FTMO daily loss limit: how it’s actually calculated
By the Trading Journal team · Updated · 5 min read
The rule in FTMO’s words
FTMO’s Trading Objectives describe the Maximum Daily Loss as a limit below which your account equity cannot drop. The limit is recalculated every day at 00:00 CE(S)T — Central European time, summer or winter — as:
the balance at midnight − the Maximum Daily Loss Amount
The amount is a percentage of the Initial Simulated Capital. On the first day, the balance used is the initial capital itself. The percentage depends on the account type — on the 1-Step Challenge FTMO lists 3 %; check the number for yours on the same page.
Equity, as FTMO defines it, is the balance plus the open profit or loss, with swaps added or taken off and commissions taken off. FTMO’s Academy lesson puts the day’s loss the same way: closed positions of the day plus the result of open positions.
Worked example
A $100,000 account with a 5 % daily amount, so $5,000 every day:
| Day | Balance at midnight | Floor for equity |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | $100,000 (initial) | $95,000 |
| Day 2, after +$2,000 | $102,000 | $97,000 |
| Day 3, after −$3,000 | $99,000 | $94,000 |
The amount stays $5,000 because it is taken from the initial size. What moves is the starting point: the balance at midnight.
The midnight trap
FTMO gives this example on its daily loss page: you closed trades for a €600 profit and hold a position with a €2,500 open loss, with a €2,000 daily limit. Before midnight the day is at −€1,900 — inside the limit. Hold the position past midnight and the new day starts from a balance that already includes the €600; the open €2,500 loss alone is now beyond the €2,000 limit, and the rule is broken.
Two habits follow:
- Look at equity, not balance, before midnight CE(S)T.
- Know your midnight in your own time zone. CE(S)T is UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer, so the reset moves for you when either side changes the clock.
What counts toward the limit
- Closed trades of the day — after commission and swap.
- Open positions — their current profit or loss.
- Commissions and swaps — they are part of equity.
The day’s profit before a loss does not protect the next day: each day is measured from its own midnight balance.
Check your number now
Use the daily loss limit calculator with «% of the initial size, below today’s starting balance»: enter the initial size, the percentage, the balance at midnight and your equity now. It shows how much you can still lose and the floor your equity must stay above. Nothing leaves your browser.
The other FTMO limits
The Maximum Daily Loss is one of several trading objectives; the overall Maximum Loss is a separate rule. Read both on FTMO’s page for your account type. And before you run any tool on the account, see which prop firms allow EAs — FTMO included.
This is our reading of FTMO’s public pages on the date shown at the top — not FTMO’s answer and not legal advice. Rules change; FTMO decides.
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