none of my spell caster characters - nor the characters made by players in the campaigns I DM - can see spells above level 3 to add to their "known spells" despite being level 5 or even higher. I saw one person say to refresh but that doesn't seem to work for me.

edit: thanks guys I realized my error

Gonna have to assume you're looking in the wrong place (like Known Spells instead of in "Add Spells") or using a class with different spell level progression like artificers, rangers, paladins, warlocks, etc?

Or they’re multiclass characters.

Also note that spell level is not equal to class level.

At level 5 they only should have level 3 spells, they get level 4 spells at level 7, level 5 spells ay level 9, etc. The charts on every spellcasting class page show this.

And yeah, if you change class level while the spell's tab is open in the builder, it may not update immediately.

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If the characters are 5th or 6th level, then they will only have access to 1st—3rd level spells: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/spellcasting#SpellLevel).

Spell Level

Every spell has a level from 0 to 9. A spell's level is a general indicator of how powerful it is, with the lowly (but still impressive) magic missile at 1st level and the earth-shaking wish at 9th. Cantrips -- simple but powerful spells that characters can cast almost by rote -- are level 0. The higher a spell's level, the higher level a spellcaster must be to use that spell.

Spell level and character level don't correspond directly. Typically, a character has to be at least 17th level, not 9th level, to cast a 9th-level spell.

So a PC wouldn’t typically gain access to 4th-level spells until they hit 7th level, and they typically won’t get 5th-level spells until they hit 9th level. There are some exceptions to that progression however, Artificers, Paladins, Rangers, Warlocks, and the Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster.