Maya numerals online – calculator and converter
Maya numerals – convert a number into base-20 dots, bars and a zero sign. Explore place-value levels and a worked example for 2026.
A shell for zero, counting in twenties
How did the Maya write any number with three signs?
The Maya system was positional: what mattered was not only which sign appeared but the level it stood on. That is why three signs covered any number at all — a dot contributes one, a bar five, and a separate sign marks an empty level. Each level up multiplies the value by 20, and the whole number is read vertically, from bottom to top.
How does the notation work step by step?
Within one level you add bars and dots, so 13 is two bars and three dots. More than four dots never appear, because five of them become a bar. The tool splits the number you enter into base-20 levels and stacks them; it handles values up to 7999.
Example: the number 2026
The number 2026 breaks into three levels: 5, 1 and 6. The top level counts times 400, the middle one times 20 and the lowest is units — 5 × 400 plus 1 × 20 plus 6 makes 2026. You can enter your own number with the tool above.
Complete table of digits from 0 to 19
The top row shows the value and the bottom row its notation: ○ stands for the shell that means zero, ▬ is a bar worth five and • is a dot worth one. In real inscriptions the signs were arranged horizontally or vertically, always with the bars below the dots.
| Value | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notation | ○ | • | •• | ••• | •••• | ▬ | ▬• | ▬•• | ▬••• | ▬•••• | ▬▬ | ▬▬• | ▬▬•• | ▬▬••• | ▬▬•••• | ▬▬▬ | ▬▬▬• | ▬▬▬•• | ▬▬▬••• | ▬▬▬•••• |
How do you read a stack back?
Start at the lowest level and total it: every bar is 5, every dot is 1. Then move upwards, multiplying each result by 20, 400 and 8000 in turn. The sum of all levels is the number — an empty level means zero, which is why the shell matters as much as the digits.
Why does the calendar count differently?
In ordinary arithmetic the levels are worth 1, 20, 400 and 8000. In the calendrical Long Count, however, the third level equals 360 days rather than 400, so that it matches a year of 18 months of 20 days. The same notation therefore served two slightly different counting systems.
See also: Inca quipu
History and interesting facts
The Maya used a positional base-20 system in which a sign’s level determined its value. Dots represented ones, bars fives, and a shell-like sign served as zero and a placeholder. In ordinary arithmetic the levels had values 1, 20, 400 and 8,000. Calendar notation included an important variation: the third position could represent 360 days rather than 400. This generator demonstrates numerals, not the full Maya hieroglyphic writing system.
What this tool does not do
The generator shows numerals, not the full Maya hieroglyphic script with its own signs for words and syllables. It does not convert dates into the Long Count or into the haab and tzolkin calendars, does not draw head-variant numerals and handles neither negative values nor fractions.
History of the notation
A sign for zero appears in Maya inscriptions by the fourth century CE and is among the earliest attested uses of zero as a full value in a positional system. Monumental texts sometimes replaced bars and dots with head variants — deity profiles standing for numbers. Numerical tables also survive in the Dresden Codex.