Mahjong Dora: Indicators, Ura and Kan Guide

Mahjong dora is a Riichi bonus: each dora in a winning hand adds one han. A face-up indicator in the dead wall tells you which tile is dora. The indicator is normally not the bonus itself, and dora cannot turn a yakuless complete shape into a legal win.

Dora types at a glance

Mahjong Dora: Indicators, Ura and Kan Guide: Type, How it becomes active, Who can count it

Type	How it becomes active	Who can count it
Initial dora	One indicator revealed during setup	Any winner
Kan dora	Another indicator revealed after a completed kan	Any winner
Ura dora	Hidden tile beneath each active indicator	Riichi winner only
Aka dora	Special red five printed as a bonus tile	Depends on ruleset

This guide uses World Riichi Championship Rules 2025, which includes initial, kan, and ura dora but no red fives. Confirm an online room’s aka-dora count before playing.

Read the next tile, not the indicator

For numbered suits, move one rank forward in the same suit. The sequence wraps after 9:

Mahjong Dora: Indicators, Ura and Kan Guide: Indicator, Dora

Indicator	Dora
1 Bamboo	2 Bamboo
7 Dots	8 Dots
9 Characters	1 Character

Winds use their own loop: East → South → West → North → East. Dragons use Green → Red → White → Green under WRC ordering.

Do not count across categories. A North indicator does not lead to Green Dragon, and a 9 Bamboo indicator does not lead to 1 Dot.

Count every copy in the winning hand

If 8 Dots is dora and your winning hand contains an 8-8-8 Dots triplet, you have three dora and add three han. A fourth copy in a kan would make four dora.

Multiple indicators can point to the same tile. WRC gives the example of an initial 7 Dots indicator and a kan 7 Dots indicator. Each 8 Dot then counts twice, so an 8-8-8 triplet contributes six dora.

Only tiles in the winner’s complete hand count, including exposed groups. Visible dora in another player’s hand or discard pool does not add to your score.

Dora is not a yaku

A Riichi hand must have at least one yaku. Dora adds han after that condition is met.

Example A has an open, otherwise yakuless four-sets-and-a-pair shape with three dora. It cannot win. Example B has a pung of the player’s seat wind and the same three dora. Yakuhai supplies one yaku and one han; the dora raises the total contribution to four han before fu.

This distinction should guide calls. Opening a hand to capture a dora can destroy riichi, pinfu, iipeikō, or another closed-only yaku. Keep the bonus only when a legal yaku route survives.

What happens after a kan?

The dead wall has 14 tiles reserved for replacement draws and indicators. When a player completes a kan under WRC procedure, that player takes a replacement tile and the corresponding kan dora indicator becomes active before the next discard.

The new indicator affects every player’s eventual winning hand, not only the player who declared the kan. A kan can therefore increase your own value, improve an opponent’s value, and reveal information about scarce tiles.

No kan dora indicator remains active when a promoted kan is successfully robbed, because the kan did not complete. Kan timing and liability rules vary enough that you should follow the chosen rulebook rather than copy an app animation.

Ura dora rewards a Riichi win

Beneath each active face-up dora indicator sits a corresponding hidden ura dora indicator. A player who declared riichi and then wins reveals those hidden indicators. Each uses the same next-tile sequence.

Ura dora is uncertain when you declare. It may add nothing or turn several tiles into bonuses. It should not be counted as guaranteed value during a push-fold decision.

If a kan indicator is active, its matching ura indicator can also count for a Riichi winner under WRC rules. This creates more hidden bonus possibilities late in a kan-heavy hand.

Red fives and rule variation

Many modern sets replace one normal five in one or more suits with a red five. That tile is aka dora and usually gives one han by itself. If the ordinary indicator also makes fives dora, a red five can count both bonuses.

Red-five counts vary: a table may use none, one per suit, or another arrangement. WRC 2025 uses no red fives. Do not assume a physical red tile belongs in the game just because the set includes it.

A reliable scoring checklist

When a hand wins:

1. Identify at least one yaku.
2. List every active visible indicator.
3. Convert each indicator to its next tile.
4. Count every matching tile in the complete hand once per indicator.
5. If the winner declared riichi, reveal and convert the corresponding ura indicators.
6. Add any rule-approved red fives.
7. Add dora han to yaku han, then calculate fu and final payment.

Avoid three classic mistakes: counting the indicator itself, forgetting the 9-to-1 and honor loops, and using dora as a substitute for yaku.

Dora creates explosive scores, but it is a multiplier on a legal plan. Secure the yaku, protect the wait, then count every active bonus accurately.