What drawdown means at a prop firm
Every prop account has a floor. Reach it and the account ends. Firms differ on whether that floor moves, what it follows and when it stops. The examples use a $50,000 account with a $2,000 drawdown.
- Floor
- The balance that ends the account. Touching it counts.
- Drawdown
- How far the floor sits below the balance it follows.
- Room left
- Balance minus floor: what you can still lose.
- Lock
- The level where a trailing floor stops moving.
Static drawdown
The floor is set once and never moves, so every dollar of profit is extra room.
| Point | Balance | Floor | Room left |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $50,000 | $48,000 | $2,000 |
| Day 1 | $51,200 | $48,000 | $3,200 |
| Day 2 | $53,000 | $48,000 | $5,000 |
| Day 3 | $49,500 | $48,000 | $1,500 |
End-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdown
The floor follows your best closing balance. A higher close lifts it, a losing day never lowers it, and a peak you give back before the close does not count. Here it locks at $50,100.
See the numbers
| Day | Session high | Close | Floor after the day | Room left at the close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $50,000 | $50,000 | $48,000 | $2,000 |
| Day 1 | $51,200 | $50,800 | $48,800 | $2,000 |
| Day 2 | $51,000 | $50,300 | $48,800 | $1,500 |
| Day 3 | $52,000 | $51,600 | $49,600 | $2,000 |
| Day 4 | $52,700 | $52,400 | $50,100locked | $2,300 |
| Day 5 | $53,300 | $53,000 | $50,100locked | $2,900 |
Set at the close is not always checked at the close: some firms test your live equity against the EOD floor during the session. Check the firm's own rules.
Intraday trailing drawdown
The floor follows your highest balance at any moment, usually including open profit. Same five days: by the close of Day 2 you have $1,100 of room instead of $1,500.
See the numbers
| Day | Session high | Close | Floor after the day | Room left at the close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $50,000 | $50,000 | $48,000 | $2,000 |
| Day 1 | $51,200 | $50,800 | $49,200 | $1,600 |
| Day 2 | $51,000 | $50,300 | $49,200 | $1,100 |
| Day 3 | $52,000 | $51,600 | $50,000 | $1,600 |
| Day 4 | $52,700 | $52,400 | $50,100locked | $2,300 |
| Day 5 | $53,300 | $53,000 | $50,100locked | $2,900 |
One session, two floors
A trade runs up in open profit, then closes below where it started. The firm's floor followed the peak; a record of closed trades never saw it. What Journalit can see
When the floor stops moving
Many trailing floors lock at or just above the starting balance, and some lock on your first payout. After that they act like a static floor. The level is a firm rule, so check the firm page.
How a payout interacts with drawdown
A payout lowers your balance. At many firms the floor stays put, so what you can withdraw and the room you keep are separate questions.
| Balance | Floor | Room left | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before the payout | $53,000 | $50,100 | $2,900 |
| After a $2,000 payout | $51,000 | $50,100 | $900 |
Some firms lock or reset the floor after a payout instead. The payout checks on each firm page show the room left beside what the policy allows.
Why two trailing drawdowns can differ
- What the floor follows: closes, intraday highs or open equity.
- Where it locks, if it locks at all.
- Whether it is checked only at the close or all session.
- What a payout does to it, and which stage uses which model.
| Firm | Static | End-of-day trailing | Intraday trailing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Trader Funding | Not used | EOD | Intraday Trailing, Legacy Full |
| FTMO | 2-Step, 1-Step | Not used | Not used |
| FTMO Futures | Not used | Growth, Pro | Not used |
| FundedNext Futures | Not used | Futures Flex, Rapid Pro, Rapid Daily, Legacy | Not used |
| Lucid Trading | Not used | LucidPro, LucidDirect, LucidFlex, LucidDaily, LucidMaxx | LucidDaily |
| MyFundedFutures | Not used | Builder, Pro, Rapid EOD, Rapid | Rapid |
| Purdia Capital | Instant Funded, Static Instant Funded, Pro Evaluation, EOD Evaluation, Pilot #001 Pioneer | Instant Funded, EOD Evaluation, Pilot #001 Pioneer | Pro Evaluation |
| Take Profit Trader | Not used | Test | Test |
| Topstep | Not used | Trading Combine | Not used |
| TradeDay | Not used | Quick Pay, Fast Pass | Quick Pay |
| Tradeify | Not used | Growth, Select Flex, Select Daily, Lightning Funded | Not used |
From Journalit's profile catalogue (version 40). Firm pages have the figures and sources.
What Journalit can and cannot see
What it works from
- The trades and payouts you record or import.
- End-of-day floors from your recorded closes.
- Intraday floors from the balance after each trade.
What it cannot do
- See open profit inside a trade, so it cannot follow an unrealised peak.
- Guarantee the firm's exact floor. Your firm decides.
- Block orders or prevent a breach.
When a firm trails open profit, its floor can sit higher than the one Journalit shows, so leave margin.
Trailing drawdown questions
Track your floor from your own trades
Journalit tracks drawdown, consistency and payouts for each prop challenge from the trades you record. Free, runs in Obsidian on your device, and no Obsidian experience needed.