Dungeons & Dragons lives on the shared experiences in combat and role-playing as well as on the characters who embark on adventures. There is a variety of races that offer unique appearances as well as additional gameplay factors to the individual personalities. In this list, we present to you which races you prefer for your adventurers.
The different races in Dungeons & Dragons offer something for every player that they might desire in role-playing. Whether through advantages in combat, special traits, or simply vibes: All races offer something that makes them unique and consequently a favorite for many players.
D&D Beyond, the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons by Wizards of the Coast, shared a ranking of the most popular races of the game in its 2023 year in review. The results showed which species have captured the most interest from players. The top 10 are as follows:
- Place 10: Gnome
- Place 9: Genasi
- Place 8: Half-Orc
- Place 7: Halfling
- Place 6: Dwarf
- Place 5: Half-Elf
- Place 4: Tiefling
- Place 3: Dragonborn
- Place 2: Elf
- Place 1: Human
The fact that humans occupy the first place in the ranking has become somewhat of a joke for the Dungeons & Dragons community for quite some time. In a fantasy setting, they seem almost boring next to all the other races; however, due to their versatility, they are often used as a strong base for many classes. Moreover, there are many players who love humans precisely because of their average nature and potential for character development.
Even though humans rank first in the global D&D community, we recognized through a survey that our readers at MeinMMO see it a bit differently. Over 2,000 people told us which race from Dungeons & Dragons they like best, and we want to share the results with you in this list!
Places 9 to 4
In total, we received 2,551 votes from you (as of March 9, 2026, 7:00 AM). The following races you voted for places 9 to 4:
- Place 9: Gnome (2 % with 62 votes)
- Place 8: Half-/Orc (4 % with 104 votes)
- Place 7: Halfling (4% with 110 votes)
- Place 6: Human (10 % with 255 votes)
- Place 5: Dragonborn (12 % with 307 votes)
- Place 4: Another race not listed in the Player’s Handbook (15 % with 387 votes)
The once very popular human is only the favorite race in Dungeons & Dragons for 10 % of our readership. However, there are many of you who prefer somewhat more unusual races that are not even included in the Player’s Handbook. We have also dedicated an article on MeinMMO to the potential races that might appeal to these 15 % of you:
On the next pages, we will introduce you to your top 3 favorite races. And it was very close in terms of the competing number of votes.
