Prop firm drawdown calculator
Where your account fails depends on the kind of drawdown your prop firm uses, and under trailing rules that level creeps up with every new high. Enter the account size, the drawdown allowance, the highest equity and highest close you have reached and your current equity, and you get today's breach level and the room left before it. The calculator also runs static, intraday trailing and end-of-day trailing rules on the same figures.
The breach level under each rule
Current equity and where each drawdown type puts the breach level. The closer a bar sits to your equity, the less room you have.
One account, three rules
The room left and the number of losing trades it covers under each type of drawdown.
| Drawdown type | Breach level | Room left | Losing trades to breach |
|---|
How the breach level is found
Every rule takes a reference balance and subtracts the drawdown allowance. The difference is the reference itself: the starting balance, the highest equity reached or the highest closing balance.
Static
Set on day one and never moves.
breach = starting balance − allowance
Intraday trailing
Tracks the highest equity, open profit included.
breach = highest equity − allowance
End-of-day trailing
Tracks only the highest closing balance.
breach = highest close − allowance
Lock
With the lock on, trailing stops once the breach level reaches the starting balance.
breach = min(trailing level, starting balance)
Room and trades
The gap from equity to breach, and how many full losses fit inside it.
trades = room ÷ risk per trade, rounded down
Prop firm drawdown FAQ
What is a static drawdown?
A breach level fixed at the starting balance minus the allowance, which never moves. On a $100,000 account with a 10 percent static drawdown, the account fails at $90,000 equity no matter how high it climbed before.
How does intraday trailing drawdown work?
The breach level follows the highest equity reached, unrealised profit on open trades included. If equity touches $103,000 on a $100,000 account with a $5,000 trailing allowance, the breach level rises to $98,000 and stays there even if the trade gives everything back.
What is end-of-day trailing drawdown?
The breach level follows the highest closing balance instead of the intraday peak, so open profit that vanishes before the close does not move it. That is more forgiving than intraday trailing and is why it is popular in futures evaluations.
What does a drawdown lock do?
Many firms stop trailing once the breach level reaches the starting balance, or slightly above it. After that it behaves like a static drawdown. The calculator lets you switch the lock on or off.
Why does trailing drawdown catch out so many traders?
Because open profit you hand back still raises the breach level. A trade that runs up $2,000 and returns to break-even has lifted your breach level by $2,000 while your balance is unchanged. Taking partial profits or trailing stops more tightly helps.
How should trades be sized around the drawdown?
Leave enough room for a normal losing run. With $2,500 left before breach and $500 risked per trade, five straight losses end the account. Our prop firm risk calculator finds a risk per trade that survives the streak you choose.