What it is
The daily loss limit caps what one trading day may cost. Cross it and, depending on the firm, the account is failed or trading is locked until the next session.
It sits on top of the maximum drawdown: you can have plenty of drawdown room left and still lose the account in one day.
How firms count it
- What is counted — some firms count only closed trades, others include open positions at their worst point. The second kind can be hit by a trade that ends positive.
- When the day resets — firms use their own session clock, often tied to the futures session rather than midnight.
- From which balance — the limit is usually measured from the day's starting balance or equity.
Check the exact definition for your account on the firm's website, or on our firm pages.
The arithmetic of room
If your daily limit is $1,000 and you are down $700, your room is $300 — not $1,000. Every next trade has to fit inside $300 at its stop, including slippage.
That is the whole trick: size against the room you have today, not against the limit printed on the account.
Why recovery trading breaks it
Nobody breaches a daily limit on their first trade. It happens on the third or fourth, taken to win back the first two — bigger, faster, with a wider stop. The limit punishes exactly that behaviour.
Simple rules that work
- Stop at half the limit. If the day has taken 50% of your daily loss, you are done.
- Size by today's room, and let the size shrink as the room shrinks.
- Write the reason for every trade after a loss. If the reason is “to get it back”, don't take it.
- Know the reset time so you never trade the last minutes of a session thinking the day is new.
How Propbook helps
Propbook recalculates each account's daily-loss room after every trade you log, import or sync, and can send a Telegram alert when a logged day brings an account close to its limit. It does not read open positions, so the alert is as fresh as your last log.
If you copy trades with PropSync, Guard pauses any follower whose daily-loss room falls below your threshold ($250 by default) before the next entry.
See today's room on every account
Propbook shows the daily-loss room left on each account, recalculated after every trade you log — free, no card.
Start free →FAQ
Is the daily loss limit the same as the maximum drawdown?
No. The maximum drawdown is the floor for the whole account; the daily loss limit caps a single day. You can breach either one independently.
Does an open trade count towards the daily limit?
On some firms, yes — the limit is measured on equity, so an open loss counts even if the trade closes positive. Check your firm's definition.
When does the trading day reset?
At the firm's session time, which is often tied to the futures session rather than midnight. It differs by firm.
Can Propbook stop me from trading past the limit?
Propbook tracks and alerts; it does not control your broker. With PropSync, Guard blocks new copied entries on a follower below its daily-loss threshold.