Near-breach detection
Near-breach detection is FairTicks' real-time risk warning system. It alerts you when your account is approaching a hard risk limit, before the account actually breaches.
Near-breach alerts are not punishments. They are visibility tools. FairTicks shows risk before it becomes a breach, so you can understand your remaining buffer while there is still time to act.
What is a near-breach?
A near-breach happens when your account has consumed a large part of one of its active risk limits, but has not yet reached the official breach floor.
FairTicks can monitor multiple risk rules at the same time, including:
- Daily Loss, where enabled on the account.
- Max Loss, where enabled on the account.
- Trailing Drawdown, where enabled on the account.
If more than one rule is close to breach, FairTicks shows the most serious active risk level.
If Daily Loss is at Warning but Max Loss is at Critical, the account is treated as Critical for near-breach visibility.
The three near-breach alert levels
FairTicks uses three main near-breach levels. Each level represents how much of an active risk limit has been consumed.
| Level | Threshold | Meaning | Trader-facing signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warning | 70% or more | The account is approaching a risk limit. | Review your remaining buffer before adding exposure. |
| High | 85% or more | The account is close to a risk limit. | Risk is elevated and should be monitored carefully. |
| Critical | 95% or more | The account is very close to a breach. | Protection behavior may activate depending on your Trader Settings. |
Critical does not mean the account has already breached. It means the account is very close to a breach. A breach happens only when the official risk floor is reached or crossed.
What does “consumed” mean?
Consumed means how much of the allowed risk buffer has already been used. The higher the consumed percentage, the closer the account is to a hard breach.
If a rule allows $1,000 of risk and the account has used $700, then consumption is 70%.
At 70%, the account enters the Warning zone.
How Daily Loss near-breach works
Daily Loss near-breach compares your live equity against the Daily Loss buffer for the current trading day. Since Daily Loss uses live equity, open positions can move your account into a near-breach zone.
Daily start equity: $50,000
Daily loss limit: $1,500
Daily breach floor: $48,500
Live equity: $48,950
Loss consumed = $50,000 − $48,950 = $1,050
Consumption = $1,050 / $1,500 = 70%
Result: Warning
How Max Loss near-breach works
Max Loss near-breach compares your live equity against the current Max Loss protection buffer. The Max Loss floor can move upward through the FairTicks EOD TickDrawdown model, so always follow the current floor shown in your dashboard.
Current Max Loss floor: $48,000
Max loss limit: $4,000
Live equity: $48,600
Remaining buffer above floor: $48,600 − $48,000 = $600
Consumed buffer = $4,000 − $600 = $3,400
Consumption = $3,400 / $4,000 = 85%
Result: High
How Trailing Drawdown near-breach works
If Trailing Drawdown is enabled, FairTicks can also warn you when live equity gets close to the trailing breach floor. This matters because the trailing floor may become the closest active risk floor.
Trailing drawdown limit: $2,500
Trailing floor: $50,500
Live equity: $50,625
Remaining buffer: $50,625 − $50,500 = $125
Consumed buffer = $2,500 − $125 = $2,375
Consumption = $2,375 / $2,500 = 95%
Result: Critical
Near-breach uses enabled rules only
FairTicks evaluates near-breach only for risk rules that are enabled on your account. If a rule is not active on your account, it is not used for that account's near-breach level.
| Account example | Near-breach can monitor |
|---|---|
| Rapid account with no Daily Loss | Max Loss and Trailing Drawdown where enabled. |
| Classic account with Daily Loss enabled | Daily Loss, Max Loss, and Trailing Drawdown where enabled. |
| Live / Straight account | The active Live / Straight risk rules configured for that account. |
What happens at each alert level?
Warning — 70%
Warning is the first risk signal. It means the account is not breached, but risk usage is becoming meaningful.
- A warning can appear in the dashboard or trading interface.
- A notification can be recorded.
- Trading remains available if no other block applies.
- The account is still below the hard breach limit.
High — 85%
High means the account is close to a hard risk floor. At this level, small additional losses or open PnL movement can become dangerous.
- The dashboard can show a stronger warning.
- The trading interface can show a more urgent risk state.
- Trading remains available if no other block applies.
- The account is still not breached unless the official floor is reached.
Critical — 95%
Critical means the account is very close to a hard risk floor. At this level, FairTicks may apply additional protection behavior depending on your Trader Settings.
- A critical alert can appear.
- A modal can appear depending on your protection mode.
- A notification or email may be sent depending on configuration.
- Protection Pause may activate if your selected mode uses cooldown.
At Critical level, the account is still not breached yet, but it is close enough that a small unfavorable move can trigger a breach.
Protection modes in Trader Settings
You can configure how FairTicks reacts when an account reaches the Critical near-breach zone from: Trader Settings → Protection.
This setting changes the level of interruption before breach. It does not change your risk rules, and it does not disable breaches.
| Protection mode | What happens at Critical | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Protection Pause | FairTicks shows a critical alert and pauses new positions for 10 minutes. You can still close open positions during the pause. | Most traders who want an extra safety layer near breach. |
| Warning Only | FairTicks shows a critical warning, but does not pause new positions. | Experienced traders who want a clear warning while staying fully in control. |
| Minimal Interruption | FairTicks uses lighter warning behavior with minimal interruption. No cooldown is triggered. | Advanced or fast traders who accept the risk of continuing near breach. |
Protection Pause is designed to help traders clear their mind when the account is already very close to breach. It is not a breach and not a reset. It is a short behavioral circuit-breaker.
What is blocked during Protection Pause?
If Protection Pause activates, the account status can temporarily change to COOLDOWN.
This affects what you can do on that account.
| Action | During Protection Pause |
|---|---|
| Open a new position | Blocked |
| Add new exposure | Blocked |
| Reverse trade | Blocked because it would open a new direction. |
| Close existing positions | Allowed |
| Review dashboard and risk metrics | Allowed |
Protection Pause does not reset your risk limits. When the pause ends, the account may still be close to the same breach floor.
Does near-breach always stop trading?
No. Warning and High are visibility alerts. Critical can trigger different behavior depending on your selected protection mode.
| Level | Does it block new positions? |
|---|---|
| Warning | No. Trading remains available if no other account block applies. |
| High | No. Trading remains available if no other account block applies. |
| Critical with Protection Pause | Yes. New positions are temporarily blocked during cooldown. |
| Critical with Warning Only or Minimal Interruption | No cooldown is triggered, but breach rules remain active. |
How warnings clear
A near-breach warning can clear when the account moves back below the relevant threshold.
Your Daily Loss consumption reaches 72%. A Warning appears.
Your live equity improves and consumption drops to 65%.
The account can return to Safe for that rule.
If the account later crosses the threshold again, another warning may appear. FairTicks may avoid sending repeated duplicate alerts too frequently so warnings remain useful.
Daily reset behavior
Daily Loss near-breach is based on the current day's Daily Loss calculation. At the official FairTicks daily reset time, a new daily start equity is captured for the next trading day.
This can change Daily Loss near-breach status because the daily baseline has changed. Max Loss and Trailing Drawdown do not reset in the same way because they are not simple daily counters.
A Daily Loss warning can disappear after the new daily baseline is created, unless the account is still near a limit under the new calculation.
What if cooldown crosses the daily reset?
If Protection Pause crosses the official daily reset time, FairTicks can update the daily baseline before the account resumes trading.
This helps avoid resuming trading with outdated Daily Loss values from the previous trading day.
This does not reset Max Loss, Trailing Drawdown, account balance, realized losses, or commissions. It only ensures the Daily Loss baseline is aligned when trading resumes.
What the trader may see
Near-breach information can appear in several places in the FairTicks experience.
Dashboard risk snapshot
Daily Loss: 72% consumed — Warning
Max Loss: 42% consumed — Safe
Trailing Drawdown: 18% consumed — Safe
Displayed near-breach state: Warning
Trading interface
If your account is close to a risk limit while trading, FairTicks can show warning banners, modals, badges, or account status changes depending on the alert level and protection mode.
Notification center
Near-breach events can be logged as notifications or account timeline events, so you can review when the warning happened.
Email alerts
In some cases, FairTicks may send a near-breach email notification. Email delivery can depend on account state, alert level, settings, and delivery availability.
Near-breach vs breach
Near-breach and breach are different. Near-breach is a warning zone. Breach is the hard account failure event.
| State | Meaning | Account result |
|---|---|---|
| Near-breach | The account is close to a hard risk limit. | Warning or protection behavior may appear. The account is not breached yet. |
| Breach | The account reached or crossed an official breach floor. | The account moves to BREACHED, trading is disabled, and open positions are closed through the official breach process. |
Example — near-breach becomes breach
Daily start equity: $50,000
Daily breach floor: $48,500
Live equity falls to $48,575 → Critical near-breach zone.
Live equity later falls to $48,500 → Daily Loss breach.
Result: account can move to BREACHED.
Near-breach warnings do not protect the account from breach if live equity reaches the official breach floor.
Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | Why it creates confusion | Better understanding |
|---|---|---|
| Thinking Warning means the account failed | Warning is not a breach. | It means risk is rising and should be reviewed. |
| Thinking Critical means breach already happened | Critical means very close to breach, not breached yet. | The hard breach happens only at the official risk floor. |
| Ignoring Critical because it is not breached yet | A small unfavorable move can still trigger breach. | Treat Critical as an immediate risk warning. |
| Looking only at Daily Loss | Max Loss or Trailing Drawdown may be closer to breach. | Review all active risk rules in the dashboard. |
| Thinking Protection Pause resets the account | Cooldown only blocks new exposure temporarily. | Risk floors and account state remain active. |
| Turning off pause and assuming rules are disabled | Protection mode does not disable breach rules. | Warning Only and Minimal Interruption still leave all hard rules active. |
Common questions
“Is near-breach the same as breach?”
No. Near-breach means you are close to a risk limit. Breach means the official risk floor was reached or crossed.
“What are the near-breach levels?”
Warning starts at 70%, High starts at 85%, and Critical starts at 95% of an active risk limit consumed.
“Which rules can trigger near-breach?”
Daily Loss, Max Loss, and Trailing Drawdown can trigger near-breach when they are enabled on the account.
“Can near-breach block trading?”
Warning and High do not block trading by themselves. Critical can trigger Protection Pause if your Trader Settings use that mode. During Protection Pause, new positions are temporarily blocked, but closing positions remains available.
“Can I disable Protection Pause?”
If available in your Trader Settings, you can choose Warning Only or Minimal Interruption. These modes reduce or remove the cooldown behavior, but they do not disable hard breach rules.
“Why did I enter cooldown?”
Your account reached the Critical near-breach zone and your protection mode triggered Protection Pause. This pause is designed to help you clear your mind and stop adding exposure near a hard risk limit.
“Can I close positions during cooldown?”
Yes. Closing existing positions remains allowed. Opening new exposure is blocked during Protection Pause.
“Why did the warning disappear?”
The account may have moved back below the warning threshold, or the daily baseline may have changed after the official daily reset.
“Why am I safe on Daily Loss but still High risk?”
Another active rule, such as Max Loss or Trailing Drawdown, may be closer to breach. FairTicks displays the most serious active risk level.
“Does near-breach reset my risk?”
No. Near-breach only gives visibility and, depending on settings, protection behavior. It does not reset Daily Loss, Max Loss, Trailing Drawdown, balance, equity, or commissions.
“If the market comes back after breach, does the warning matter?”
If the account only reached near-breach and did not breach, it can recover to a safer state. If the account actually breached, the breach is not reversed because the market later moves back.
Summary
Near-breach detection helps you see risk before hard failure. It monitors enabled risk rules, shows the most serious active warning level, and can trigger Protection Pause at the Critical level depending on your Trader Settings.
The most important rule is simple: near-breach is a warning before breach — not a reset, not a pass, and not a guarantee that the account is safe.
Near-breach detection warns you when your account is close to a hard risk floor, so risk becomes visible before the account breaches.
FairTicks shows risk before it becomes a breach.
Warning, High, and Critical alerts help you understand your remaining buffer. If Protection Pause is enabled, Critical can temporarily block new exposure while still allowing you to close positions.
Confused by a near-breach warning?
Check the rule shown in the alert, your live equity, the active breach floor, remaining buffer, open positions, and protection mode. If something still looks unclear, contact support with your account number and dashboard screenshots.