A short rest is at least 1 hour long in 5e, if playing by the standard rules. If you’re playing with the Epic Heroism variant rule, a short rest must be at least 5 minutes. If you’re playing with the Gritty Realism variant rule, a short rest must be at least 8 hours.

Player’s Handbook, page 186; Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 267

The benefits of taking a short rest include:

1. The option to use Hit Dice to restore hit points

2. The ability to recharge class and subclass features, as well as feats and magic items

If a short rest is interrupted before completed, you do not gain any benefits — regardless of the short rest rules you’re using.

The Dungeon Master’s Guide suggests two short rests per day (pg. 84), but this is not a hard-and-fast rule.

Matt Zane

Author, DnD Lounge

Matt Zane started DnD Lounge in 2021. Matt began playing DnD 5e in 2015, and has been DMing since 2017. He loves optimization, but also enjoys looking for creative ways to use spells and abilities that follow the spirit and letter of the rules. He also eschews pure optimization in favor of a more balanced approach, where building a character is primarily about serving an interesting story arc and party dynamics rather than maxing out DPR.