Trailing vs static drawdown

Last checked 2026-10-04. Examples use each firm's own published numbers.

Every prop account has an overall loss floor: the "max drawdown" or "maximum loss limit". What matters is whether that floor stays put (static) or follows your account up (trailing), and if it trails, what it trails.

The four types you will meet

Type	Floor is…	Moves when…	Example program
Static	initial balance − fixed amount	never	FTMO 2-Step: 90% of initial capital¹
End-of-day trailing	highest end-of-day balance − amount	a day closes at a new high balance	FTMO 1-Step (midnight CE(S)T balance)¹; Topstep Trading Combine³; Apex EOD Evaluation⁵
Closed-balance trailing	highest closed balance − amount	you close a trade at a new high balance	E8 One "Dynamic drawdown"²
Intraday trailing	highest balance including open profit − amount	equity makes a new peak, even if you don't close	Apex Intraday Trailing Evaluation⁴

In all of these the floor is enforced in real time against your equity, including open losses. "End-of-day" describes when the floor is recalculated, not when it is checked.^3,5

Same $50,000 account, different floors

Take Topstep's own 50K Trading Combine example: the Maximum Loss Limit starts at $48,000. Make $500 on day 1 and it trails up to $48,500. Lose $500 on day 2 and the balance is back at $50,000, but the limit stays at $48,500.³ Your room has shrunk from $2,000 to $1,500 even though you are flat overall. A static floor would still be at $48,000.

Apex's intraday example is stricter: on a $50,000 evaluation with a $2,000 trailing drawdown, an open trade that lifts the balance to $50,900 moves the threshold to $48,900 immediately. If the trade then fades and you close at $50,300, the threshold stays at $48,900.⁴ You gave back unrealised profit and lost $900 of room.

Lock levels: when trailing stops

Topstep: the MLL "locks permanently" once it reaches your starting balance.³
E8 One: dynamic drawdown locks at the initial balance once closed profit equals the drawdown amount (E8's example: $107,000 balance → loss level locked at $100,000).²
Apex: Performance Accounts stop trailing at starting balance + $100. In evaluations it depends on the data feed: Rithmic and WealthCharts stop at the profit-target balance, while Tradovate keeps trailing indefinitely.⁴
FTMO 1-Step: the limit "can only increase, but never decrease". FTMO's page does not describe a lock level for the evaluation.¹

What this means for risk per trade

With a static floor, early profit adds cushion. Your room grows as you make money.
With a trailing floor, your room is capped at the drawdown amount until it locks. Profit you give back is room you lose.
With intraday trailing, letting a winner run and then round-trip costs room even if the trade ends green. Partial take-profits and tighter trailing stops matter more here.

See your own floor in the free calculator

Sources

FTMO, "Trading Objectives": ftmo.com/en/trading-objectives/
E8 Markets Help Center, "Dynamic drawdown": help.e8markets.com/en/articles/11782996-dynamic-drawdown
Topstep Help Center, "What is the Maximum Loss Limit?": help.topstep.com/en/articles/8284204
Apex Trader Funding, "Intraday Trailing Drawdown Explained": apextraderfunding.com/help-center/…/intraday-trailing-drawdown-explained/
Apex Trader Funding, "EOD Evaluations": apextraderfunding.com/help-center/eod-trailing-drawdown-accounts/eod-evaluations/

Firm deep-dives: Topstep Maximum Loss Limit · Apex intraday vs EOD · E8 dynamic drawdown · All rules compared