A standard six-sided die has opposite faces that always add up to seven.

The longer version

Standard Western dice are arranged so that one sits opposite six, two opposite five, and three opposite four, making every facing pair sum to seven. The arrangement is a convention rather than a physical necessity, and it seems intended to spread the high numbers around the cube so that a manufacturing bias cannot favour high or low rolls.

There are two mirror-image ways to set the faces, often described as right-handed and left-handed, and gambling houses tend to use one specifically, though both are fair. Because pips are drilled out and filled, a die is slightly lighter on the six side, a real bias that makers compensate for. Seven is also the most likely total when two dice are thrown.

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