Timber joints are usually considered as perfectly pinned or stiff against rotation during the calculations of engineering timber structures. However the semi-rigid behavior the joints cannot be avoided in case of accurate calculations. In this paper the rotational stiffness and the full moment-rotational behavior of dowel-type timber joints were analyzed using computer algorithm validated by finite element analysis. Based on the numerical calculation and the experimental results the paper describes the influences of the joint geometry, the grain direction and the number and position of connectors on the moment-rotational behavior.