Daily drawdown vs max drawdown (and trailing)
By Aiobot · Oct 6, 2026
Daily drawdown limits how much you can lose in one firm-defined day. Maximum drawdown is the lifetime floor for that account. Trailing drawdown raises the floor after new highs and usually does not come back down. Equity-based rules count open loss; balance-based rules wait until the ticket closes. Percentages on a sales page are not interchangeable — read the current PDF. Guard only enforces numbers you type, and only in Active Smart Mode. The worksheet on this page uses only figures you type; it does not fill a firm percent.
Loss-room worksheet
Type your own daily loss, maximum loss, and equity figures. No firm percent is filled in for you.
What this subtracts
Remaining daily room = daily limit − the drop from day-start to current (never below zero before that subtraction).
Static floor = reference − maximum loss. Distance = current − that floor.
Trailing floor = the peak you typed − maximum loss. Distance = current − that floor. This is a floating drop from that peak, not an end-of-day firm trail.
Leave the percent blank unless you want one. A percent you type is yours. It is not a default rule.
A money limit is filled, so the percent on that row is not used.
A money limit is filled, so the percent on that row is not used.
Distances use the equity figures you typed, including whatever floating loss is inside “current”.
Open loss is outside this arithmetic unless you already included it in the numbers.
- Drop since day start
- Remaining daily loss room
- Static floor
- Distance to the static floor
- Trailing floor
- Distance to the trailing floor
The figures you typed are already past this line.
The figures you typed are already past this line.
The figures you typed are already past this line.
A worksheet for numbers you enter, not a firm rule and not a pass guarantee. Guard enforces limits you set in the EA, and only while Active. Broker-server midnight is not the firm clock. A floating drop from a peak is not an end-of-day trail. A total-loss cap is a fixed number you type. Max Daily Trades is a count, not a best-day rule. A challenge account and a funded account are two logins and two licenses.
What is daily drawdown versus maximum drawdown?
Daily drawdown (daily loss) is how far the account may fall in one trading day before the session is stopped or failed. Maximum drawdown (overall loss) is how far it may fall for the life of that evaluation or funded account. Hitting either line independently can end the attempt. A green week does not save a single day that breaches the daily cap.
A common teaching example — not a promise and not every firm — is 5% daily and 10% max on a $100,000 notional account. On that sketch, daily close-all would sit near $95,000 equity if the PDF uses equity. Your PDF wins.
What is trailing versus static max drawdown?
Static (fixed) max loss keeps the floor at a level set from start (or a published lock). Profit widens the buffer above that floor. Trailing max loss lifts the floor when the account makes a new high (end-of-day or intraday, depending on the firm) and typically never lowers it. After a winning run, a normal pullback can tag a trailing floor that a static rule would have ignored.
Teaching numbers — not a firm PDF: start $100,000 with a $5,000 trailing amount. After equity peaks at $106,000, the floor often sits near $101,000. A pullback that would have been fine under a static $90,000 max can now breach.
Does the firm use equity or balance?
Equity includes floating profit and loss. A trade that dips below the line and then recovers can still count as a breach. Balance ignores the open ticket until it closes. Ask which clock starts the day (firm midnight, exchange close, or broker server). Aiobot Guard watches equity against limits you enter and resets daily layers at broker midnight, only in Active. That is a tool setting, not a substitute for the firm’s own engine.
How should position size respect both lines?
Size from remaining room to the nearer of daily and max, using the same basis the PDF uses. The formula lives in how to calculate lot size. Max Daily Trades is a count cap, not a dollar floor. Term: drawdown.
What did one firm publish, and why is it not filled in here?
Checked on 2026-09-26, and only for FTMO Challenge 1-Step and FTMO Account 1-Step: FTMO trading objectives. On that date the page stated a Maximum Daily Loss of 3% of initial simulated capital, with the equity floor recalculated at 00:00 CE(S)T; a Maximum Loss of 10% that trails at end of day; and a Best Day Rule of 50% of positive-day profit. The page does not call that rule consistency. 2-Step figures were not checked. The page can go stale. These numbers are not the worksheet’s defaults and they are not a global prop rule. No other firm is cited here.
Guard is not that rule engine. It enforces numbers you type, and only while Active. Broker-server midnight is not the firm’s clock. A floating equity drop from a peak is not the same thing as an end-of-day trail. A total-loss cap in Guard is a fixed number you enter. Max Daily Trades counts tickets; it is not a best-day rule. A challenge login and a funded login are two accounts and two licenses: demo versus live.
The 5% / 10% sketch and the $101,000 floor earlier on this page are teaching arithmetic. They are not this citation.
Aiobot does not review or rank firms and does not guarantee you will pass a challenge. Process (PDF, remaining room, consistency): how to pass a prop firm challenge.