D&D Encounter Difficulty Calculator
Calculate D&D 5e encounter difficulty using monster XP, party size, and party level.
Instantly see if your encounter is Easy, Medium, Hard, or Deadly.
Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition uses an XP-threshold system to rate encounter difficulty. Each difficulty level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Deadly) has an XP threshold per player level. The encounter’s total adjusted XP is compared against the party’s combined threshold.
Step 1: total monster XP
Add up the XP value of every monster in the encounter.
| CR | XP | CR | XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 10 | 9 | 5,000 |
| 1/8 | 25 | 10 | 5,900 |
| 1/4 | 50 | 11 | 7,200 |
| 1/2 | 100 | 12 | 8,400 |
| 1 | 200 | 13 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 450 | 14 | 11,500 |
| 3 | 700 | 15 | 13,000 |
| 4 | 1,100 | 16 | 15,000 |
| 5 | 1,800 | 17 | 18,000 |
| 6 | 2,300 | 18 | 20,000 |
| 7 | 2,900 | 19 | 22,000 |
| 8 | 3,900 | 20 | 25,000 |
Step 2: apply the multiplier (more monsters = harder)
Multiple monsters are more dangerous than their XP suggests because of action economy:
| Number of Monsters | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| 1 monster | ×1 |
| 2 monsters | ×1.5 |
| 3–6 monsters | ×2 |
| 7–10 monsters | ×2.5 |
| 11–14 monsters | ×3 |
| 15+ monsters | ×4 |
Party size shifts that multiplier. This is the step most encounter builders forget, and it changes the answer more than people expect. A party of one or two characters uses the next multiplier up the ladder. A party of six or more uses the next one down. The ladder runs 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, so a duo facing four goblins is at ×2.5 rather than ×2, and a party of six facing the same goblins is at ×1.5. The reasoning is action economy again: three goblins against two heroes get far more swings per round of the fight than the same three against six. This calculator applies the shift for you and shows it in the result.
Step 3: compare to party thresholds
XP thresholds per player by level (Easy / Medium / Hard / Deadly):
| Level | Easy | Medium | Hard | Deadly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 |
| 2 | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
| 3 | 75 | 150 | 225 | 400 |
| 4 | 125 | 250 | 375 | 500 |
| 5 | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1,100 |
| 6 | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1,400 |
| 7 | 350 | 750 | 1,100 | 1,700 |
| 8 | 450 | 900 | 1,400 | 2,100 |
| 9 | 550 | 1,100 | 1,600 | 2,400 |
| 10 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,900 | 2,800 |
If the adjusted XP is below the Easy threshold, the encounter is Trivial. Deadly is the top rung of the official scale, so there is no rating above it. That is worth knowing, because “Deadly” covers everything from a fight the party will probably win bloodied to one that kills them outright. The calculator prints how many times over the Deadly threshold you are, which is the number that actually tells you which of those two you have built.
Tip: A party of 4 at level 5 has a Deadly threshold of 4 × 1,100 = 4,400 XP. A single young red dragon (CR 10, 5,900 XP × 1 = 5,900 adjusted XP) lands past that, so it rates Deadly at 1.3× the threshold. Reach for an adult red dragon instead and you are at CR 17, 18,000 XP, over four times the threshold, which is not a fight so much as an execution.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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