Static vs trailing drawdown
A static drawdown is a fixed floor: on a 50K with $2,000 it stays at $48,000 however much you make. A trailing drawdown follows your highest balance up and keeps the same $2,000 gap, so profit lifts the floor. Most trailing floors stop at some point, often at or just above the start, and act like a static one after that.
The two floors
Static. The floor is set once: starting balance minus the drawdown. A 50K with $2,000 static has a floor at $48,000 on day one and on day ninety.
Trailing. The floor sits the drawdown amount below your highest balance and moves up with it, never down. Make $1,000 and the floor rises $1,000.
The same week, both ways
A 50K with a $2,000 drawdown. Day results: +$800, +$700, -$600, +$400.
| Day | Balance | Static floor | Room | Trailing floor | Room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,800 | $48,000 | $2,800 | $48,800 | $2,000 |
| 2 | $51,500 | $48,000 | $3,500 | $49,500 | $2,000 |
| 3 | $50,900 | $48,000 | $2,900 | $49,500 | $1,400 |
| 4 | $51,300 | $48,000 | $3,300 | $49,500 | $1,800 |
With a static floor every profitable day adds room. With a trailing one the room never gets bigger than $2,000, and a losing day after a good run cuts it fast. A pullback that would be harmless on a static account can end a trailing one. Run your own days in the drawdown calculator.
When the floor moves
Trailing floors differ in what they follow:
- End of day: only your closing balance moves the floor. Open profit you give back doesn't count.
- Intraday: the floor follows your peak during the session, open profit included.
That difference often matters more than static versus trailing. It's covered in EOD vs intraday drawdown, and the end-of-day drawdown list shows which evals use which.
Where trailing becomes static
Most trailing floors stop at some level and stay there. From that point the account behaves like a static one.
| Firm and account | Floor stops at |
|---|---|
| Topstep Combine | starting balance |
| Topstep XFA | $0 balance, or at your first payout |
| Take Profit Trader test | starting balance |
| LucidFlex | starting balance + $100 |
| Apex PA | starting balance + $100 |
| Apex eval on Rithmic or WealthCharts | the profit target balance |
| Apex eval on Tradovate | never, it keeps trailing |
| Tradeify evals | never; funded accounts lock at the start + $100 |
On a 50K that locks at the starting balance, you need to close at $52,000 before the floor stops at $50,000. Until then every good close tightens it.
What it means for your plan
- On a trailing account, the first $2,000 matters most. Get the floor to its lock and the account gets much easier. Size down until then.
- Don't count profit as room. On a trailing account a $1,500 profit is not $3,500 of room. It's still $2,000.
- On a static account, protect the start. Room is big once you're ahead, but the first bad week is measured from day one.
The basics of the trailing mechanic, with more examples, are in the trailing drawdown guide.
Questions people actually ask
Does a trailing drawdown reset every day?
No. A trailing drawdown never moves down and doesn't reset. What resets every day is the daily loss limit, if your account has one. The trailing floor only moves up, at the close or with your intraday peak depending on the account.
Is a static drawdown better than a trailing one?
It gives you more room as you make money, because profit adds to your cushion instead of lifting the floor. Whether an account with it is better depends on its price and its other rules, so compare the whole package.
When does a trailing drawdown stop trailing?
It depends on the firm. Topstep's and Take Profit Trader's stop at the starting balance, Lucid's and Apex's funded accounts at the starting balance plus $100. Some eval floors never stop, like Apex's on Tradovate or Tradeify's evals.
Blow it here, not on a paid eval
Run the same rules on your own trades in the simulator. Free, no card, and a blown account costs you nothing but pride.
Start practicing