Prop firm drawdown calculator
Your breach level depends on the type of drawdown your prop firm uses, and with trailing rules it moves every time your account makes a new high. Enter your account size, drawdown allowance, the highest equity and closing balance you have reached and where your equity is now, and this calculator gives your current breach level and the room you have left. It also compares static, intraday trailing and end-of-day trailing rules on the same numbers.
Breach level under each rule
Your equity now and where each type of drawdown would put the breach level. The closer a bar is to your equity, the less room you have.
Same account, different rules
How much room you would have left and how many losing trades that covers under each drawdown type.
| Drawdown type | Breach level | Room left | Losing trades to breach |
|---|
How the breach level is worked out
Each rule starts from a reference balance and subtracts the drawdown allowance. What differs is the reference: the starting balance, the highest equity seen or the highest close.
Static
Fixed from day one.
breach = starting balance − allowance
Intraday trailing
Follows the highest equity, including open profit.
breach = highest equity − allowance
End-of-day trailing
Follows the highest closing balance only.
breach = highest close − allowance
Lock
If the lock is on, trailing stops once the breach level reaches the starting balance.
breach = min(trailing level, starting balance)
Room and trades
Distance from equity to breach, and how many full losses fit in it.
trades = room ÷ risk per trade, rounded down
Prop firm drawdown questions
What is a static drawdown?
The breach level is fixed at the starting balance minus the drawdown allowance and never moves. On a $100,000 account with a 10 percent static drawdown, you fail if equity falls to $90,000, however high the account has been before.
How does an intraday trailing drawdown work?
The breach level follows the highest equity the account has reached, including unrealised profit during open trades. If equity touches $103,000 on a $100,000 account with a $5,000 trailing drawdown, the breach level moves up to $98,000 and stays there even if the trade gives the gains back.
What is an end-of-day trailing drawdown?
The breach level trails the highest closing balance rather than the intraday peak, so open profit that disappears before the close does not move it. It is more forgiving than intraday trailing, which is why it is a popular feature in futures evaluations.
What does it mean when trailing drawdown locks?
Many firms stop trailing once the breach level reaches the starting balance, or the starting balance plus a small amount. From then on it behaves like a static drawdown. The calculator lets you turn the lock on or off.
Why does trailing drawdown fail so many traders?
Because giving back open profit counts against you. A trade that runs up $2,000 and then reverses to break-even has raised your breach level by $2,000, even though your balance has not changed. Taking partial profits or using tighter trailing stops helps.
How should I size trades around my drawdown?
Keep enough room for a normal losing streak. If you have $2,500 left before breach and risk $500 a trade, five losses in a row end the account. Our prop firm risk calculator works out a risk per trade that survives the streak you choose.