A creature that falls takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d6, at the end of the fall. It lands prone unless it avoids taking any damage from the fall. This rule is the same in the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1) and the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1), so the calculator has no edition switch.
Count only full 10-foot steps: a 15-foot fall is 1d6 and a 9-foot fall rolls no dice at all. The cap is reached at 200 feet. A fall from 200 feet or from 2 miles both deal 20d6, an average of 70 damage, and never more than 120.
Ways to take less (or no) damage
- •Slow Fall (monk, level 4). Use your reaction to reduce the damage by 5 × your monk level. A level 10 monk ignores up to 50 damage, so most falls deal nothing and the monk lands on their feet.
- •Feather Fall. The spell (reaction, 60 feet, up to five creatures) slows the fall to 60 feet per round. A creature that lands before the spell ends takes no damage. A Ring of Feather Falling works the same way.
- •Landing in water. Use your reaction for a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to hit the surface head or feet first; on a success the damage is halved. This is a core rule in 2024. In 2014 it is an optional rule from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Optional rules, clearly labelled
- •Rate of falling (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, optional). The core rules assume you drop the whole distance at once. Under this rule you fall up to 500 feet instantly, then up to 500 more at the end of each of your later turns. A creature knocked off a griffon 1,200 feet up has two more turns to act before it lands.
- •Fliers (Xanathar’s, optional). A conscious creature that falls while it still has a flying speed subtracts that speed from the distance before you work out the damage.
- •Falling onto a creature (Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, optional). If neither creature is Tiny, the one underneath makes a DC 15 Dexterity save. On a failure the damage is split evenly between both, and the one underneath is knocked prone unless it is two or more sizes larger. The 2024 Player’s Handbook and SRD 5.2.1 don’t include this rule.
Worked example
A wizard 60 feet up loses concentration on Fly. That is 6d6: at least 6, at most 36, 21 on average, and the wizard lands prone. A level 4 monk in the same spot reduces the damage by 20 with Slow Fall. That leaves an average of about 2 damage, and a 45% chance of taking none at all and landing on their feet.
Roll the dice with the dice roller, compare fall damage with weapon and spell damage in the damage calculator, or see how far a character can jump across a gap before they have to risk the fall.
Sources: SRD 5.1 ("The Environment: Falling"; Monk Slow Fall; Feather Fall) and SRD 5.2.1 (Rules Glossary "Falling"; Monk Slow Fall; Feather Fall) by Wizards of the Coast (CC-BY-4.0). Optional rules: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything p. 77; Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything p. 170.