or equity drawdown - what's the difference?

Balance counts only closed trades; equity also counts open losses. An equity rule can end an account during a trade that would have recovered.

Sources

• Topstep: Maximum Loss Limit (trailing, end of day)
• FTMO: Trading Objectives - Maximum Loss
• Investopedia: Drawdown definition