Futures prop firm drawdown types: EOD vs intraday trailing vs static, and where the floor locks

What is drawdown at a futures prop firm? The loss floor that closes your account

A futures prop firm's maximum drawdown (called MLL, Max Loss Limit, Maximum Trailing Drawdown, and other names depending on the firm) is the floor below which your account ends. On an evaluation account you fail; on a funded account, the account closes. Along with the profit target, it is the most important rule in an evaluation.

As in the summary above, the starting floor is the starting balance minus the drawdown amount. That much is the same everywhere; what differs by method is how the floor moves after you make a profit. A floor that rises with profit is called trailing, and one that does not move is called static.

Separate from the maximum drawdown, some accounts have a daily loss limit (DLL). The DLL caps losses for one day. On many evaluation and funded accounts at Apex Trader Funding, Lucid Trading, Tradeify, and Topstep, hitting it only stops trading for that day, and the account continues (a soft limit). The maximum drawdown, by contrast, ends the account the moment you touch it. This guide covers the maximum drawdown.

What are the 3 drawdown types? EOD, intraday trailing, and static

End of day (EOD trailing)

EOD stands for end of day. The floor rises to follow the balance at the close of each trading day. Apex Trader Funding says it recalculates the floor at the 4:59:59 PM ET close as "the highest closing balance minus the maximum drawdown amount." Tradeify also writes that the floor follows the highest EOD balance, only moves up, and updates once a day.

Even if you have a large unrealized gain during the session, the floor does not rise if you give it back before the day ends. The floor rises only when the end-of-day balance beats the previous high.

Intraday trailing

With intraday trailing, the floor rises immediately to follow the highest balance during the session, and that high includes unrealized profit. Apex Trader Funding says the floor sits a fixed amount below the highest balance including unrealized profit (Peak Balance), moves only up, and does not reset daily. Take Profit Trader's PRO also follows the peak of realized and unrealized profit.

With intraday trailing, the floor rises as soon as an open position shows unrealized profit. If the price then comes back and the profit shrinks, your room to the floor is smaller than when you started.

Static

With static drawdown, the starting floor does not move. At the 6 firms, it appears on experimental plans or specific stages rather than standard plans. Examples are the Topstep Labs $25K Static and $50K Static Trading Combines, My Funded Futures' Studio plans, and Lucid Trading's LucidMaxx live accounts.

Do unrealized losses count with EOD drawdown? Yes, a touch during the session ends the account

The name EOD leads some people to think they only need to stay above the floor at the end of the day. That is not how EOD works at the 6 firms. EOD sets when the floor is updated; whether you touched the floor is still watched in real time during the session.

• Apex Trader Funding: the EOD floor applies in real time through the next session, and touching it with an unrealized loss is a failure.
• Tradeify: checks happen in real time; if net liquidation value, including open P&L, reaches the floor even for a moment, you fail immediately. Recovering later in the day does not reverse it.
• Topstep: the MLL is monitored in real time, including intraday open P&L, and rises with the end-of-day balance.
• Take Profit Trader: reaching the minimum balance triggers immediate liquidation, whether the loss is realized or unrealized.

In other words, under every method, the worst point while you hold a position must stay above the floor. With intraday trailing, the floor also rises with your peak unrealized profit, so a pullback while you are letting a winner run eats into your room faster.

Some firms warn against using the daily loss limit (DLL) as a stop loss (Tradeify), because in a fast market losses can go past the limit.

Where does the trailing drawdown stop? Evaluation vs funded account

A trailing floor does not rise forever. At many firms, once the balance passes a set level, the floor stops (locks) and no longer moves. There are 2 main lock patterns.

• Locks at the starting balance: the floor stops once it rises to the starting balance, which is $50,000 on a 50K account. Take Profit Trader's Test and Topstep's Trading Combine work this way.
• Locks at the starting balance plus $100: the floor stops $100 above the starting balance, which is $50,100 on a 50K account. Apex Trader Funding's PA, Lucid Trading's LucidPro, My Funded Futures' Sim Funded, and Tradeify's Sim Funded work this way.

Some firms lock differently in the evaluation and the funded account. In Apex Trader Funding evaluations, Rithmic and WealthCharts accounts lock at the balance where you reach the profit target ($53,000 on a 50K account), while Tradovate accounts keep rising without locking. At Tradeify, the floor does not lock during the evaluation, only in the funded account.

Topstep's XFA shows the starting balance as $0; on a 50K account the floor starts at -$2,000 and locks at $0. After the first payout, the floor is fixed at $0. The display differs, but it is still the "locks at the starting level" pattern.

Once the floor locks, it no longer rises as profit grows, so the more profit you build, the more room you have. At many firms, the payout conditions (buffer) are tied to this lock level.

Which drawdown type does each futures prop firm use?

Here are the methods on the main plans of the 6 firms, using a 50K account. Every firm can change the method by plan or stage, so check the numbers for your plan in each firm's rules article.

Two accounts that both say "50K, $2,000" can give you different room during the session if the method and lock level differ. Compare the method, not just the number.

See Apex Trader Funding drawdown (Intraday and EOD)

See Lucid Trading drawdown

See My Funded Futures drawdown

See Take Profit Trader Test and PRO

See the Topstep MLL

See Tradeify drawdown

EOD vs intraday trailing drawdown example: same trades, different results

Here is a comparison of the 3 types with sample numbers: a 50K account (starting balance $50,000) with a $2,000 maximum drawdown, making the same trades over 2 days. This is not any firm's actual rule; it only shows how the methods differ.

1. Day 1: an open position's unrealized profit briefly reaches +$1,500 (balance $51,500), then the price comes back and the day closes at +$500 (balance $50,500).
2. Day 2: during the session, an unrealized loss of -$1,200 from the day 1 close briefly takes the balance down to $49,300.

With intraday trailing, the floor had already risen to $49,500 on day 1's peak unrealized profit, so the day 2 unrealized loss touched it. With EOD, the floor is set by the day 1 closing balance, so the same trades leave room.

On an intraday trailing account, running up a large unrealized gain and then giving it back cuts your room to the floor by that amount. On an EOD account, touching the floor with an unrealized loss during the session still ends the account. With either method, checking the current floor on your dashboard before you trade helps you avoid an unexpected close.

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