Trailing drawdown: how the floor moves and when it locks

How a trailing drawdown follows your balance up, when it stops, and what 12 futures prop firms use.

Firms using it: 12 of 12
Common 50K max loss: $2,000 (10 of 12 firms)
Usual lock: Start or start + $100

Rules checked on September 26, 2026 · By helloweekends Editors

A trailing drawdown is a maximum loss limit that moves up as your account makes money but never moves down. If your account touches it, the account fails. All 12 futures prop firms we track use a trailing drawdown on at least one plan. Most stop trailing once the limit reaches the starting balance, or the starting balance plus $100.

What a trailing drawdown is

A prop firm evaluation is a paid test with simulated trading. Every evaluation has a maximum loss limit (MLL), a floor under your account. On a $50,000 account with a $2,000 drawdown, the floor starts at $48,000. A static drawdown keeps it there. A trailing drawdown follows your highest balance up, always $2,000 below it, and losing days do not pull it back down. Touching the floor is a hard breach: the account fails.

How the floor moves

Firms use two ways to decide what counts as your highest balance.

End of day (EOD). The floor is recalculated once a day from your closing balance. Open profit during the day does not move it.
Intraday. The floor follows your highest equity during the day, including profit on open trades. If a trade lifts your equity to a new high $1,500 above the start and then closes flat, the floor has still moved up $1,500.

An EOD floor is usually still enforced during the day. Topstep calculates its limit from the end-of-day high but enforces it in real time. Apex sets its EOD threshold at 4:59:59 p.m. ET and enforces it intraday. Alpha Futures counts a breach on open equity or closed balance. The difference between the two methods is shown step by step on our page on EOD vs intraday drawdown.

When a trailing drawdown locks

Most firms stop the trail at a set level. After that the floor is fixed, however high the balance goes.

At the starting balance. Topstep's Trading Combine limit stops trailing once it reaches the starting balance, so on a 50K account it never rises above $50,000. Take Profit Trader (Test and PRO) and Alpha Futures work the same way, and Alpha says a payout does not move it.
At the starting balance plus $100. Lucid locks the floor at the starting balance plus $100 once your balance passes $52,100 on a 50K LucidPro or LucidDaily account. Apex Performance Accounts, Bulenox Fast Track, MyFundedFutures and Phidias funded accounts also stop at $100 above the start.

Some firms change the rule after a payout. FundedNext locks a Flex funded account at $50,100 after the first payout, and MyFundedFutures does the same on Pro.

Worked example: a 50K account

The arithmetic below uses a $50,000 account with a $2,000 end-of-day trailing drawdown that locks at the starting balance plus $100.

Example only: $50,000 account, $2,000 end-of-day trailing drawdown that locks at the starting balance plus $100.
Day	End-of-day balance	Floor	Room above floor	What happened
Start	$50,000	$48,000	$2,000	Floor = start minus $2,000.
Day 1	$50,800	$48,800	$2,000	New high, so the floor moves up $800.
Day 2	$50,300	$48,800	$1,500	A losing day. The floor does not move down.
Day 3	$51,600	$49,600	$2,000	New high, floor up again.
Day 4	$52,300	$50,100	$2,200	Trailing would put it at $50,300, but it locks at $50,100.
Day 5	$54,000	$50,100	$3,900	Locked. Higher balances no longer move it.

On day 4 the balance first passes $52,100, so the floor locks at $50,100 and stays there. At a firm that locks at the starting balance, it would stop at $50,000.

Trailing drawdown at 12 futures prop firms

Rules checked on September 26, 2026. "Not confirmed" means we could not find the rule on an official page.

EOD = end-of-day trailing; intraday = intraday trailing. Max loss for the $50,000 size. Start = starting balance. Firms in alphabetical order. Source: firms' official rules pages, checked September 26, 2026. *MyFundedFutures pages describe the Rapid funded lock in two different ways.
Firm	Drawdown type by plan	Max loss (50K)	When it stops trailing
Alpha Futures Alpha Futures rules	All plans: EOD	$2,000 (Advanced: $1,750)	At the start; a payout does not move it
Apex Trader Funding Apex Trader Funding rules	EOD Trail: EOD. Intraday Trail: intraday. You pick the product.	$2,000	Funded (PA): start + $100
Bulenox Bulenox rules	Option 1: intraday, open positions included. Option 2: EOD.	Momentum and Fast Track $2,250; Qualification $2,500	Fast Track and Master: start + $100
Earn2Trade Earn2Trade rules	Evaluation and LiveSim: EOD. Live: intraday.	$2,000 (TCP50, GAU50)	Not confirmed
FundedNext Futures FundedNext Futures rules	All plans: EOD	Flex $1,500; Legacy and Rapid $2,000	Challenge: at the start. Flex and Rapid Pro funded: $50,100
Lucid Trading Lucid Trading rules	LucidPro, LucidFlex, LucidDirect: EOD. LucidDaily: EOD or intraday in the evaluation (you choose), intraday when funded.	$2,000	Start + $100 once the balance passes $52,100
MyFundedFutures MyFundedFutures rules	Builder, Pro, Rapid EOD: EOD. Rapid: EOD in the evaluation, intraday when funded.	$2,000 (Builder Add-On: $1,500)	Start + $100 (Pro: after the first payout)*
Phidias Propfirm Phidias rules	Express to Live: static. Fundamental, Premium: EOD.	Express to Live $650; others $2,500	Funded: $50,100
Take Profit Trader Take Profit Trader rules	Test: EOD. PRO: intraday, open profit included. PRO+: EOD.	$2,000	Test and PRO: at the start
The5ers Futures The5ers Futures rules	Day Trade and Swing: EOD, 4% of the account	$2,000 (4%)	Not confirmed
Topstep Topstep rules	Trading Combine: EOD, enforced in real time	$2,000	At the start
Tradeify Tradeify rules	Growth, Select, Lightning: EOD	$2,000	Not confirmed

Two plans do not trail: Phidias Express to Live is static, and Earn2Trade's $200,000 and $400,000 Trader Career Path steps use a fixed floor. Changes go into the prop firm rule changes log.

Related: daily loss limit prop firm rules, the prop firm consistency rule, and all prop firm rules.

Know the riskA prop firm evaluation is a paid service with simulated trading. Most people who buy one do not pass it, and firms change their rules, pause payouts and close. Not investment advice.

Questions

What is a trailing drawdown in a prop firm?

It is a maximum loss limit that rises with your highest balance and never falls. On a $50,000 account with a $2,000 trailing drawdown, a new high of $51,000 moves the floor from $48,000 to $49,000. Touching the floor fails the account.

Does a trailing drawdown ever stop moving?

At most firms, yes. It usually locks at the starting balance (Topstep, Take Profit Trader, Alpha Futures) or at the starting balance plus $100 (Lucid, Apex funded accounts, Bulenox Fast Track, MyFundedFutures, Phidias funded accounts).

Is a trailing drawdown based on balance or equity?

It depends on the plan. An end-of-day drawdown moves with your closing balance. An intraday drawdown follows your highest equity, open profit included.

Which firms use a static drawdown instead?

Phidias uses a static drawdown on Express to Live, and Earn2Trade uses a fixed floor on its $200,000 and $400,000 Trader Career Path steps. All 12 firms we track still have a trailing drawdown on at least one plan.

Sources

All checked on September 26, 2026.