Risk-Off Index Drop %
What it does
If SPY drops more than this percentage intraday from the prior close, new entries halt until the next session. This circuit breaker catches fast market dislocations before they show up in the daily P&L circuit breaker. Only affects the premium-selling engines (mechanical, earnings, contraction). The directional engine is exempt: a sharp down day is when a bearish debit bet pays. Requires risk_off_halt_enabled to be ON.
When to change it
Set to 1.5% to 2.5% for intraday protection. Leave unset (None) if you rely on the VIX kill switch and daily loss limits instead.
Safe range
1% (very sensitive, fires on normal vol days) to 3% (catches only significant drops).
Example
SPY closes at $500. Next day drops to $492 (-1.6%). With risk_off_index_drop_pct=-0.015, new premium entries halt for the rest of that session.