Dice roller: roll dice online in one tap
Lost the dice from a board game? Need a d20 for a role-playing session? This dice roller rolls virtual dice right in your browser. Choose how many dice and how many sides, tap, and read the total. It is free, there is no account and no app to install, and it works on a phone, tablet or computer.
How to roll dice online
The page reads like a sentence: “Roll 2 dice with 6 sides”. Tap each part to change it.
- Number of dice. Roll anywhere from 1 to 10 dice at once.
- Type of dice. Choose d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 or d100. The number after the “d” is the number of sides. Six-sided dice show classic dots. The other types are drawn as white shapes with the number on them.
- Roll. Tap the dice, press the Roll button or hit the Space bar. The dice tumble with a rattling sound, then the total is shown.
- Keep some dice. Tap a single die to keep it. It stays put while you re-roll the others. Tap it again to release it. This is how many dice games work, where you set aside the dice you like and roll the rest.
- Use your voice. Tap the microphone in the header and say “roll two dice”.
A history of totals stays on the page, so you can check earlier rolls. The Sound button in the bottom bar turns the rattle on or off, and the full screen button in the header makes the dice big enough for the whole table to see.
What to use the dice roller for
- Board games with missing dice. Many family board games use one or two six-sided dice. Set the sentence to match and keep a phone on the table.
- Tabletop role-playing games. Many role-playing games use a full set of dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20. The d20 decides a lot of actions, and a d100 is handy for percentage rolls.
- Five-dice games. In classic games where you roll five dice and try for pairs, straights or five of a kind, tap the dice you want to keep and re-roll the rest.
- Teaching. Roll two dice many times and count the totals. Students see 7 come up again and again, and 2 or 12 only once in a while. It is a hands-on way to learn about probability.
- Quick decisions. Number six options and roll one die.
For a simple two-way choice, flip a coin. If you need a number in a custom range, such as 1 to 37, the random number generator is a better fit. To choose who plays first, try the wheel of names.
Are the virtual dice fair?
Yes. Each die is rolled with your browser's cryptographic random generator, the same kind of source used for security. Every face has the same chance: 1 in 6 on a d6, 1 in 20 on a d20, 1 in 100 on a d100. Each die is independent, and each roll is independent of the last one. Real dice can be slightly uneven from wear or manufacturing. These cannot.
Probabilities with two six-sided dice
One die is flat: every number is equally likely. Two dice are different. There are 36 possible combinations, and some totals can be made in more ways than others. A 7 can be rolled six ways (1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4, and the same pairs the other way around). A 2 needs double ones, so it can only happen one way.
| Total | Ways to roll it | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 in 36 (2.8%) |
| 3 | 2 | 2 in 36 (5.6%) |
| 4 | 3 | 3 in 36 (8.3%) |
| 5 | 4 | 4 in 36 (11.1%) |
| 6 | 5 | 5 in 36 (13.9%) |
| 7 | 6 | 6 in 36 (16.7%) |
| 8 | 5 | 5 in 36 (13.9%) |
| 9 | 4 | 4 in 36 (11.1%) |
| 10 | 3 | 3 in 36 (8.3%) |
| 11 | 2 | 2 in 36 (5.6%) |
| 12 | 1 | 1 in 36 (2.8%) |
So 7 is the most likely total, about one roll in six. Doubles of any kind also come up one time in six. On a single d20, rolling a 20 has a 5% chance, the same as rolling a 1 or any other number.
Dice through history
Dice are among the oldest gaming tools we know of. Archaeologists have found them at sites thousands of years old, made of bone, wood, clay and stone. The Royal Game of Ur, from ancient Mesopotamia, is thought to have used small four-sided pyramid dice. The cube became the classic shape, and on most standard six-sided dice the opposite faces add up to 7. Other shapes, like the 20-sided die, became familiar to many players through tabletop role-playing games. These dice need no table and never roll under the fridge.