Gaming · Board game setup
Catan balanced board generator.
This generates a random base-game Catan island (19 land hexes, 18 number tokens) and lets you tighten the balance beyond the official rule. The rulebook's only constraint on a fully random board is that the red numbers (6 and 8) must not touch; the extra options here also keep equal numbers apart, cap any corner at 12 pips and pick the most even of 60 valid boards. Example: seed 2024 with every option on (corner cap 12) gives 13 lumber pips, 11 wool, 10 grain, 13 brick and 11 ore, and the richest corner holds 11 pips.
Board options
Result
Working out the result.
How the board is built and balanced
The generator shuffles the 19 terrain tiles onto the 3-4-5-4-3 island, shuffles the 18 number tokens onto the 18 non-desert hexes, and rejects any layout that breaks your rules. The one official rule comes from the base-game almanac: in a fully random set-up “the tokens with the red numbers must not be next to each other.” The rest are choices this page adds for people who want a flatter board, and it labels them that way.
Balance is measured in pips, the dots under each number. Each number has as many dots as there are ways to roll it on two dice, so a token's pips divided by 36 is its chance on a roll. The tool adds up the pips on all hexes of each resource and, if you ask, keeps the board whose five totals are closest together (lowest variance) out of 60 valid tries. It can also reject boards where any single corner touches more than 12 pips; in 3,000 random boards that obey the red-number rule the richest corner never exceeded 13.
Worked example with real numbers
Seed 2024 with all three options on gives this island, listed row by row from the top: Forest 6, Mountains 9, Hills 4; Pasture 11, Pasture 3, Fields 11, Fields 6; Pasture 5, Hills 8, Forest 5, Pasture 4, Mountains 10; Fields 3, Fields 2, Forest 10, Desert; Mountains 9, Forest 12, Hills 8.
- Resource pip totals: lumber 13, wool 11, grain 10, brick 13, ore 11. All 18 tokens carry 58 pips in total, and the five resource totals add to 58.
- The richest corner touches 11 pips, under the cap of 12.
- No red number touches another red number, and no two neighbours share a number.
Number tokens, pips and chances
| Number | Pips | Tokens in the box | Chance on one roll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1/36 = 2.8% |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 2/36 = 5.6% |
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 3/36 = 8.3% |
| 5 | 4 | 2 | 4/36 = 11.1% |
| 6 | 5 | 2 | 5/36 = 13.9% |
| 8 | 5 | 2 | 5/36 = 13.9% |
| 9 | 4 | 2 | 4/36 = 11.1% |
| 10 | 3 | 2 | 3/36 = 8.3% |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | 2/36 = 5.6% |
| 12 | 1 | 1 | 1/36 = 2.8% |
There is no token for 7, which triggers the robber instead, and the desert gets no token. The hex counts differ by resource (4 forest, 4 pasture, 4 fields, 3 hills, 3 mountains), so brick and ore are scarcer by design, a difference the balancing step does not try to remove.
What this generator leaves out
It covers the 19-hex base game for 3 to 4 players. It does not place harbours, and it does not cover the 5-6 player extension, Seafarers or other editions. Balanced is a judgement: even pip totals and tame corners do not guarantee a fair game, because turn order, harbour access and trading still matter. The fully random method in the rulebook is not the same as the alphabetical spiral it also describes, which is a fixed pattern. Fan-made tool, not affiliated with Catan GmbH.
Common mix-ups
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Often assumedIf I shuffle the number tokens randomly, any arrangement is allowed, including a 6 next to an 8.
What the source saysThe almanac says that in a fully random set-up the tokens with the red numbers must not be next to each other, and you may have to swap tokens until no red numbers are on adjacent hexes. [1]
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Often assumedEvery number from 2 to 12 except 7 has two tokens, so the 2 and the 12 appear twice.
What the source saysThe rulebook says each number appears twice except 2 and 12, which only appear once. [1]
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Often assumedThe five resources each have the same number of land hexes.
What the source saysThe base game has 4 pastures, 4 fields and 4 forests but only 3 mountains and 3 hills, plus 1 desert, 19 land tiles in all. [2]
Checked against these sources on .
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a balanced Catan board?
Place the 19 terrain tiles and 18 number tokens at random, then keep the red 6s and 8s apart, which is the official rule. This generator also lets you stop equal numbers touching, cap the richest corner at 12 pips and pick the most even of 60 valid boards.
Can the 6 and 8 be next to each other in Catan?
Not in a fully random set-up. The almanac says the tokens with red numbers must not be on adjacent hexes, and you may need to swap tokens to fix it.
How many of each resource tile are in Catan?
There are 4 forest, 4 pasture and 4 fields, 3 hills and 3 mountains, and 1 desert, which makes 19 land hexes.
Why are the 6 and 8 red?
They are the most likely rolls. The rulebook says they have five dots because there are five ways to roll them on two dice, so each comes up 5 times in 36 rolls, about 13.9%.
What are pips on Catan number tokens?
Pips are the dots under each number, one for 2 and 12 up to five for 6 and 8. Adding the pips under the hexes next to a settlement shows how often it should produce.
Does the generator work for Seafarers or the 5-6 player game?
No. It builds the standard 19-hex island for 3 to 4 players, without harbours.
Sources
Retrieved
- Catan base game rules and almanac — component counts (19 hexes, 18 tokens), 2 and 12 once, pips, and the red-numbers-not-adjacent rule for a random set-up (read 2026-10-26)
- GameRules.com: Catan — terrain tile counts: four pastures, four fields, four forests, three mountains, three hills, one desert (read 2026-10-26)
Fan-made tool, check your edition
Not affiliated with Catan GmbH. Catan is a trademark of its owner. Rules read from the base-game rulebook on 26 October 2026; other editions may differ. Boards are made in your browser and nothing is sent or stored.