PolyTerminal
When it starts
Liquidation starts when equity falls below maintenance margin, which is the same as a margin ratio below one. The ratio is Equity / MaintenanceMargin, with equity valued at the mark price and compared against the maintenance margin. A cross account is checked on its combined equity, and each isolated position on its own.
What happens next
The exchange flags the affected scope, which depends on the margin mode. In a cross liquidation the exchange blocks new orders on every market of the account; in an isolated one it blocks new orders only on the affected market. Resting orders in that scope are canceled before the first closing order, and the closing orders are market priced, with no protective spread off the mark price. The price you are closed at can therefore be worse than the price that triggered the liquidation.
Every fill while the flag is set also pays an extra liquidation fee: Notional × (MakerOrTakerRate + LiquidationFeeRate).
How it ends
A cross liquidation works one position at a time, so a large account can be unwound over several steps. The exchange checks margin again between closing orders, so partial fills that restore the account naturally stop the process.
For an isolated position the liquidation page describes closing the flagged position in full, while a Sep 21, 2026 changelog entry says that after an outage an in-progress liquidation resumes with normal partial clips instead of a full-size close; the pages do not reconcile the two. The flag clears when the account equity gets back to its recovery initial margin or higher, or when the position has been closed completely. The liquidation guide walks through every stage.
Sources and checks
Every rule quoted in this article comes from the registry below. Each row names the official page and the day it was compared with the text.
All 11 rules used in this article
| Rule | Value | Official source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| How a liquidation is executed | reduce-only immediate-or-cancel orders | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Liquidation starts when | equity falls below maintenance margin | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Margin ratio | Equity / MaintenanceMargin | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Cross liquidation blocks | blocks new orders on every market of the account | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Isolated liquidation blocks | blocks new orders only on the affected market | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Liquidation order price | no protective spread off the mark price | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Fee on a liquidation fill | Notional × (MakerOrTakerRate + LiquidationFeeRate) | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Cross liquidation order | one position at a time | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Partial fills can end a liquidation | partial fills that restore the account naturally stop the process | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Liquidations after an outage resume with partial clips | resumes with normal partial clips instead of a full-size close | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| When the liquidation flag clears | when the account equity gets back to its recovery initial margin or higher, or when the position has been closed completely | docs.polymarket.com/ |
Related terms
Read the full guide
Perps · 8 min
Polymarket Perps Liquidation Explained
How liquidation works on Polymarket Perps: the trigger, the insurance fund, auto-deleveraging, the extra fee and how to read your distance to liquidation.
Perps · 8 min
Polymarket Perps Margin and Leverage
How margin and leverage work on Polymarket Perps: initial and maintenance margin, leverage tiers, isolated and cross margin, with worked numbers.
PolyTerminal is an independent interface for Polymarket and is not operated or endorsed by Polymarket. Orders placed through PolyTerminal carry PolyTerminal’s Polymarket builder code, and PolyTerminal may charge a builder fee on top of Polymarket’s own fees. This page is educational and is not investment advice. Rules were compared with the official documentation on Oct 19, 2026; check the source before you act on a number.