Why Dice Bags Stop at 7 Sections (and What to Do If You Need More)

Short answer: most dice bags with pockets stop at seven sections, six side pockets plus the centre well, because of how the pockets are sewn in. Every pocket adds three to four layers of fabric at the seam where it meets the base. Past six pockets, that seam gets so thick that a sewing machine struggles to stitch through it cleanly. Bags with eight or nine sections do exist, but they are rare, and each pocket in them is smaller. If you want to keep twelve or more sets fully separate, two bags or small pouches inside one bag will work better than a single bag with twelve pockets.

I sew dice bags with pockets for a living at GameFancy, and this is one of the questions collectors ask most once their collection passes about ten sets. Here is the maker side of the answer, and what to do instead.

The question collectors actually ask

It usually sounds like this: a player has been collecting for a few years, owns about twelve sets, wants to bring all of them to the table, and wants every set to stay together in its own pocket. They search for a bigger bag with more compartments and find that almost every pocketed bag has seven sections at most. Players on Reddit keep asking the same thing, and the answers range from "buy two bags" to "use a whisky bag with smaller bags inside".

Both of those answers are good. But it helps to know why the market looks like this, because it tells you what will and will not hold up.

Why six pockets plus the centre is the practical limit

1. The seam at the base gets too thick

A pocket is not a flat patch. It is a folded piece of lining that has to be caught into the bottom seam of the bag, together with the outer fabric and the main lining. Each pocket adds three to four layers right at that seam. With six pockets the base seam is already the thickest part of the bag. Add four more pockets and the needle has to punch through a stack of fabric that pulls, skips stitches and leaves a bulky, uneven bottom. A bag like that also stops standing flat, and a bag that does not stand open on the table defeats the point of having pockets.

2. More pockets means narrower pockets

The pockets share the same circle around the inside of the bag. Split that circle into ten instead of six and every pocket becomes about 40% narrower. A full seven-piece set stops sitting comfortably, the d20 wedges against the sides, and you end up fishing dice out with two fingers. More pockets in the same bag gives you more places to put dice, but each place is worse.

3. The base seam carries the weight

Three hundred dice is a real weight. In a bag that stands on its base, that weight sits on the bottom seam every time you set the bag down or lift it by the drawstring. A clean, even seam holds that load for years. A seam built from too many layers is exactly where a bag starts to fail.

Bags with eight or nine sections do exist

To be fair to the market: a few brands sell bags with eight side pockets, or eight plus a centre. Our dice bag size guide lists one with nine compartments. They are the exception, and they usually solve the problems above by making the bag much larger or by accepting smaller pockets. If a nine-section bag fits how you sort, it is a fine choice. Just check the pocket size, not only the pocket count.

How much seven sections actually hold

This is the part that surprises most people. In our six-pocket bags, each pocket fits six to seven full seven-piece sets, and the centre well holds more on top of that. The whole bag holds about 300 dice. So a seven-section bag is rarely short of space. It is short of labels: if you want one set per pocket, you are using a small part of each pocket and leaving the rest empty.

That is why the real fix is usually a sorting system, not a bigger bag.

If you need more than seven sections: five options that work

1. Sort by character or campaign, not by set. Put two or three sets that belong together into one pocket. Seven sections then cover fourteen to twenty sets without any set getting lost.
2. Use small pouches inside one bag. This is the collectors' favourite. Each special set lives in its own little drawstring pouch, and the pouches go into the big bag. You get as many "sections" as you have pouches, and you can swap them before each game.
3. Split home hoard and travel kit. Most people never roll more than a handful of sets in one session. Keep the full collection at home and carry only what you play with. We wrote about how collectors do this in Home Hoard vs Travel Kit.
4. Use colour-coded pockets. When every pocket is a different colour, "the red pocket is my paladin" becomes muscle memory, and you stop needing one pocket per set to find things fast.
5. If you are a DM, sort by die type. Game masters often need a handful of the same die at once, so one pocket of d6s and one of d20s beats one pocket per set. More on that in The DM Bag vs the Player Pouch.

What we make, stated plainly

Our fabric dice bags have six pockets plus a centre well, seven sections in total. They are gabardine outside with a 100% cotton lining, the base is square so the bag stands open on the table, and they close with a drawstring. They hold about 300 dice.

• No pockets, $32. One open chamber, for players who pour and grab.
• Six pockets, $41. Seven sections, each pocket fits six to seven full sets.
• Six rainbow pockets, $47. The same layout with a different colour in every pocket.

We do not make eight or ten pocket bags, for the reasons above. Bestselling designs ship from our Miami, FL warehouse in 1 to 3 business days. Everything else is made to order in our Cherkasy studio and arrives in about 9 to 17 business days. You can see the whole range in dice bags with pockets.

Frequently asked questions

Are there dice bags with 10 or 12 pockets?

Very few. Most pocketed dice bags stop at six pockets plus a centre, and the largest ones on the market reach eight or nine sections. Ten or twelve pockets in one bag makes the base seam too thick to sew well and makes every pocket too narrow for a full set.

How many dice sets fit in a dice bag with 7 sections?

In a GameFancy six-pocket bag, each pocket fits six to seven full seven-piece sets, plus more in the centre well, about 300 dice in total. How many sets you keep separate depends on how you sort, not on the space.

Can I add more pockets to a dice bag I already have?

Sewing new pockets into a finished bag is hard, because they have to be caught into the base seam. The easier route is small drawstring pouches inside your existing bag. They give you as many sections as you need and do not change the bag at all.

Why do some dice bags have pockets and others do not?

Pockets are for sorting, not for capacity. A bag with no pockets and a bag with six pockets of the same size hold about the same number of dice. Choose pockets if you carry several sets and want to find the right one without digging.

Is it better to buy one big bag or two smaller ones?

If you want every set in its own section, two bags or pouches inside one bag work better than one oversized bag with many pockets. If you mostly grab dice by type, one bag with seven sections is usually enough.