Every prop firm evaluation has a maximum loss: a balance your account must never touch. How that floor moves is the most important rule in the whole rulebook, and it is the one traders most often misread.
What "maximum loss" means
On a $50,000 futures evaluation with a $2,000 maximum loss, your account starts with a floor at $48,000. If your balance (often including open trades) reaches the floor, the account fails. The question is whether that floor stays at $48,000 or moves.
Static drawdown
A static floor never moves. It stays at the starting balance minus the limit for the life of the account. Most forex firms use this: FTMO, FundingPips, The5ers, FundedNext and Alpha Capital Group all use a 10% static maximum loss on their $100K two-step accounts, so the floor sits at $90,000 no matter how much you make.
Trailing drawdown
A trailing floor follows your highest balance upward, always staying the same distance below it. It never moves down. Most futures firms use some form of it.
With a $2,000 trailing limit, if your balance peaks at $51,500 the floor rises to $49,500. Give back $2,000 from that peak and the account is over, even though you are still $1,500 in profit overall.
End-of-day vs intraday trailing
- End-of-day (EOD) trailing moves the floor only from your closing balance each day. Intraday spikes don't raise it. Topstep, Apex's EOD evaluation, Tradeify, Lucid and Alpha Futures use this on the accounts we track.
- Intraday trailing moves the floor with your highest unrealised equity, tick by tick. A trade that runs $800 in your favour and then reverses can permanently raise your floor by $800. MyFundedFutures' standard Rapid account and Take Profit Trader's PRO stage trail intraday once you are funded.
Where the floor stops
Most trailing floors stop rising once they reach a set level, usually the starting balance. On Topstep the floor locks at $50,000; on LucidFlex it locks at $50,100. After that, it behaves like a static floor.
A worked example
| Day | Closing balance | EOD trailing floor | Static floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $50,000 | $48,000 | $48,000 |
| Day 3 | $51,200 | $49,200 | $48,000 |
| Day 6 | $52,400 | $50,000 (locked) | $48,000 |
| Day 9 | $49,900 | Failed | $48,000, still trading |
Same trades, opposite outcomes. You can try this yourself in the interactive chart on our home page.
How to trade a trailing limit
- Treat your real risk as the distance from your current balance to the floor, not the headline $2,000.
- On intraday trailing accounts, take partial profits or move stops sooner, because open profit raises the floor.
- Prefer EOD trailing if you hold through pullbacks during the day.
- Aim to get the floor locked at the starting balance early, then trade with that fixed cushion.
Every firm's drawdown type is listed on our comparison page and its own rules page.