Prop-firm drawdown rules compared: FTMO, FundedNext and The5ers
Short answer
As of October 2026, FTMO’s 2-Step allows 5% daily and 10% static maximum loss; its 1-Step allows 3% daily and 10% trailing on end-of-day balance. FundedNext Stellar 2-Step uses 5% and 10%, Stellar 1-Step 3% and 6%. The5ers High Stakes lists 5% and 10%. FTMO and FundedNext count floating losses.
The headline percentages look alike, but the details decide how much an EA can risk: where “today” starts, when it resets, and whether the floor moves. Here are the published limits of five popular programmes, each checked on the firm’s own pages on 12 October 2026, with a worked example.
Based on our team’s research and live testing since 2018.
Most prop-firm programmes advertise two numbers: a daily loss limit and a maximum loss limit. Two programmes can both say “5% and 10%” and still need very different EA settings, because the firms measure those numbers differently. This guide puts the published rules of five popular programmes side by side and shows which details your EA has to copy exactly.
Every rule below comes from the firm’s own website, checked on 12 October 2026. Where a firm’s page does not say how something is measured, the table says so instead of guessing. The links are in the sources at the end.
How do the daily and maximum loss limits compare?
| Programme | Daily loss | How the daily limit is measured | Maximum loss | Does the maximum loss floor move? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO 2-Step Challenge | 5% | Previous day’s closing balance minus 5% of initial capital, reset at 00:00 CE(S)T. Measured on equity. | 10% | No. Static: $90,000 on a $100,000 account. |
| FTMO 1-Step Challenge | 3% | Previous day’s closing balance minus 3% of initial capital, reset at 00:00 CE(S)T. Measured on equity. | 10% | Yes. Trails the highest end-of-day balance, minus 10% of initial capital. It can rise, never fall. |
| FundedNext Stellar 2-Step | 5% | 5% of initial balance per day, reset at 00:00 server time (GMT+2, or GMT+3 in summer). Floating losses count; profit made during the day adds to that day’s allowance. | 10% | No. Balance or equity must stay at or above 90% of the initial balance. |
| FundedNext Stellar 1-Step | 3% | 3% of initial balance per day, same reset and measurement as Stellar 2-Step. | 6% | No. Must stay at or above 94% of the initial balance. |
| The5ers High Stakes | 5% | Not stated on the programme page. Ask The5ers before you set your EA. | 10% | Not stated on the programme page. |
Percentages are of the initial account size. All examples on this page use a $100,000 account and are illustrative.
Which other rules affect an EA?
| Programme | Minimum trading days | Other rules an EA must respect |
|---|---|---|
| FTMO 2-Step | 4 trading days in each phase | A trading day is a day, in CE(S)T, on which at least one position is opened. |
| FTMO 1-Step | None listed | Best Day rule: the best day may not exceed 50% of the total profit of positive days. It is not a breach, but you keep trading until it is met. |
| FundedNext Stellar 2-Step | 5 days in each phase, at least 1 trade per day | Days do not need to be consecutive. |
| FundedNext Stellar 1-Step | 2 days, at least 1 trade per day | Days do not need to be consecutive. |
| The5ers High Stakes | 3 profitable days per step (closed profit of at least 0.5% of the initial balance) | No trading from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after high-impact news. |
A news rule needs its own handling in the EA, including a saved event list so the backtest matches live trading. See prop-firm news rules for EAs.
Why does “where today starts” matter so much?
Take FTMO’s two programmes. Both measure the daily limit from the previous day’s closing balance, not from the initial capital. Say the account closes Day 1 at $104,000, and on Day 2 an open trade takes equity down to $100,000:
| Programme | Day 2 daily floor | Equity at the low | Result | Maximum loss floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO 2-Step (5%) | $104,000 − $5,000 = $99,000 | $100,000 | Within the limit, $1,000 to spare | $90,000 (static) |
| FTMO 1-Step (3%) | $104,000 − $3,000 = $101,000 | $100,000 | Daily limit breached | $94,000 (trailed from the $104,000 close) |
The account is still in profit overall, and on the 1-Step it has failed anyway. An EA that measured “today” from the initial $100,000 would have thought it had $3,000 of room left. This is the most common way a correct-looking guard still loses an account.
The same example shows the trailing floor at work: one good closing day lifted the 1-Step’s maximum loss floor from $90,000 to $94,000, permanently. How each drawdown type moves is explained step by step in static vs trailing drawdown.
What does this mean for your EA?
- Copy the firm’s base for the daily limit: initial capital or the previous day’s close.
- Use the firm’s reset time, converted to the broker’s server time, including daylight-saving changes. FTMO resets at midnight CE(S)T; FundedNext at midnight on its GMT+2/GMT+3 server clock.
- Watch equity, not balance, on every tick. Both FTMO and FundedNext count open losses.
- Track the right high-water mark for trailing programmes (FTMO 1-Step: end-of-day balance), and save it to disk so a restart cannot reset it.
- Stop before each floor, with a buffer for spread and slippage on the closing orders.
The simplest way to support several firms is to make each detail an input, so one EA can be set to any programme:
1// One EA, any firm: each rule detail becomes an input2enum DailyBase { DAILY_FROM_INITIAL, DAILY_FROM_PREV_CLOSE };3enum MaxMode { MAX_STATIC, MAX_TRAILING_EOD_BALANCE };4 5input double InpDailyLossPct = 5.0; // % of initial capital6input DailyBase InpDailyBase = DAILY_FROM_PREV_CLOSE; // where "today" is measured from7input int InpResetHourUtc = 22; // firm's daily reset in UTC (check DST)8input double InpMaxLossPct = 10.0; // % of initial capital9input MaxMode InpMaxMode = MAX_STATIC;10input double InpBufferPct = 0.5; // stop this far above each floor11 12double DailyFloor(double initial, double prevClose)13{14 double base = (InpDailyBase == DAILY_FROM_PREV_CLOSE) ? prevClose : initial;15 return base - InpDailyLossPct / 100.0 * initial;16}17 18double MaxFloor(double initial, double highestEodBalance)19{20 double base = (InpMaxMode == MAX_TRAILING_EOD_BALANCE) ? MathMax(initial, highestEodBalance) : initial;21 return base - InpMaxLossPct / 100.0 * initial;22}The full set of guards, with persistence and position sizing, is in how to make an EA prop-firm compliant. To see your own room right now, use the prop-firm drawdown calculator. If you want it built for you, that is our prop-firm EA development service.
Sources
Checked on 12 October 2026. Rules change; follow the links for the current versions.
- FTMO: Trading Objectives (both programmes: daily and maximum loss, reset time, trading days, Best Day rule)
- FundedNext: Daily Loss Limit vs Maximum Loss Limit (measurement, reset time, server timezone), Stellar 2-Step rules and Stellar 1-Step rules
- The5ers: High Stakes programme page (limits, profitable days, news rule)
Vertex Algorithms is not affiliated with any of these firms, and this is not a recommendation of any of them.
Quick answers
Does FTMO count floating losses?
Yes. FTMO’s Trading Objectives page measures both limits on equity, which includes open positions, commissions and swaps. A trade that is open and losing counts as if it were closed.
What time does FTMO’s daily loss reset?
At midnight Central European time (00:00 CE(S)T). In UTC that is 23:00 in winter and 22:00 in summer, which is rarely your broker’s server time. An EA needs the firm’s reset time, not its own clock.
Why can my daily loss allowance be larger after a profitable day?
At FTMO the daily floor is the previous day’s closing balance minus the daily percentage of initial capital, so it moves with your balance. At FundedNext, profit made during the day adds to that day’s allowance. Always read your firm’s own example.
Is a trailing maximum loss always worse?
It gives less room after gains that are then given back, because the floor never comes down. FTMO’s 1-Step trails on end-of-day balance only, so intraday swings do not raise the floor. That is gentler than trailing on equity.
Will these numbers change?
Probably. Firms revise their rules and launch new programmes often. Everything on this page was checked on 12 October 2026. Your firm’s current rule page and dashboard are always the authority.