Tradovate Auto-Liquidation & Distance to Liquidation
Trade futures long enough and you'll eventually meet auto-liquidation. Here's how Tradovate's liquidation policy works, and exactly where to find the Distance to Auto-Liquidation column so you can watch your margin cushion in real time.
Trade futures long enough and you'll eventually meet auto-liquidation: the account can't cover margin, so the platform closes your position for you. Sometimes with no warning at all. The upside is that Tradovate will actually show you how much room you have left before that happens. It's a column called Distance to Auto-Liquidation, and once you switch it on, you can watch that cushion shrink or grow in real time. Here's how the policy works and exactly where to find that number.
How Tradovate's Liquidation Policy Works
When your account no longer meets its margin requirement, the entire position can be liquidated and closed. The written policy is blunt about the terms: it can happen "with or without notification," at the firm's sole discretion, based on market conditions. So don't count on a margin call giving you time to react.
Two margin numbers drive all of this:
- Intraday margin is the lower requirement. It applies from when a product opens until roughly 15 minutes before the session closes.
- Initial margin is the higher requirement, and it kicks in for anything you carry overnight.
That gap is where people get caught. A position that looks perfectly fine at 2 p.m. on intraday margin can suddenly be under-margined as the close approaches and the requirement steps up. If that triggers a liquidation, there's a fee attached, typically $25 for a first margin violation and $50 for each one after, and you'll get an email about it.
If you're on a prop or evaluation account, the exact auto-liquidation and drawdown thresholds aren't yours to set. They vary by firm and account size, so check your firm's current rules rather than assuming Tradovate's defaults apply. Setting your own guardrails helps too. It's worth reviewing your account risk settings and configuring daily and weekly loss limits so you lock the account before margin does.
How to See Your Distance to Auto-Liquidation: Step-by-Step
This lives in the Accounts module. It takes about a minute to set up, and once it's on, it stays.
Open the Accounts Module
Log in to the Tradovate web or desktop app. Click the add-module (+) button in the top corner, find the Accounts widget, and drag it onto your workspace.
Open the Module's Column Settings
The Accounts module shows only a handful of columns by default. Open its settings menu (the gear or options icon on the module) to bring up the full list of columns you can show or hide.
Turn On the Distance-to-Auto-Liquidation Column
Check the box for the column that shows the distance to triggering auto-liquidation. While you're there, turn on the auto-liq level column too, which shows the actual dollar threshold where liquidation would fire. Labels shift a little between platform versions, so if the exact wording doesn't match, look for the column described as the distance to auto-liquidation or the auto-liquidate threshold.
Read Your Buffer and Keep a Cushion
Now the value sits right in your Accounts row. Read it as your margin of safety: it's how far your balance can fall before auto-liquidation triggers. When that number gets thin, size down or add margin before the market decides for you.
The Two Columns, Side by Side
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Distance to Auto-Liquidation | How much further your balance can drop before liquidation fires. Watch this shrink as a losing trade runs against you. |
| Auto Liq Level | The actual dollar level at which auto-liquidation triggers for your account. |
One more habit that pays off: cap how much size you can put on in the first place. A sensible max position limit keeps a single oversized entry from eating your whole buffer in one tick.
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Keep the Distance to Auto-Liquidation column visible whenever you're in a trade. It's the one number that tells you, at a glance, how much rope you've got left before the platform closes the position for you.
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Start Your Free 5-Day TrialThis guide is for educational and informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading futures and other leveraged products carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. PickMyTrade is an independent third-party automation platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tradovate, Inc. "Tradovate" and all related names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Platform features and steps change over time, so always confirm the current process in the official Tradovate platform and documentation before acting.