Prop firm drawdown explained: static, end-of-day and intraday trailing
The short answer
Static drawdown fixes your maximum loss to the starting balance and never moves it. Trailing drawdown raises that line as you profit, which means giving back an open gain can breach an account that is still up on the month.
Data checked 8 Sept 2026
The three models, in one table
When a failed challenge leaves a trader confused, the drawdown model is one of the first things to check. The rule is often one line in the terms and it changes the maths completely.
| Model | How the line moves | What breaches it |
|---|---|---|
| Static | Never. Fixed to the starting balance. | Only a real loss below the fixed floor. |
| End-of-day trailing | Recalculated once at the daily close, following your closed balance. | A loss below yesterday's close plus the allowance. |
| Intraday trailing | Follows live equity in real time, including unrealised profit. | Giving back an open gain, even without a losing trade. |
A worked example on a $100,000 account
Take a $100,000 account with a $3,000 maximum loss. You open a position, it runs $2,000 in your favour, and you let it come back to breakeven before closing flat for the day.
Under a static model, nothing has happened. Your floor is $97,000 and your balance is $100,000.
Under end-of-day trailing, nothing has happened either. The line is recalculated from your closed balance at the close, and your closed balance never changed.
Under intraday trailing, your peak equity hit $102,000, which dragged the loss line up to $99,000. You are now $1,000 from a breach on an account that has not lost a cent. This is how an intraday trailing line can fail an account that is still in profit.
Daily loss limits are a separate rule
Drawdown and daily loss are two independent constraints and confusing them is expensive. The maximum loss is a floor for the whole account. The daily loss limit is a floor for one session, and it resets.
What matters is what happens when you hit the daily limit. It can breach the account, so check the firm page before you trade near it. On Tradeify's Growth evaluation it is a soft breach: trading stops for the day rather than the account closing. Some of the futures programmes we list carry no daily loss limit at all, which means a bad morning can be traded back the same afternoon.
How to check before you buy
Two questions answer it. First: is the maximum loss quoted from the starting balance or from the account high? Second: is it recalculated at the close or continuously? If the terms do not say clearly, ask support and keep the reply.
Every firm page on PropScouting states the drawdown model per programme, because at several firms it differs between the programmes they sell.
Act on it
Find the firms this applies to
These rankings are generated from the firm database, so they reflect the current terms rather than what was true when this guide was written.
Related questions
Is trailing drawdown bad?
It is harder, not unfair. It caps the firm's exposure to a trader who spikes an account and then gives it back. But it materially penalises strategies that hold through open drawdown, and traders routinely buy it without realising which variant they chose.
What is trailing to breakeven?
A middle option: the loss line trails your profit only until it reaches your starting balance, then locks there permanently. Once you are past that point, the remaining drawdown behaves like a static line.
Does unrealised profit count towards drawdown?
Under intraday trailing, yes - that is exactly what makes it harsh. Under end-of-day trailing and static models, only closed balance matters.
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