A maximum-loss percentage is only part of the rule. You also need to know its reference balance, when the floor rises and when a breach is checked. We separate those questions using the catalog rules and the challenge calculator. Rigor is not affiliated with any firm.
Static: the floor stays in the same place
Call the initial balance B and the allowed loss amount L. With a static loss limit, the floor is B − L. A rising balance does not move that floor; it increases the distance available before reaching it. A daily loss limit, where present, is a separate condition that can be triggered before the total limit.
Trailing EOD: following the highest daily close
EOD means end of day. If H is the highest closing balance since the start, including B, the floor is H − L. L remains an amount relative to the initial balance, not a percentage of the new high. A higher close raises the floor; a lower close does not lower it. Part of the accumulated cushion is no longer available after the reference updates.
EOD describes when the floor updates. It does not mean the firm waits until the close to detect a breach: it may monitor equity throughout the session against that same floor.
Trailing EOD that locks at the initial balance
This variant follows H − L until the floor reaches B, then stops rising: floor = minimum(H − L, B). It is the floor that reaches the initial balance, not the account balance. From then on, higher closes no longer raise the total-loss floor. The lock does not remove daily limits or the consistency rule.
Intraday trailing: the high can change before the close
When the reference follows the intraday high, a temporary rise can lift the floor before a position closes. The program rule must specify whether that high uses balance or equity including floating P&L, and where it stops rising. A daily close does not preserve that path: sessions with the same close can have different highs, lows and breaches.
Not measured · The catalog has no programs that can be simulated with intraday trailing. The MyFundedFutures Rapid 50K note identifies that mechanism in Sim Funded, while its evaluation is modeled with EOD. We do not transfer the evaluation's loss amount to that other stage or invent additional examples. Its probability of touching an intraday limit remains unmeasured here.
Programs and limits recorded in the rules table
The table gives examples of each type supported by the calculator. Each type name opens the filtered public rules table. Read the phase, source and notes: the classification describes the simulation, which sometimes adopts a stricter reading when the firm's pages disagree about the lock.
The table and the filter use the calculator's names: static appears as “static”, trailing EOD as “trailing the highest daily close” and locking trailing EOD as “trailing the highest daily close up to the initial balance”.
Catalog examples grouped by their simulated rule. The figure is the allowed distance from the reference, not the floor level. Sources are dated readings, not live lookups.
| Firm and program | Type used in the simulation | Maximum loss relative to the initial balance | Source and reading date |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO · FTMO Challenge 2-Step | static | Declared · 10.00 % | FTMO page · |
| FundedNext · Stellar 1-Step | static | Declared · 6.00 % | FundedNext page · |
| FundingPips · 1-Step Flex | static | Declared · 12.00 % | FundingPips page · |
| FTMO · FTMO Challenge 1-Step | trailing the highest daily close | Declared · 10.00 % | FTMO page · |
| E8 Markets · Zero 100K | trailing the highest daily close | Declared · 3.00 % | E8 Markets page · |
| MyFundedFutures · Rapid 50K | trailing the highest daily close | Declared · 4.00 % | MyFundedFutures page · |
| Topstep · Trading Combine 50K | trailing the highest daily close up to the initial balance | Declared · 4.00 % | Topstep page · |
| E8 Markets · Signature 100K | trailing the highest daily close up to the initial balance | Declared · 3.00 % | E8 Markets page · |
| Take Profit Trader · Trading Test 50K | trailing the highest daily close up to the initial balance | Declared · 4.00 % | Take Profit Trader page · |
The same declared history under different rules
Declared inputs: 50 % win rate, a 1.5 R gain, a 1 R loss, 0.5 % of the balance at risk per trade and 3 trades per day. The calculator generates 10,000 synthetic days and resamples 2,000 paths in blocks with seed 20261010, over up to 250 business days for these programs. It adds returns within each day and compounds between closes. The synthetic history uses a binomial model of independent trades with constant probability and sizes, with no costs or floating equity. No sample size is declared to estimate win-rate uncertainty.
Each row uses exactly the same inputs and the named program in the calculator. Targets, loss allowances, minimum days and other rules also differ: this comparison does not isolate the effect of trailing or rank firms by suitability. These are probabilities conditional on the model, not personal probabilities derived from a file.
The engine checks daily loss first, total loss next and the target last. The total-limit column counts closes below the floor, with a numerical tolerance; a close exactly at the floor does not stop the path. It therefore does not measure every touch during the day. If both limits are crossed at the same close, the outcome is assigned to daily loss. Reaching the target is not the same as meeting every program condition.
Frequencies over all paths for each program. Each path stops at its first outcome; outcome frequencies cover the total. The target column does not include the best-day rule check. With 3 trades a day, a 1 R loss and 0.5 % at risk, the worst possible day loses 1.5 % of the balance, below the lowest daily limit among these programs (3 %): with these inputs that column cannot be triggered, and the cell says where no daily rule is simulated.
| Firm and program | Type used in the simulation | Target | Reaches target | Total limit at the close | Daily limit at the close | Unfinished |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FundedNext · Stellar 1-Step | static | Declared · 10.00 % | Declared · 99.20 % | Declared · 0.80 % | Declared · 0.00 % | Declared · 0.00 % |
| FTMO · FTMO Challenge 1-Step | trailing the highest daily close | Declared · 10.00 % | Declared · 99.55 % | Declared · 0.45 % | Declared · 0.00 % | Declared · 0.00 % |
| Topstep · Trading Combine 50K | trailing the highest daily close up to the initial balance | Declared · 6.00 % | Declared · 87.70 % | Declared · 12.30 % | No simulated daily rule | Declared · 0.00 % |
What daily closes cannot see
An actual history containing floating equity, balance and timestamps can reveal highs and falls between closes, the distance to the current floor and when a crossing occurred. It also needs the time zone, session reset and exact rule for that stage. A list of closed trades alone cannot reconstruct losses while those trades were open.
More data only provide visibility at their recorded resolution; gaps can hide a crossing. The current challenge simulator reduces the history to daily closes and does not reproduce an intraday barrier even if the original file has more detail. The following notes preserve the limitations of the published rules.
Catalog notes quoted as written, with their source and date; “the article” or “the overview” they mention are the firm's pages linked in the note itself. They distinguish moving the floor during the day from monitoring a floor calculated at the close.
Maximum loss is an end-of-day trailing limit; whether it stops trailing was not stated on the page read, so the simulator lets it trail (stricter).
The maximum loss trails the highest end-of-day balance; the drawdown article says it does not lock at the initial balance in the challenge, the product overview says it does, and the simulator lets it trail without locking (stricter) (https://help.e8markets.com/en/articles/11864596-eod-dynamic-drawdown).
The maximum loss trails the highest end-of-day balance and locks at the starting balance plus USD 100 (https://help.myfundedfutures.com/en/articles/8348565-end-of-day-eod-drawdown-explained); another page puts that lock in the Sim Funded stage (https://help.myfundedfutures.com/en/articles/16498635-moving-from-evaluation-to-sim-funded-account), and the simulator lets it trail without locking, the stricter reading of both.
Only the evaluation is simulated; in the Sim Funded stage the maximum loss trails the intraday high (https://help.myfundedfutures.com/en/articles/12802721-intraday-drawdown-explained).
Maximum loss trails the highest end-of-day balance and locks once it reaches the starting balance; it is monitored in real time, which daily data cannot see.
The maximum-loss floor moves only at the day's close, but a breach counts at any moment, open losses included (https://takeprofittraderhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/15170265979165-Rule-3-Do-Not-Hit-End-Of-Day-EOD-Maximum-Trailing-Drawdown); daily closes cannot see it, so the figures are optimistic here.
FAQ
Does EOD mean a breach can only occur at the close?
No. The floor may update at the close and be monitored throughout the session. Calculating the floor and detecting a crossing happen at different times; read each program's notes.
Does the table measure intraday trailing risk?
No. It uses daily closes and compatible rules. A floating high followed by a fall within the session may be hidden. That intraday probability remains unmeasured here.