Source: https://whitepips.com/blog/static-and-trailing-drawdown Summary: The single rule that decides the most evaluations, and the one most often misread. What each does once you are in profit. Last updated: 2026-10-28 # Static and trailing drawdown, side by side The single rule that decides the most evaluations, and the one most often misread. What each does once you are in profit. - August 31, 2026 - 2 min read - 4 sections - Risk **In this article 4** 1. Static 2. Trailing 3. The detail that catches people 4. How to trade each one Back to top August 31, 2026 2 min read Risk ## Key takeaways 1. **Static.** A static drawdown is measured from your starting balance and stays there. 2. **Trailing.** A trailing drawdown follows your equity up. 3. **The detail that catches people.** Trailing drawdowns differ in what they trail. 4. **How to trade each one.** Neither type is a better deal in the abstract. Maximum drawdown is the floor your account cannot go below. Whether that floor stays where it started or follows you upward is the difference between static and trailing, and it changes the account you are trading more than any other published rule. ## Static A static drawdown is measured from your starting balance and stays there. On a $100,000 account with an 8% static drawdown, the floor is $92,000 on day one and it is still $92,000 in month four. The consequence is that profit is genuinely banked. Take the account to $110,000 and you now have $18,000 of room beneath you rather than $8,000. Every dollar earned is a dollar of additional cushion, permanently. ## Trailing A trailing drawdown follows your equity up. The same 8%, trailing, starts at $92,000 โ€” but take the account to $110,000 and the floor rises with it, to $101,200. Your room is always the same distance beneath your high-water mark. Futures accounts trail it once a day or during the day: [EOD trailing drawdown, explained with an example](https://whitepips.com/blog/eod-trailing-drawdown-explained) . This is the rule people misread, and the misreading is specific: they see the floor rise and think of it as a locked-in gain. It is the opposite. Under a trailing drawdown you never accumulate cushion. You are always the same single bad run from a breach as you were on day one, no matter how well the account has done. Worked comparison on $100,000 with an 8% limit, after running the account to $110,000 โ€” static floor: $92,000, room $18,000. Trailing floor: $101,200, room $8,800. Same account, same profit, twice the survivable loss under one of them. > Under a trailing drawdown you never bank a cushion. You are always the same single bad run from a breach as you were on day one. **Static and trailing, the same account** $100,000 with an 8% limit, after running the account to $110,000. The shaded band is the room above the trailing floor. - Equity - Trailing floor, room $8,800 - Static floor, room $18,000 Static floor $92,000, room $18,000. Trailing floor $101,200, room $8,800. Same account, same profit, twice the survivable loss under one of them. ## The detail that catches people Trailing drawdowns differ in what they trail. Some follow closed balance, updating only when a trade is booked. Some follow floating equity, which means an open position moving in your favour raises the floor before you have realised anything โ€” and if that position then gives the move back, the floor stays up while your equity comes down. That combination has ended a lot of accounts that were, in the trader's own accounting, still profitable. If a plan states a trailing drawdown, find out which of the two it trails before you place a trade. It is printed in the trading rules. ## How to trade each one - Under static, front-load the risk. Early profit buys room that is yours for the life of the account, so the first stretch is where variance is cheapest to take. - Under trailing, treat every day as day one, because in drawdown terms it is. Consistent size throughout beats a fast start followed by a large give-back. - Under trailing on floating equity, be deliberate about letting winners run past your intended exit. The unrealised high raises the floor whether or not you ever collect it. Neither type is a better deal in the abstract. A trailing drawdown often comes with a wider percentage, and the wider number can be worth more than the static behaviour depending on how you trade. Compare the pair, not the label. More in Risk [Holding over the weekend on a prop account: swaps and gaps](https://whitepips.com/blog/weekend-holding-and-swaps) [Prop firm rules explained: every limit in one place](https://whitepips.com/blog/prop-firm-rules-explained) [Max exposure and max floating loss: two rules to watch](https://whitepips.com/blog/max-exposure-and-floating-loss) [Read next The daily loss limit, and the hour it resets Risk ยท 2 min read](https://whitepips.com/blog/the-daily-loss-limit) Educational content, not financial advice. Trading carries risk and most people who attempt an evaluation do not pass it. Accounts are simulated; the rules that bind yours are the ones printed on your plan and in the trading rules. [All articles](https://whitepips.com/blog) ## Related articles Risk August 29, 2026 2 min read ### The daily loss limit, and the hour it resets A smaller number than the drawdown, and the one that ends more accounts. What it measures, when the day rolls, and why that matters. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/the-daily-loss-limit) Risk August 27, 2026 2 min read ### Position sizing against a loss limit, not a feeling How to turn a published drawdown into a per-trade position size, and why the arithmetic should be done once rather than trade by trade. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/sizing-against-the-limit) Risk August 26, 2026 2 min read ### Why there is no deadline, and what to do with it Removing the clock from an evaluation changes how it should be traded. Most people carry on racing anyway. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/no-time-limit) ## Ready to see the plans? Every plan, size and price, with the rules printed before you buy. [See the plans](https://whitepips.com/#plans) [Trading calculator](https://whitepips.com/calculator) --- WhitePips provides skill-based trading evaluations on simulated accounts; payouts are real money based on simulated performance. 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