D&D 5e Guide Dice Notation Explained

Every roll in D&D is written in the same short shorthand: a number of dice, the letter d, the die size, and an optional modifier. Once you can read 1d20+5 at a glance, the rest — stat rolls, advantage, damage — is just variations on that pattern.

The basic pattern: NdX+M

N is how many dice, X is how many sides each die has, and +M is a flat modifier added at the end.

• 1d20 — roll one twenty-sided die.
• 1d20+5 — roll a d20 and add 5 (a typical attack or skill check).
• 3d6 — roll three six-sided dice and sum them (3–18).
• 2d6+3 — a greatsword's damage, for example.

German tables often write w instead of d (from Würfel), so 3w6 means the same as 3d6.

Rolling ability scores: 4d6 drop lowest

The standard way to roll stats is 4d6dl1 — roll four d6 and drop the lowest one, keeping the best three. This nudges scores upward (averaging about 12 instead of 10.5) and is why dl (drop lowest) and dh (drop highest) exist in notation.

Advantage and disadvantage: keep highest / keep lowest

Advantage means roll two d20 and take the better; disadvantage means take the worse. In notation that is keep highest and keep lowest:

• 2d20kh1 — roll 2d20, keep the highest = advantage.
• 2d20kl1 — roll 2d20, keep the lowest = disadvantage.

Keep/drop are two sides of the same coin: 4d6dl1 (drop lowest) keeps the top three, just like 4d6kh3 would.

Putting it together

Notation chains, so you can roll several expressions at once — for instance 1d20+5; 2d6+3 to resolve an attack and its damage in a single click. The online dice roller understands all of this — quick buttons for d20/advantage/disadvantage/4d6dl1, multi-expression rolls, and shareable result links. Need treasure instead of a check? Try the loot generator.