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In the midst of battle against a Red Dragon, an armor-plated Fighter’s stomach rumbles. The party was too excited to jump into a game ofDungeons and Dragonsand didn’t pack enough rations. After three days without food, he’s having a hard time concentrating, and his movement slows. He won’t survive this fight.
Exhaustion is an important condition in D&D, and the 2024 edition of the Player’s Handbook streamlines the mechanic to make it simpler for both players and DMs. Whether you’re a new player or just need a primer on the new rules, we’ve got the exhaustive guide.
Updated on July 19, 2025, by Jack Filsinger:The rules for Exhaustion in the 2024 Player’s Handbook were made much simpler than their predecessors. But, some tables still homebrew a combination of these rules for themselves. We’ve updated this list by comparing the original 2014 rules with the 2024 ones, so you know exactly how to implement Exhaustion in your D&D game.
What Is Exhaustion?
Exhaustion isa condition that characters can suffer fromin Dungeons & Dragonsif they push themselves too hard. It’s theonly condition in D&D that stacks with itself: your character can’t be double-invisible, butthey can earn up to six levels of exhaustion, with cumulative effects.
Exhaustion represents a character or creaturefailing to meet its basic survival needs, such as rest, food, and water.
Just like in real life, characters in D&D can survive for a few days without eating and drinking but will quickly start to feel the effects.
How Exhaustion Works In The 2014 PHB?
With the addition of the 2024 Player’s Handbook,the rules for Exhaustion have been simplified.
Previously,in the 2014 Player’s Handbook, you gained a different status effect per level of exhaustion,with all effects stacking like so:
1
2
3
Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws.
4
5
6
Character death.
Depending on your DM and table, these rules for Exhaustion may still apply. Consult your DM to see which rules for Exhaustion they plan on using.
However,in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, what defines or doesn’t defineExhaustion has been streamlined significantly.This is detailed below.
-2
-5
-4
-10
-6
-15
-8
-20
-25
Death
How Do You Become Exhausted?
There area variety of ways that a character can become Exhausted, and you may need tokeep track of how many levels of Exhaustion you accumulatein each category to recover from it.
No matter how you gain Exhaustion, each type of Exhaustion level counts towards the six-level cap.
Dehydration
All creatures require water to live, andif you don’t drink enough, you’ll start to suffer from Exhaustion.
1/4 gallon
1 gallon
4 gallons
16 gallons
Gargantuan
64 gallons
If your characterdrinks less than half of their water requirement per day, they will become Exhaustedat the end of the day and incur one level of Exhaustion.
Malnutrition
Like water, all creatures need to eat, andcreatures that don’t eat enough will start to suffer from malnutrition.
1/4 pound
1 pound
4 pounds
16 pounds
64 pounds
Unlike dehydration, malnutrition requiresany creature whoeats less than half of their food requirementto make aDC 10 Constitution saving throw.
On a failure, they gain one level of Exhaustion, andafter five dayswithout food, the creaturegains an Exhaustion levelat the end of each dayautomatically.
Suffocation
Suffocation is the third way to get Exhaustion levels in the Player’s Handbook. This representsa character’s inability to breathe, either because they’re drowning, being choked, or otherwise cut off from clean air.
All creatures canhold their breath for one minute plus their Constitution modifierfor a minimum of 30 seconds.
So a barbarianwith 18 Constitution (+4 modifier) can hold her breath for five minutes, after which she starts to gain Exhaustion levels at a rate of one per turn.
Unlike other sources of exhaustion, those caused by suffocation don’t stick:once a creature can breathe again, they recover from all levels of Exhaustioncaused by suffocation.
Failing To Long Rest
Some modules and homebrewsincludean optional rule for failing to Long Rest at least once every 24 hours.
If you don’t Long Restwithin 24 hours,you must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw.On a failure, you will unfortunately have totake a level of Exhaustion.
This DC increases by five for every consecutive 24-hour period without a Long Rest.
Other Sources Of Exhaustion
Previous editions includedadditional ways for characters to become Exhausted, including extendedtraveland theeffects of certain spellsandpoisonsorenvironmental effects.
While these sources are not cited in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, theymay appear in other sourcebooks, official modules, and third-party supplements.
If you’re not sure what might or might not cause exhaustion, talk to your DM.
How To Recover From Exhaustion
A Long Rest is required to recoverfrom most forms of Exhaustion, including those caused by dehydration and malnutrition.
However,for malnutrition and dehydration, you must also meet your nutritional requirementsfor the daybefore Long Resting,otherwise, you won’t recover.
Exhaustion is recovered at a rate of one level per Long Restas long as the nutritional requirements are met. Once the Exhaustion level reaches zero, that creature has recovered from Exhaustion.
TheGreater Restoration spellis capable ofremoving a single level of Exhaustion per cast, allowing player characters to recover more quickly.
Death does not remove Exhaustion; creatures revived after dying keep most curses, magical maladies, and conditions, including Exhaustion.
Since six levels of Exhaustion would mean that a revived creature immediately dies again,returning from the dead heals one level of Exhaustion.
