Drawdown is the rule that ends more prop firm accounts than any other, and it is also the one most traders understand least precisely. There are three different limits hiding behind the word: the daily loss limit, the maximum drawdown, and the way that maximum moves, static or trailing. Each one is measured against a different number and resets at a different moment. This guide explains all three with worked examples on a $100,000 account, shows the exact parameters for every Dolvero model, and gives you a calculator that turns the percentages into dollars and into a count of losing trades you can afford.
- The daily loss limit caps how much you can lose in one trading day and resets every day. The maximum drawdown caps how much you can lose in total and never resets.
- A static maximum drawdown is a fixed floor under your starting balance. A trailing one follows your best result upward, so profit you have made raises the floor.
- Both limits are measured on equity, not on closed balance. An open position that dips through the limit counts even if it later recovers.
- Dolvero's 2-Step uses the most forgiving combination in the industry table: 5% daily and a 10% static floor that never moves against you.
- Dolvero adds a 2% cap per trade idea on evaluations, which means a single trade can never take more than 40% of the daily allowance on the 2-Step.
- Every limit in this article is shown live in the Dolvero dashboard as a dollar amount and a distance to the floor, so nothing here has to be calculated by hand during a session.
The three limits, defined
| Limit | What it caps | Measured against | Resets | What breaches it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily loss limit | Loss within one trading day | Starting balance of the day (Dolvero) or the account's starting balance, depending on the firm | Every day at the server's day boundary | Equity falling below the day's threshold at any moment, open positions included |
| Maximum drawdown, static | Total loss from the starting balance | Starting balance, fixed | Never | Equity falling below the fixed floor at any moment |
| Maximum drawdown, trailing | Loss from the highest point reached | High-water mark of balance or equity | Never, but the floor rises with new highs | Equity falling below the moving floor at any moment |
Two phrases matter more than the percentages. "At any moment" means floating losses count: a position that is $5,100 underwater on a $100,000 account with a 5% daily limit has already breached, even if it closes green an hour later. "Server's day boundary" means the daily limit resets on the broker's clock, which at Dolvero runs on server time, not on your local midnight.
Dolvero's parameters, model by model
These are the values from the rules page and the account configuration, verified on 10 September 2026. The same daily and maximum limits apply on the evaluation and on the funded account of each model.
| Model | Daily loss limit | Maximum drawdown | Type | Max risk per trade idea | Profit target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Step CFD | 5% | 10% | static | 2% | 10% then 5% |
| 1-Step CFD | 3% | 6% | trailing | 2% | 10% |
| Instant Funding | 2% | 5% | trailing from highest balance | none | no evaluation |
| Crypto 2-Step (Bybit) | 4% | 6% | static | none | 10% then 5% |
| Crypto 1-Step (Bybit) | 3% | 6% | trailing | none | 10% |
The Relaxed Risk add-on removes the 2% cap per trade idea on CFD evaluations and keeps the daily and maximum limits unchanged. There is no add-on that widens the daily or maximum limit, at Dolvero or at any firm in our comparison, because those two numbers are what the funded capital is priced on.
Worked examples on a $100,000 account
2-Step: 5% daily, 10% static
The daily limit is $5,000 and the maximum drawdown floor is $90,000. The floor never moves. If you grow the account to $108,000, the floor is still $90,000 and you now have $18,000 of room. That is the practical meaning of static: profit you have made becomes cushion.
| Day | Start of day | Daily limit (equity must stay above) | Worst equity seen | Close | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | $95,000 | $97,800 | $98,400 | fine |
| 2 | $98,400 | $93,480 | $93,900 | $96,100 | $420 from the daily limit |
| 3 | $96,100 | $91,295 | $90,900 | $91,300 | daily limit breached at $91,295 |
Day 3 is the case that surprises people: the account closed the day at $91,300, above both limits, but equity had touched $90,900 during the session. The breach happened at the moment equity crossed $91,295, not at the close. The dashboard shows the live distance to both limits precisely so that this moment is visible before it arrives.
1-Step: 3% daily, 6% trailing
The daily limit is $3,000. The maximum drawdown floor starts at $94,000 and follows your best equity upward: at a high of $103,000 the floor is $97,000, at $106,000 it is $100,000. From that point the account can no longer lose its starting balance, which is the trade-off the trailing model offers in exchange for a tighter percentage.
| Equity high reached | Trailing floor (high minus $6,000) | Room at that moment |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $94,000 | $6,000 |
| $103,000 | $97,000 | $6,000 |
| $106,000 | $100,000 | $6,000 |
| $110,000, then back to $104,000 | $104,000 | $0, breach |
The last row is the trailing trap: a run to $110,000 followed by a pullback of $6,000 ends the account even though it is still $4,000 in profit. On a trailing model, giving back profit is the same as losing capital. The practical answer is to tighten risk after new highs, not to loosen it.
Instant Funding: 2% daily, 5% trailing from highest balance
The daily limit is $2,000 and the floor starts at $95,000. Instant Funding trails from the highest closed balance, so an open position that runs into profit and comes back does not lift the floor until it is closed. A trader who banks $4,000 sees the floor rise to $99,000.
Drawdown calculator
Pick the model and account size, enter where the account stands, and the calculator shows the limits in dollars and how many losing trades at your usual risk fit inside each of them. The figures update as you type.
- Daily loss limit
- $5,000equity must stay above $95,000 today
- Maximum drawdown floor
- $90,000static, never moves
- Room to the floor
- $10,000from today's starting balance
- Losing trades until the daily limit
- 5at 1% risk per trade
- Losing trades until the floor
- 10consecutive, at 1% risk
- Max risk per trade idea
- $2,0002% cap on evaluations
Illustrative arithmetic on the published parameters. The dashboard is the binding source during trading; it applies the exact server-time day boundary and the live equity, which this calculator cannot see.
Sizing so the limits never decide for you
The numbers above turn into three habits. They are the same three we see in the accounts that reach payouts, and their absence is what we see in most breach reviews.
- Set risk per trade from the daily limit, not from the account. On a 5% daily limit, 1% risk gives you five independent losses before the day is over; 2% gives you two and a half. Decide how many attempts a bad day is allowed to contain and divide the daily limit by that number.
- Count open risk, not closed losses. Three positions each risking 1% are 3% of exposure right now. The daily limit is measured on equity, so the sum of your open stop distances is the number to keep under the limit at all times.
- After a new high on a trailing model, cut size. The floor just moved up, so the room you had yesterday is gone. Treat every new high on a 1-Step or Instant account as a reset of your cushion to the full percentage and size accordingly.
On the 2-Step, the cap means no single idea can consume more than 40% of the daily allowance. It removes the one scenario that ends most accounts on their best day: a conviction trade sized for the target rather than for the limit. Traders with a tested larger-size method take the Relaxed Risk add-on and keep the daily and maximum limits as their guardrails.
When the day resets, and why it matters
The daily limit resets at the server's day boundary. Dolvero's MT5 server runs on Europe/Bucharest time, which is UTC+3 in summer and UTC+2 in winter. Server midnight therefore falls at 21:00 UTC in summer and 22:00 UTC in winter, which is 23:00 in Prague and 17:00 in New York all year round. The dashboard always shows the current day boundary. A position held through the reset starts the new day with its floating result already counted in the new day's starting equity. Two practical consequences:
- A losing position carried through the reset does not "free up" the daily allowance; the new day starts from the lower equity, so the new limit is 5% below that lower level.
- The economic calendar in your local time will not match the server's day. Convert once, note the offset on your desk, and read the dashboard's "distance to daily limit" rather than your own arithmetic when it matters.
How Dolvero's limits compare
From our verified comparison of eleven firms' 2-step products, checked on their official pages on 10 September 2026:
| Firm | Daily loss | Max drawdown | Type | Daily measured on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolvero | 5% | 10% | static | starting daily balance |
| FTMO | 5% | 10% | static | day's opening balance or equity |
| FundedNext | 5% | 10% | static | initial balance plus the day's profit |
| FundingPips | 5% | 10% | static | higher of opening balance or equity |
| The5ers | 5% | 10% | static | previous day's closing equity or balance |
| E8 Markets | 4% | 8% | floating or closed | day's starting balance |
| Alpha Capital | 5% | 10% | static | balance |
| FXIFY | 4% | 10% | stated as trailing in the FAQ, static in the blog | previous day balance |
| Maven | 4% | 8% | static | higher of equity or balance |
| Goat Funded Trader | 4% | 10% | static | higher of balance or equity |
| Funded Trading Plus | 4% | 8% | static | prior day's closed balance |
Dolvero sits in the widest group on both numbers and pairs them with no consistency rule, no inactivity rule and no time limit on the 2-Step. The full rule-by-rule comparison with sources is in Prop Firm Rules Compared 2026.
Where Dolvero stands out
- 2-Step drawdown
- 10% staticfloor never moves against you
- Daily limit
- 5%of starting daily balance
- Live distance to limits
- Dashboardin dollars, real time
- Time limit
- Noneon every phase
- Per-idea cap
- 2%Relaxed Risk add-on removes it
- Breach reviews
- Publishedevery case explained
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between daily loss limit and maximum drawdown?
The daily loss limit caps the loss within one trading day and resets every day at the server's day boundary. The maximum drawdown caps the total loss and never resets; it is either a fixed floor under the starting balance (static) or a floor that follows your best result (trailing).
Is drawdown measured on balance or equity?
On equity. An open position that pushes equity through a limit counts as a breach at that moment, even if the position later recovers and closes in profit.
What is Dolvero's maximum drawdown?
10% static on the 2-Step, 6% trailing on the 1-Step, 5% trailing from the highest balance on Instant Funding, and 6% on crypto evaluations (static on 2-Step, trailing on 1-Step).
What is the daily loss limit on a $100,000 Dolvero account?
$5,000 on the 2-Step, $3,000 on the 1-Step, $2,000 on Instant Funding and $4,000 on the crypto 2-Step, measured on equity against the day's starting balance.
When does the daily loss limit reset?
At the server's day boundary. Dolvero's MT5 server runs on Europe/Bucharest time, UTC+3 in summer and UTC+2 in winter, so the reset falls at 21:00 UTC in summer and 22:00 UTC in winter, which is 23:00 in Prague and 17:00 in New York all year round.
Does a trailing drawdown stop moving once I am in profit?
At Dolvero the floor follows the high-water mark upward by the full drawdown percentage. On the 1-Step, once the high is 6% above the starting balance the floor sits at the starting balance; on Instant Funding the floor trails 5% below the highest closed balance.
Every limit, live in the dashboard
Dolvero shows the distance to the daily limit and to the drawdown floor in dollars, in real time, on every account. The rules page has the full parameters for each model.
- Dolvero: Trading rules and FAQ (daily loss, maximum drawdown, trailing definitions, 2% cap, add-ons), account configuration for each model (values reproduced in the parameters table)
- Competitor drawdown parameters: official pages linked in Prop Firm Rules Compared 2026
