Trailing Drawdown Explained: End of Day vs Intraday
How a prop firm trailing drawdown works, with numbers: end of day vs intraday trailing, static drawdown, when the floor stops trailing and how to trade with it.
A trailing drawdown is the lowest your account balance may go before a prop firm evaluation fails. It is not a stop on one trade, it is a floor under the whole account, and on most futures evaluations that floor rises when your account makes a new high. It never moves back down.
On a $50,000 account with a $2,000 trailing drawdown, the floor starts at $48,000. If your balance peaks at $51,000, the floor rises to $49,000. Lose $1,500 from there and your balance is $49,500: you are still up $500 on the account, but only $500 away from failing.
That is the part that surprises most traders: a trailing drawdown is measured from your highest balance, not from where you started.
The three types of drawdown
| Type | What moves the floor | How it feels |
|---|---|---|
| End of day trailing | Your highest closing balance | The most forgiving: open profit during the day does not count until you close |
| Intraday (real time) trailing | Your highest balance including open profit, as it happens | The tightest: a winner you give back still raises the floor |
| Static | Nothing: it stays at the starting balance minus the max loss | The simplest: the floor never moves |
End of day trailing
The floor is recalculated once a day from your closing balance. If a trade is up $1,200 at lunch and you close the day up $300, the floor rises by $300, not $1,200. During the day you can still fail if your live balance touches the floor, so the floor moves at the close but the check usually runs all day.
Intraday trailing
The floor follows your peak balance in real time, open profit included. Start at $50,000 with a $2,000 drawdown. A trade runs to $1,500 of open profit, so the floor moves to $49,500. The trade comes back and you close at breakeven. Your balance is $50,000 again, but the floor is now $49,500: you lost $1,500 of room without losing a dollar.
Static
The floor stays at the starting balance minus the max loss for the life of the account. It is the easiest rule to plan around, and the one where the same trades pass most often.
When the floor stops trailing
Most firms stop trailing once the floor reaches the starting balance (a few stop it a little above, for example start plus $100). On a $50,000 account with a $2,000 drawdown, that happens when your peak reaches $52,000. From then on the floor stays at $50,000 and behaves like a static drawdown. Firms change these rules often, so check yours.
A worked example: end of day trailing
$50,000 account, $2,000 end of day trailing drawdown that stops at the starting balance.
| Day | Close | Highest close | Floor | Room left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $50,000 | $50,000 | $48,000 | $2,000 |
| 1 | $50,600 | $50,600 | $48,600 | $2,000 |
| 2 | $50,100 | $50,600 | $48,600 | $1,500 |
| 3 | $51,400 | $51,400 | $49,400 | $2,000 |
| 4 | $52,300 | $52,300 | $50,000 (stopped) | $2,300 |
On day 2 the account is still $100 in profit, yet a quarter of the room is gone. On day 4 the floor stops at $50,000, so every dollar above $52,000 is room you keep. Run your own numbers in the trailing drawdown calculator.
How much the drawdown type changes your odds
We tested the same simple trader (one trade a day, $400 risk, $800 target) on NQ price history from 2019 to 2026 under each rule. It passed 18.4% of $50,000 evaluations with an intraday trailing drawdown, 21.6% with end of day trailing and 31.2% with a static drawdown. Same trader, same costs, only the drawdown rule changed. The method and tables are on the evaluation pass rate research page.
How to trade with a trailing drawdown
- Size from the room left, not the account size. With $1,500 of room, a $500 loss per trade gives you three mistakes, not a hundred. The position sizing guide shows the math.
- Watch big open winners on intraday trailing. Taking partial profit or tightening the stop keeps the floor from rising faster than the profit you actually bank.
- The first $2,000 is the hardest part. Until the floor stops, every new high also lifts the floor. Many traders try to reach that point with small, steady days.
- Know the daily loss limit too. It resets every day and is separate from the trailing floor. Whichever is closer is the one that ends your day.
Practice it before you pay for it
Rules like this are easy to understand and hard to feel. In ChartTrainer you can open an evaluation account with an end of day, intraday or static drawdown, replay real market days candle by candle with the date hidden, and watch the floor move as you trade. Resets cost nothing. Start from the prop firm simulator.
Videos
- Same ES trades, only the drawdown changed: 52% vs 44% pass chance (YouTube)
- Backtest profit vs your odds under a drawdown floor (YouTube)
Questions
- What is the difference between trailing drawdown and max drawdown?
- Max drawdown is how far the account may fall in total. A trailing drawdown is a max drawdown whose floor moves up as your balance makes new highs, so it is measured from your peak, not from your starting balance.
- Does a trailing drawdown ever move down?
- No. The floor only moves up or stays where it is. Losing money brings your balance closer to the floor, but it never lowers the floor.
- Is end of day trailing better than intraday trailing?
- For the trader, usually yes. With end of day trailing, open profit you give back during the day does not raise the floor. With intraday trailing, a trade that runs up and comes back still costs you room.
- When does a trailing drawdown stop trailing?
- At most firms the floor stops when it reaches the starting balance, which happens once your peak is one max loss above the start: $52,000 on a $50,000 account with a $2,000 drawdown. Some firms stop it slightly above the start. Check your firm's current rules.
- Do open trades count against a trailing drawdown?
- At most firms they do. The account fails the moment your live balance, open trades included, touches the floor, even if the trade would have come back later.