--- title: "Intraday Trailing Drawdown, Explained - Get Funded Now" description: "An intraday trailing drawdown follows your equity high in real time, open profit included. How it differs from end-of-day trailing, with a worked example." url: "https://getfundednow.com/learn/intraday-trailing-drawdown" language: "en" last_modified: "2026-09-22" publisher: "Get Funded Now (getfundednow.com)" translations: es: "https://getfundednow.com/es/learn/intraday-trailing-drawdown" pt-BR: "https://getfundednow.com/pt-br/learn/intraday-trailing-drawdown" fr: "https://getfundednow.com/fr/learn/intraday-trailing-drawdown" it: "https://getfundednow.com/it/learn/intraday-trailing-drawdown" de: "https://getfundednow.com/de/learn/intraday-trailing-drawdown" disclosure: "All trading at Get Funded Now is simulated. 'Funded' means a simulated or virtual account; GFN is not a broker and does not hold client funds." --- Risk and performance # Intraday trailing drawdown: a floor that follows open profit. An intraday trailing drawdown is a loss limit that follows the account's highest equity in real time, including unrealised profit on open trades. Each new equity high lifts the floor, and it never moves down. An end-of-day trailing drawdown instead updates only from the balance at the day's close, so open profit given back intraday does not raise it. [All trading lessons](https://getfundednow.com/learn) · [Read the trading rules →](https://getfundednow.com/rules) ## How an intraday trailing drawdown works Drawdown is the fall from a running peak. A trailing drawdown turns that into a limit: the floor sits a fixed amount below the highest value the account has reached, and moves up whenever a new high is made. Intraday means the peak is taken from equity at every moment, not from the closing balance. If a trade is up $2,000 at its best and closes up $500, the floor has already moved up by the full $2,000 peak - the $1,500 given back came out of your room. ## Intraday vs end-of-day vs static Three common designs, compared on what moves the floor. **How the three designs set the floor** | Design | What sets the peak | Effect of open profit given back | | --- | --- | --- | | Intraday trailing | Highest equity at any moment, open profit included | Reduces the room permanently | | End-of-day trailing | Highest closing balance | No effect unless kept at the close | | Static (non-trailing) | Fixed from the starting balance | No effect | Firms differ in which design they use and whether the trail stops at some level. Read the rule for the account you trade. ## Which GFN programmes trail, and how GFN's trailing drawdown follows new equity highs. On Instant the floor starts 5% below the starting balance and trails from there. On 1 Step it trails by 8% until equity reaches $108,000 on a $100,000 account, after which it stays fixed at the starting balance. The 2 Step drawdown does not trail. Full detail is on the [trailing drawdown rule](https://getfundednow.com/rules/trailing-drawdown). Step by step ## How to identify it To know where your floor is at any moment, track the peak, not the balance. 1. Find out whether the account's limit is intraday trailing, end-of-day trailing or static, and whether it stops trailing at some level. 2. Note the highest equity reached, including open profit at its best. 3. Subtract the drawdown allowance from that peak to get the current floor. 4. Compare current equity to that floor, not the starting balance, before opening another trade. Worked example ## The concept, walked through ### A trailing floor on a $100,000 Instant account An illustrative sequence using Instant's 5% trailing drawdown. The trades are described, not real. 1. 1. Start Equity is $100,000. The floor is $95,000, $5,000 below. 2. 2. Open profit peaks A trade takes equity to $103,000 at its best. The floor moves up to $98,000. 3. 3. Profit given back The trade is closed at breakeven, back at $100,000. The floor stays at $98,000. The account is where it started, but the room to the floor has fallen from $5,000 to $2,000. The peak, not the close, set the limit. Common mistakes ## Where traders go wrong ### Measuring room from the starting balance On a trailing account the floor may be well above where it began. ### Letting large open profits reverse Under intraday trailing, a winner that round-trips still tightens the limit. ### Confusing it with the daily loss limit The trailing drawdown is a separate, overall limit; both apply at once. Limitations ## What it cannot tell you No chart concept predicts price. These are the limits worth keeping in view. - Knowing how the floor moves does not change the odds of any trade; it only tells you how much room is left. - Designs vary between firms and programmes, so an explanation of the concept is no substitute for the account's own rule. In an evaluation ## Using it on a simulated account On GFN accounts that trail, the trailing drawdown and the daily loss limit - 3% on Instant and 5% on 1 Step and 2 Step - apply at the same time, and whichever is closer binds first. The [drawdown calculator](https://getfundednow.com/tools/drawdown-calculator) shows where the floor sits for a given account and peak. - [What is trailing drawdown?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/trailing-drawdown) - Trading rule - GFN's trailing rule and where it stops trailing. - [What is static, non-trailing drawdown?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/non-trailing-drawdown) - Trading rule - The 2 Step's fixed floor, for comparison. - [What is the daily loss limit?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/daily-loss-limit) - Trading rule - The separate daily ceiling - 3% on Instant and 5% on 1 Step and 2 Step. Questions ## Asked about this concept Yes. The peak is taken from equity, which includes unrealised profit on open trades, so the floor rises as soon as open profit makes a new high. No. It only moves up with new peaks. Some designs stop trailing at a set level and stay fixed from then on. Keep learning ## Related lessons - [What Is PnL? Profit and Loss in Trading](https://getfundednow.com/learn/what-is-pnl) - Risk and performance - What PnL means, the difference between realised and open profit and loss, and how costs turn a gross result into the number that counts. - [Lot Size in Forex: What It Means](https://getfundednow.com/learn/lot-size) - Risk and performance - Standard, mini and micro lots, what 0.01 lot is worth, how gold lots differ, and how to work out the lot size a stop and a risk amount allow. - [Risk On, Risk Off: Meaning in Markets](https://getfundednow.com/learn/risk-on-risk-off) - Risk and performance - The shorthand for markets moving together as investors seek or shed risk - which assets usually go which way, and why the pattern breaks. Sources ## What this page relied on 1. [Drawdown (economics)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawdown_(economics)) - Wikipedia. Retrieved 23 September 2026. Drawdown as the decline from a running peak, the basis of every trailing limit. Educational content only, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Chart concepts describe what price has done; none of them predicts what it will do, and trading any strategy can lose money. Get Funded Now accounts are simulated and trade virtual funds. Last reviewed 22 September 2026. Ready when you are ## Your capital stays yours. The risk is ours. One evaluation fee, no time limits and up to 90% of simulated profits. Pick an account size and your credentials arrive by email within minutes. [Start your challenge →](https://getfundednow.com/challenges) · [Read the rules](https://getfundednow.com/faq) No subscriptions or hidden fees Payouts every 14 days $400,000 max total allocation --- Source: https://getfundednow.com/learn/intraday-trailing-drawdown Facts about Get Funded Now in one file: https://getfundednow.com/llms.txt