Dice notation is the compact code games use to tell you what to roll. Once you know the pattern, you can read any rulebook — and type the same shorthand straight into a dice roller. It all builds from one simple form.
The basic form: NdX
The heart of it is NdX — roll N dice that each have X sides, and add them up. The letter “d” just stands for “dice”.
- 1d20 — roll one twenty-sided die.
- 2d6 — roll two six-sided dice and add them (a total from 2 to 12).
- 3d8 — roll three eight-sided dice and add them.
If there’s no number before the “d”, it means one die: “d20” and “1d20” are the same thing.
Adding a modifier: + and −
A number after the dice is a flat bonus or penalty added to the total — usually your character’s skill or weapon bonus.
| Notation | Means |
|---|---|
| 1d20+5 | Roll a d20, add 5 (a typical attack roll or skill check). |
| 2d6+3 | Roll two d6, add 3 (e.g. a shortsword with a +3 bonus). |
| 1d8−1 | Roll a d8, subtract 1. |
A modifier only shifts the result — it never changes how the dice themselves behave.
Handfuls: rolling a lot of dice
Damage and big effects scale by rolling more dice of the same kind. A classic fireball is 8d6 — eight six-sided dice, added together (average 28, and thanks to the bell curve it lands near there far more often than at the extremes; see our probability guide). Some rolls even mix dice types, like 2d8+1d6.
Keep and drop: advantage & rolling stats
This is the shorthand that trips people up. You roll several dice but only keep some, or drop some:
| Notation | Means |
|---|---|
| 2d20kh1 | Roll two d20, keep the highest 1 — this is advantage. |
| 2d20kl1 | Roll two d20, keep the lowest 1 — disadvantage. |
| 4d6kh3 | Roll four d6, keep the highest 3 — the usual way to roll an ability score. |
| 4d6dl1 | The same roll written the other way: roll four d6, drop the lowest 1. |
“kh” = keep highest, “kl” = keep lowest, “dh” = drop highest, “dl” = drop lowest. The number says how many. So 4d6kh3 and 4d6dl1 describe exactly the same roll.
Other things you’ll see
- d% or d100 — a percentile roll from 1 to 100 (a “roll under” check in many systems).
- Exploding dice (often written with a “!”) — roll the maximum and you roll again and add it; used by systems like Savage Worlds.
- Reroll (often “r”) — reroll certain low results once, such as a Great Weapon Fighting style.
These are system-specific — the NdX + modifier + keep/drop core above covers the vast majority of what you’ll ever type.
Typing it into Dice Drop
Dice Drop’s formula bar understands this notation directly — type 2d20kh1 for advantage, 4d6dl1 to roll a stat, or 8d6+0 for a fireball, and it rolls real physics dice and shows the kept and dropped results. You can also save your regular rolls as one-tap named macros.
Try a formula now. Open the roller, type any notation from this page, and watch it play out with real tumbling dice.
🎲 Open the dice rollerMore: the odds behind these rolls, or which dice you need for D&D 5e.