Drawdown measures how far you have fallen from your highest point. If you reached $12,000 and dropped to $10,200, your drawdown is $1,800, or 15%.
Recovering from a drawdown is not symmetric. Lose 20% and you need 25% to get back. Lose 50% and you need 100%. That is why protecting capital matters more than winning fast.
It is not the number: it is whether you will keep trading the same way after living through it. Almost nobody quits from losing money; they quit from losing confidence. A drawdown that pushes you to double your lot size to recover is a drawdown that will cost you the account.
On a funded account it is also a hard rule: the firm closes you when you hit the limit. That is why Onyx Guardian warns you before, with margin.
Onyx analyzes every trade, protects your risk with Guardian and shows your real numbers. Start free and upgrade whenever you want.