Prop firms whose payouts run weekly, daily or on demand after the first withdrawal, with each program's first-payout rule, ongoing frequency, split at that frequency and methods, plus the buffers, caps and consistency checks that apply.
Almost every prop firm account has two loss rules: a daily loss limit and a maximum loss, often called maximum drawdown. Break either and the account usually closes, regardless of how close you were to the profit target. More challenges end on these two rules than on anything else, and the details of how each one is measured differ far more between firms than the headline percentages suggest. This guide is the overview: what each limit is, the different ways firms calculate them, when they reset, which breaches are hard and which are soft, and the extra loss rules some firms add. All firm examples are from our verified reviews, checked November 2026.
For the specific comparison of static, end-of-day and intraday trailing maximum loss, read our companion guide, static vs trailing drawdown.
The two loss limits at a glance
| Daily loss limit | Maximum loss (max drawdown) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it caps | How much you can lose in one trading day | How much you can lose over the life of the account |
| Typical size (forex) | 2% to 5% of the initial balance | 3% to 12% of the initial balance |
| Typical size (futures) | A fixed dollar amount, often optional or absent | A fixed dollar amount, for example $2,000 on a 50K |
| Resets | Every trading day at a set time | Never (static) or moves up with profit (trailing) |
| Example | FTMO 2-Step: 5% of initial capital | FTMO 2-Step: 10% static, $90,000 on $100,000 |
A useful way to think about it: the daily limit protects the firm from one bad session, and the maximum loss protects it from a slow bleed. You need to know both floors in dollars before you place your first trade.
How the daily loss limit is measured
Two firms can both advertise "5% daily loss" and produce different floors on the same day. The differences come from what the percentage is taken of and what it is measured from.
Percentage of the initial balance, from the day's opening balance
FTMO takes 5% (2-Step) or 3% (1-Step) of the initial account size and subtracts it from each day's opening balance. On a $100,000 2-Step:
- Day 1 opens at $100,000, so the daily floor is $95,000. You close +$2,000.
- Day 2 opens at $102,000, so the floor is $97,000. A loss takes equity to $98,500, still above the floor.
- Day 3 opens at $98,500, so the floor is $93,500, which is still above the $90,000 static maximum loss floor.
Because the limit is checked against equity, open losses, swaps and commissions all count.
Percentage of the higher of opening balance or equity
Some firms measure the day from whichever is higher at the reset, balance or equity. FundingPips takes the percentage of the higher of that day's opening balance or opening equity. Suppose you hold a trade over the reset on a $100,000 2 Step Standard account (5% limit) with a closed balance of $101,000 and $1,500 of open profit:
- Opening equity is $102,500, so the limit is 5% × $102,500 = $5,125 and the floor is $97,375.
- If the open trade then drifts back to breakeven, equity is $101,000 and you have only $3,625 of room left for the day, not $5,000.
Maven Trading, Blue Guardian, Goat Funded Trader and several Alpha Capital Group plans also use the higher of balance or equity at the reset, so holding open profit overnight raises the next day's floor.
Prior day's closed balance
Funded Trading Plus's Express and Classic programs measure the 4% limit from the prior day's closed balance rather than intraday equity, sized on the initial balance ($4,000 on $100,000).
Fixed dollar amounts on futures accounts
Futures firms usually publish a dollar figure. Topstep's optional daily limit is $1,000 on the 50K, measured on net P&L during the trading day; Earn2Trade's Gauntlet Mini 50K has a $1,100 hard daily limit; My Funded Futures' Builder has a $1,000 soft limit on the 50K. Many futures programs have no daily limit at all: TradeDay, Take Profit Trader's Test and My Funded Futures' Rapid and Pro rely on the maximum loss alone.
When the daily limit resets
The reset time decides which trades count towards which day. It is rarely midnight in your own time zone.
| Firm | Daily reset |
|---|---|
| FTMO | 00:00 CE(S)T (Prague time) |
| FundingPips | 00:00 platform time (21:00 UTC in summer, 22:00 UTC in winter) |
| Maven Trading | 00:00 UTC |
| Alpha Capital Group | 00:00 GMT+2 broker time |
| Blue Guardian and Goat Funded Trader | 5pm EST |
| Topstep | Trading day runs 5:00 pm CT to 3:10 pm CT |
| FundedNext | 00:00 server time (time zone not named on its rules page) |
Hard breaches and soft breaches
Hitting a daily limit does not always end the account. Some futures firms treat it as a pause.
| Type | What happens | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Hard breach | Account fails or closes | FTMO, FundedNext, FundingPips daily limits; Earn2Trade daily limit |
| Soft pause | Positions closed, trading blocked until the next session, account survives | Topstep optional daily limit; My Funded Futures Builder; Alpha Futures daily loss guard; Bulenox EOD option |
A soft limit is more forgiving, but it is not harmless: you are flattened at the worst point of the day, and a run of paused days still burns your maximum loss cushion. The maximum loss itself is almost always a hard breach.
Maximum loss: static and trailing in brief
The maximum loss sets the lowest balance or equity the account may ever reach. It comes in two families:
- Static: fixed from the starting balance. FundedNext's Stellar 2-Step floor on $100,000 is $90,000 for good. Most forex two-step programs work this way.
- Trailing: the floor rises as you make new highs, either at the end of each day (Topstep, Lucid Trading's LucidFlex, Alpha Futures) or in real time including open profit (My Funded Futures Rapid, Take Profit Trader PRO). Most trailing floors stop at the starting balance or starting balance plus $100.
Even "end-of-day" floors are usually checked in real time. Topstep's maximum loss limit trails the closing balance but liquidates the account if equity touches it intraday. The differences, lock levels and how to trade each model are covered in static vs trailing drawdown. Try your own numbers in the drawdown calculator.
What counts toward your losses
- Open losses. At most forex firms, limits are checked against equity, so a trade that is temporarily down can breach even if it later recovers. FTMO and FundedNext both say unrealized P&L counts.
- Commissions and swaps. FTMO and FundedNext include them. On FundedNext accounts that are not swap-free, overnight swaps count toward the daily loss.
- Fees on futures accounts. Alpha Futures' daily loss guard counts realized and unrealized P&L including fees.
When a firm does not say, assume open losses and costs count. That is the safe reading.
Other loss rules to look for
Several firms add limits beyond the two headline rules. These can end or damage an account even when both main floors are far away.
- Floating-loss shields. Blue Guardian's Guardian Shield closes all open trades on funded accounts if combined floating loss reaches 2% (1% on instant accounts). The first trigger permanently cuts your split to 50%; the second breaches the account. Goat Funded Trader sells an optional "1% Floating" version of its 2 Step GOAT that closes the account at a 1% combined floating loss. Maven's Omo has an "M2 Account Saver" that closes all trades at a 2% drawdown and cuts the split to 50%.
- Per-instrument limits. Funded Trading Plus's 2-Step Classic treats a 3% loss on any one instrument, measured from the 16:59 EST balance, as a hard breach.
- Risk-per-idea caps. E8 Markets bans staking your whole daily drawdown on one trade, and FundingPips' Striking System on On Demand Master accounts flags any trade idea that loses 1% of the account.
How to stay inside the limits
- Write both floors down in dollars every morning. Today's daily floor and the current maximum loss floor.
- Set a personal daily stop well inside the firm's limit. Many traders stop at half the daily limit, which leaves room for slippage and one more mistake.
- Size every trade from the limits backwards. If the daily limit is $5,000 and you want room for five losers, risk no more than $1,000 per trade, and less if positions are correlated. Our position sizing guide covers the formulas.
- Be careful holding open profit over the reset at firms that use the higher of balance or equity, because it raises tomorrow's floor.
- Do not add to losing positions. Averaging down is the fastest way to turn a normal loss into a breach.
If you are already deep in drawdown on a funded account, read how to recover from drawdown on a funded account.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the percentage is taken of today's balance. Most firms use a percentage of the initial balance, and some use the higher of balance or equity at the reset.
- Using your local midnight as the reset. Check the firm's server or session time.
- Forgetting that the maximum loss can be closer than the daily floor. After a few losing days, the static or trailing floor can be the tighter limit.
- Treating a soft pause as free. Repeated pauses drain the maximum loss cushion.
- Ignoring extra rules. A floating-loss shield or per-symbol limit can matter more than the headline drawdown.
For more on why challenges fail, see why traders fail prop firm challenges. Firm rules here were checked in November 2026 and change often, so confirm them on the firm's site before you trade. This is educational content, not financial advice.
FAQ
Does the daily loss limit include open trades?
At most forex firms, yes. FTMO and FundedNext check limits against equity, so floating losses, swaps and commissions all count.
When does the daily loss limit reset?
At a time set by the firm, not your local midnight. FTMO resets at 00:00 Prague time, Maven at 00:00 UTC and Blue Guardian at 5pm EST.
What is the difference between daily loss and max drawdown?
The daily limit caps losses in one trading day and resets every day. The maximum loss caps total losses over the account's life and is either static or trailing.
Does hitting the daily loss limit always fail the account?
No. Topstep's optional daily limit, My Funded Futures' Builder limit and Alpha Futures' daily loss guard pause trading until the next session instead of failing the account.
How is a 5% daily loss calculated?
Usually as 5% of the initial balance subtracted from the day's opening balance. Some firms, such as FundingPips, take the percentage of the higher of opening balance or equity.
Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Prop firm rules change often; check the firm's official terms. Some links may be affiliate links; see our disclosure.
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