Mario Kart DS item probability distributions

The following tables are used in Mario Kart DS to determine the probability of receiving an item when an Item Box is opened. Even though the karts influence the probability of obtaining each item through their Items statistics, only the tables for one case are stored in the game's files; this case presumably refers to the use of the Standard karts, that have an Items statistics of 66. The probability is coded as percentage multiplied by two. The distributions are presented in the order used in the code.^[1]

Races

In the races, the item probability distributions are chosen depending on the rank of the driver when the Item Box is opened.

Grand Prix races

Grand Prix races, drivers controlled by players
Item	Rank
Item	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
	45	25	15	5
		55	40	25	20	10
	90	30	15	5
	35	20	10
		30	40	45	40	35	10
			10	30	55	60	70	30
		10	20	20	10
				10	20	15
						10	20	45
		15	25	20	10
	30	15	5
			5	15	15	5
					10	25	40	25
						15	35	55
						10	20	45
			10	15	10	5
			5	10	10	10	5
Unused Item

Grand Prix races, drivers controlled by software
Item	Rank
Item	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
	60	25	35	30	30	25	15	10
	15	70	35	30	15
	50	35	25	20	15	15	5
	35	20	10	5
	10	20	40	40	45	70	70	30
			15	25	35	40	45	55
		10	15	15	10
				10	15	15	15
								25
		5	15	10	10	5
	30	15	5

					5	10	20	25
						5	15	30
							10	25
			5	10	10	5
				5	10	10	5
Unused Item

VS races

In the case of online VS races, two tables of item probability distributions are found in the game's code, both of them having the same values. Only one of them will be presented here. It must be noted that those tables have the probabilities coded for 8 players, while in the final game only up to 4 players can participate in an online VS race.

Local VS races, drivers controlled by players
Item	Rank
Item	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
	40	30	15	5
		60	45	30	20	10	5
	90	30	15	5
	35	15	10
		25	35	45	40	35	10
			15	30	55	65	75	25
		5	20	20	15
				10	20	20	10
								35
		10	20	15	5
	35	20	5
			5	15	15	10
					10	30	35	35
						15	45	60
							15	45
		5	10	15	10	5
			5	10	10	10	5
Unused Item

Local VS races, drivers controlled by software
Item	Rank
Item	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
	80	25	35	30	30	25	15	10
	15	70	35	25	10
	45	30	25	20	15	10	5
	30	20	15	10	5
		20	35	35	45	65	60	20
			10	25	35	45	55	60
		10	15	15	10	5
				15	20	20	20
								25
		5	15	10	5
	30	15	5

					5	10	25	20
						5	15	30
								35
		5	10	10	10	5
				5	10	10	5
Unused Item

Online VS races
Item	Rank
Item	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
	60	35	30	25	20	5
		50	45	45	40	30	10	10
	100	40	20	10	5
	30	20	10
		30	40	35	30	20	10
		15	35	40	45	55	60	45
	10	10	15	20	20	10
				10	15	20	15	10
						5	25	30



				5	8	20	30	35
					2	15	25	40
							20	30
			5	5	8	10
				5	7	10	5
Unused Item

Special cases

These distributions are used in special cases (such as Missions mode; for example, the 8th distribution is used in the special Item Box of DK Pass, and the second during Mission 6-4. The last five distributions do not allow to obtain any item, it is possible that they are not used in the game.

Special cases
Item	Distribution
Item	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
					1					40	200
							1	1
	200					100

		200				100	9	9
			200				190	100
									200	40


					199					120


				200				90




Unused Item

Battles

In the battles, there are three distributions each.

Balloon Battle

For Balloon Battles, items are determined by the number of balloons above the kart.

Balloon Battles, drivers controlled by players
Item	Number of balloons
Item	3+	2	1
	65	35	10
	35	55	80
	45	15
	25	10
	20	20	2
		10	13
	5	15	10


		15	10
	5	15
			20
		5	25
			5

		5	10
			15
Unused Item

Balloon Battles, drivers controlled by software
Item	Number of balloons
Item	3+	2	1
	95	75	15
	35	55	80
	20
	15
	25	20	15
		5	10
	10	15	10


		10	20


		5	25


		10	10
		5	15
Unused Item

Shine Runners

It is not currently known how items get distributed in Shine Runners.

Shine Runners battles, drivers controlled by players
Item	Distribution
Item	1	2	3
	60	35	5
	40	60	70
	50	15
	25	10
	10	10	1
		5	4
	15	20	15

			15
		25	10
		15
			35
			25


		5	5
			15
Unused Item

Shine Runners battles, drivers controlled by software
Item	Distribution
Item	1	2	3
	90	70	10
	40	65	85
	25	5
	15	5
	20	15	8
			2
	10	20	10

			20
		10	20


		5	20


		5	10
			15
Unused Item

References

^ A transcription of the item probability tables used by Mario Kart DS.

Navigation

[1] A transcription of the item probability tables used by Mario Kart DS.

[1]

Mario Kart DS
Drivers and their karts		Mario (Standard MR · B Dasher · Shooting Star) • Luigi (Standard LG · Poltergust 4000 · Streamliner) • Princess Peach (Standard PC · Royale · Light Tripper) • Yoshi (Standard YS · Egg 1 · Cucumber) • Toad (Standard TD · Mushmellow · 4-Wheel Cradle) • Donkey Kong (Standard DK · Rambi Rider · Wildlife) • Wario (Standard WR · Brute · Dragonfly) • Bowser (Standard BW · Tyrant · Hurricane) • Princess Daisy (Standard DS · Power Flower · Light Dancer) • Dry Bones (Standard DB · Banisher · Dry Bomber) • Waluigi (Standard WL · Gold Mantis · Zipper) • R.O.B. (Standard RB · ROB-BLS · ROB-LGS) • Shy Guy (Standard SG)
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	Flower Cup	Desert Hills • Delfino Square • Waluigi Pinball • Shroom Ridge
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	Special Cup	Wario Stadium • Peach Gardens • Bowser Castle • Rainbow Road
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	Banana Cup	SNES Donut Plains 1 • N64 Frappe Snowland • GBA Bowser Castle 2 • GCN Baby Park
	Leaf Cup	SNES Koopa Beach 2 • N64 Choco Mountain • GBA Luigi Circuit • GCN Mushroom Bridge
	Lightning Cup	SNES Choco Island 2 • N64 Banshee Boardwalk • GBA Sky Garden • GCN Yoshi Circuit
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