Prop firm drawdown calculator
See how much an account can still lose today, and overall, before a daily loss or maximum loss rule is breached, with static or trailing drawdown.
How it is calculated
A prop-firm challenge usually has two loss rules running at once. Each rule sets a floor, a balance the account must stay above. The room under each rule is the distance from the current balance down to its floor, and whichever room is smaller is the one that decides how much can be lost.
Daily loss limit
The basis is either the starting balance, which makes the daily limit the same amount every day, or the balance at the start of today, which makes it grow and shrink with the account. Either way the floor sits that far below the balance at the last daily reset.
Maximum loss limit
A static floor is fixed by the starting balance. A trailing floor sits the maximum loss percentage below the highest balance reached; if the current balance is above the highest balance entered, the current balance is used as the high. With the box ticked, the trailing floor stops rising once it reaches the starting balance: floor = min(highest × (1 − max %), starting).
The calculator then compares the two rooms. The smaller one is the amount that can be lost before any rule is breached, and the rule behind it is the one that binds first. A balance at or below a floor means that rule is already breached on these figures.
Static drawdown, trailing drawdown and daily resets
Static maximum loss
The floor is fixed when the account starts and never moves. On a 100,000 account with a 10% maximum loss, the floor is 90,000 whatever happens next. Profit increases the room: at 104,000 there is 14,000 of room overall.
Trailing maximum loss
The floor follows the highest balance up, and never comes back down. With the same 10% limit, a peak of 104,000 lifts the floor to 93,600. Profit lifts the floor along with the balance, so the room overall stays close to the limit instead of growing, and giving back part of a peak uses room up. At 101,000 after that peak, the room is 7,400; under a static rule it would be 11,000.
Some trailing rules stop trailing once the floor reaches the starting balance. After that the floor is locked there and behaves like a static one. What the floor trails also varies: some rules follow the highest closing balance at the end of each day, others the highest equity at any moment, including profit on open trades that was never banked. Enter whichever peak your firm's rule uses as the highest balance.
This calculator trails by a percentage of the peak. Some firms trail by a fixed amount instead. To model a fixed amount, enter it as a percentage of the current highest balance: a trail of 10,000 below a peak of 104,000 is 9.6154%, which puts the floor at 94,000.
Daily resets
The daily limit restarts at a reset time set by each firm, which is often tied to a particular time zone rather than your local midnight. At each reset, the start-of-day balance becomes the new reference and the room today is restored. The room overall is never restored by a reset. Some firms take the higher of balance and equity at the reset as the reference, which means open profit at the reset can raise the daily floor.
Balance or equity
Rules measured on equity count open trades as they stand. A floating loss can breach a limit before any trade is closed. If that is how your firm measures, enter current equity rather than balance.
Check your firm’s rulebook. Rules differ between firms, between account types at the same firm, and over time. Before relying on any figure here, confirm in your firm's own rules which balance the daily limit is a percentage of, whether the maximum loss is static or trailing, whether it trails a percentage or a fixed amount, what the floor follows, whether it stops at the starting balance, and when the day resets.
The same kind of account under static and trailing rules
Static maximum loss, daily limit on today’s start
Starting balance 100,000. Balance at today’s reset 102,000, now 101,250. Daily limit 5% of the start-of-day balance, maximum loss 10% static.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Daily limit | 5% × 102,000 | 5,100.00 |
| Daily floor | 102,000 − 5,100 | 96,900.00 |
| Room today | 101,250 − 96,900 | 4,350.00 |
| Maximum-loss floor | 100,000 × (1 − 10%) | 90,000.00 |
| Room overall | 101,250 − 90,000 | 11,250.00 |
| Binds first | smaller of the two rooms | Daily limit, 4,350.00 |
Trailing maximum loss that binds before the daily limit
Starting balance 50,000. Highest balance 52,400. Balance at today’s reset 51,200, now 50,900. Daily limit 4% of the starting balance, maximum loss 5% trailing, stopping at the starting balance.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Daily limit | 4% × 50,000 | 2,000.00 |
| Daily floor | 51,200 − 2,000 | 49,200.00 |
| Room today | 50,900 − 49,200 | 1,700.00 |
| Trailing floor | min(52,400 × 95%, 50,000) | 49,780.00 |
| Room overall | 50,900 − 49,780 | 1,120.00 |
| Binds first | smaller of the two rooms | Maximum loss, 1,120.00 |
The day is only 300 down, yet the account can lose just 1,120 more, because giving back part of the 52,400 peak has already used most of the trailing room. Had the peak been 53,000, 5% below it would be 50,350; the stop holds the floor at 50,000, leaving 900 of room. Without the stop, the floor would be 50,350 and the room 550.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between static and trailing drawdown?
A static maximum loss has a fixed floor set from the starting balance, so profit adds room. A trailing maximum loss has a floor that rises with the highest balance and never falls, so profit lifts the floor too and giving back part of a peak uses room up.
Is the daily loss limit a percentage of the starting balance or of today’s balance?
Both kinds of rule exist. A percentage of the starting balance is the same amount every day; a percentage of the start-of-day balance changes with the account. In both cases the floor is measured down from the balance at the last reset. Your firm’s rules state which one applies.
When does the daily loss limit reset?
At a time each firm sets in its rules, often tied to a particular time zone rather than your local midnight. The room today is restored at the reset; the room overall is not.
Do open trades count toward the drawdown limit?
They do under rules measured on equity, and a floating loss can then breach a limit before the trade is closed. Under rules measured on closed balance they do not. For equity rules, enter current equity as the current balance.
What does “trailing floor stops at the starting balance” mean?
Under some trailing rules, the floor rises with the highest balance only until it reaches the starting balance, then stays there. On a 100,000 account with a 10% trailing limit, that happens once the peak reaches about 111,111, where 10% below it is 100,000. From then on the floor is 100,000 however high the account goes.
Will this match my prop firm’s dashboard?
Only when the inputs and the rule settings match the firm’s own definitions. Dashboards can also update on a delay or use equity snapshots. Where the two disagree, the firm’s figures and rules are the ones that decide the account.
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- Risk of ruin calculatorHow often simulated accounts with your win rate, payoff and risk per trade fall to a set drawdown.
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