Guide

FTMO Daily Loss Limit: the rules, and how many trades of room you actually have

FTMO fails far more traders on the daily loss limit than on the profit target. Here is exactly how the rule works, the hard math on how much room it gives you, and how to make sure you never breach it.

FTMO 2-Step Challenge — the rules that matter

• Daily loss limit: 5% of starting balance ($5,000 on a $100k account)
• Maximum loss: 10%, static (a fixed floor at 90% of the initial balance)
• Profit targets: 10% (Challenge) / 5% (Verification)
• Minimum trading days: 4

How is the FTMO daily loss limit calculated?

FTMO measures your daily loss on equity, from your balance at the open of the trading day. If your equity — including open floating losses — falls 5% of your starting balance below that day's opening figure, the account is failed. On a $100,000 account that is a $5,000 daily floor. Because it counts unrealised losses and resets each day, you can breach it without closing a single trade, which is why so many traders fail here rather than on the 10% profit target.

How many trades of room does FTMO's 5% daily limit give you?

The honest answer is simple arithmetic: your daily limit divided by your risk per trade. On a $100,000 FTMO account, the $5,000 daily limit at 1% risk ($1,000 per trade) gives you just five losing trades before you are locked out for the day. Double your size to "make it back" after a loss and that room roughly halves; a revenge trade at three times your normal size can spend most of the day's buffer in a single click. Run your own numbers in the daily loss limit calculator.

What risk settings should you use for FTMO?

Set your personal daily limit below FTMO's. A 20% buffer absorbs spread spikes, slippage during news, and the gap between how the firm measures the day and how your platform does. On FTMO's 5% rule that means a personal daily stop around 4% ($4,000 on $100k), sized so you survive four to five losses in a row inside it. See our recommended prop firm risk settings.

How do you make sure you never breach it?

You can't predict volatility, and you can't count on discipline in the moment — especially after a loss. The only reliable answer is enforcement. TradeNRisk monitors your live MT5 account and automatically locks it, closing your positions, the instant your daily loss limit is reached — before the breach, not after. It is the same 5% limit FTMO uses, except it stops you when willpower fails.

Never blow an FTMO account on one bad day

Auto-lock your MT5 account on your daily loss limit, with a one-click FTMO preset. Free calculator; Risk Manager from $25/month.

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