Death Saving Throws in D&D 5e — How Death Saves Work

When you start your turn at 0 hit points, you make a death saving throw: roll a d20 with no modifiers. 10 or higher is a success, 9 or lower is a failure. Three successes and you become stable. Three failures and you die. They don't need to be in a row. A natural 20 brings you back with 1 hit point, and a natural 1 counts as two failures. The rules are the same in 2014 and 2024.

Want to feel the odds? Play Death Save, a free browser game built on this exact roll.

Death saving throw rules

• •When: at the start of each of your turns while you have 0 hit points and aren't stable.
• •The roll: a d20, not tied to any ability score. 10+ is a success; 9 or lower is a failure.
• •Three of a kind: three successes make you stable. Three failures and you die. Keep track of both until one reaches three.
• •Reset: both counts reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
• •Natural 20: you regain 1 hit point (and wake up).
• •Natural 1: counts as two failures.

Damage at 0 hit points

• •Any damage at 0 HP is one death save failure.
• •A critical hit is two failures. Because every hit from within 5 feet on an unconscious creature is a crit, one melee hit means two failures.
• •Massive damage: if the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you die instantly.

Instant death also applies when you first drop: if damage takes you to 0 and the leftover damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you die outright. A character with 12 max HP and 6 current HP who takes 18 damage dies (12 left over).

Odds of surviving

Each death save is a 55% success chance (10–20), a 40% chance of one failure (2–9) and a 5% chance of two failures (natural 1), with 5% of the successes being a natural 20 that gets you up straight away. Work it through and a character left alone survives (stabilizes or rolls a 20) about 60% of the time and dies about 40% of the time. That 40% is why someone should spend a turn on you. Check any roll with the dice roller.

Stabilizing a dying creature

• •Healing of any amount: the creature regains hit points, wakes up and stops making death saves. Healing Word works at 60 feet as a bonus action.
• •Spare the Dying (cantrip): the creature becomes stable. Touch range in 2014; 15 feet in 2024, doubling at levels 5, 11 and 17.
• •Medicine check: DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine). In 2014 you use your action to administer first aid; in 2024 you take the Help action.
• •Healer's kit: spend one use as an action (2014) or Utilize action (2024) to stabilize without a check.

A stable creature stays unconscious at 0 HP but makes no more death saves. If it takes any damage it starts dying again. If nobody heals it, it regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.

Things that help death saves

• •Bless: adds 1d4 to saving throws, including death saves.
• •Beacon of Hope: advantage on death saving throws (and Wisdom saves).
• •Paladin's Aura of Protection: adds the paladin's Charisma modifier to saving throws for allies in the aura, as long as the paladin is conscious (2014) or not incapacitated (2024).
• •Death Ward: the first time you'd drop to 0 HP, you drop to 1 instead.

Monsters and NPCs

Monsters usually die the moment they hit 0 HP. The DM can choose to treat an important villain or NPC like a character and have them make death saves.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do death saving throws work?

At the start of each turn at 0 HP, roll a d20. On 10 or higher you mark a success; below 10, a failure. Three successes stabilize you and three failures kill you.

What happens if you roll a 20 on a death save?

You regain 1 hit point. You're no longer at 0 HP, so you wake up and can act on that turn.

What happens if you roll a 1 on a death save?

It counts as two failures.

Do death saving throw failures reset?

Yes. Both successes and failures reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.

Can you add modifiers to death saves?

Death saves aren't tied to an ability score, so you don't add an ability modifier or proficiency. Effects that boost all saving throws, like Bless or a paladin's aura, do apply.

What happens when you take damage at 0 HP?

You suffer one death save failure, or two if it's a critical hit. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you die.

Related rules

• •All D&D 5e conditions and rules
• •Unconscious — the condition you have at 0 HP
• •Exhaustion — another way to die without losing hit points
• •Revivify — bringing back a creature that died within the last minute
• •HP calculator
• •Death Save — a free Tavern Game
• •Condition tracker

Rules checked against the D&D 5e SRD 5.1 (2014) and SRD 5.2.1 (2024).