Prop Firm Trailing Drawdown Calculator
This prop firm trailing drawdown calculator shows where your account's floor sits right now, how many dollars of room you've got before you breach, and whether trailing has locked. It handles end-of-day trailing, intraday trailing and static drawdowns, with whatever lock point your firm uses.
Your drawdown right now
- Floor
- $49,400
- Room left
- $1,500
- Trailing
- Not locked
- Drawdown used
- 25%
Your high-water mark here is $51,400. Whether touching the floor ends the account or only closing below it does comes down to your firm's rules.
How a trailing floor moves
Draw two lines on a whiteboard. The top one is your high-water mark, and it only goes up. The bottom one is your floor, a fixed distance under it. Think of a ratchet: when the high-water mark rises, the floor clicks up with it. When your balance falls, the floor stays where it clicked to.
That's what catches people. Room left isn't your drawdown plus your profit. Take a $2,000 drawdown on a $50,000 start. You close at $51,400, then fall back to $50,900. You're up $900, so it feels like you've got $2,900 of cushion. You've got $1,500. The floor followed your peak up $1,400, and it stayed there when you gave the profit back.
End-of-day, intraday and static
End-of-day and intraday use the same formula. They differ in what counts as the high-water mark. End-of-day reads closing balances only. Intraday reads the highest balance you reach, open profit included. Run a trade to $1,000 of open profit on that $50,000 account and scratch it. The end-of-day floor stays at $48,000 with $2,000 of room. The intraday floor is now $49,000 with $1,000 of room, and you made nothing. On intraday, a runner you give back costs you real room.
Static is simpler. The floor is your start minus the drawdown, and it never moves. On that same account it sits at $48,000 no matter how high you go.
Where the floor stops
Most trailing rules stop somewhere. Once the floor reaches the lock point, often your starting balance or that balance plus $100, it stays there and every new dollar is room you keep. That happens when your high-water mark reaches the lock point plus your drawdown. Firms differ here more than anywhere else: some lock on a first payout, some depend on your platform, and some don't lock during an evaluation. So read yours, and set it in the calculator. The evaluation-to-funded lesson, part of the paid course, covers what changes in your head once the rules change.
The mistake: watching the balance instead of the room
Your balance tells you how you've done. Your room tells you how many mistakes you can still afford. With $1,500 of room and $500 at risk per trade, three full stops end the account, however green the balance looks. Check your size against your room in the position size calculator, and read how evaluation pressure bends decisions before you try to trade your way back to a peak. Room also decides whether sizing up is safe, so check it before you act on the next contract calculator, and this guide to position sizing explains the rule behind it.
Worked example: a $2,000 end-of-day trailing drawdown
Setup: $50,000 start, $2,000 end-of-day trailing drawdown that locks at the starting balance. Your best close is $51,400 and your balance is $50,900.
- Step 1, find the high-water mark: the highest of your $50,000 start, your $51,400 best close and your $50,900 balance is $51,400.
- Step 2, trail the floor: $51,400 - $2,000 = $49,400.
- Step 3, check the lock: the floor stops at $50,000. $49,400 is still under that, so it hasn't locked and the floor is $49,400.
- Step 4, measure the room: $50,900 - $49,400 = $1,500.
- Step 5, find where it locks: the high-water mark has to reach $50,000 + $2,000 = $52,000. That's $52,000 - $51,400 = $600 more.
Result: Floor $49,400, $1,500 of room, not locked, and $600 of new high-water mark away from locking.
Change one thing: close at $52,500
The trailed floor would be $52,500 - $2,000 = $50,500, which is past the $50,000 lock, so the floor stops at $50,000 and it's locked. At a $52,500 balance your room is $52,500 - $50,000 = $2,500, more than the original drawdown. That can't happen before the lock.
This reads one moment. Your floor moves every session.
The calculator only knows the numbers you typed today. UpSkalr works out your room to breach from your logged days, so the peak is the one your trades really made. It's an estimate too: the app tracks end-of-day balances, locks at the starting balance and doesn't know your firm's exact rule, and it says so on the screen.
Try UpSkalr free for 7 daysFrequently Asked Questions
How does a trailing drawdown work?
Your floor sits a fixed distance below your high-water mark. When the high-water mark rises, the floor rises by the same amount. When your balance falls, the floor stays put. So every dollar you give back comes straight out of your room.
What's the difference between end-of-day and intraday trailing?
End-of-day trailing moves the floor from your closing balances. Intraday trailing moves it from the highest balance you reach, open profit included. If a trade goes up $1,000 and you scratch it, an end-of-day floor doesn't move, and an intraday floor is $1,000 higher with nothing made.
When does a trailing drawdown stop trailing?
At the lock point in your firm's rules. It's commonly the starting balance or the starting balance plus $100, and it's reached when your high-water mark is the lock point plus the drawdown. Some firms lock on a payout instead, some differ by platform, and some don't lock during an evaluation.
Can I breach a trailing drawdown while my account is in profit?
Yes, when your rule hasn't locked. Start at $50,000 with a $2,000 drawdown that doesn't lock and reach $53,000. Your floor is $51,000, so falling to $51,000 breaches the account while it still shows $1,000 of profit.
Can I trust the firm presets on this page?
Use them as a starting point. They came from each firm's own site or help center, last read on November 4, 2026, and firms change rules often. A row marked to confirm came from a search of the firm's site, or its pages disagree, so check it with the firm before you rely on it.
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Educational tool, not financial advice. These numbers come from what you type. They don't include slippage, commissions or your firm's exact rules, and a stop can fill worse than the price you set. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss.