Label	Element	Value
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
ProspectusDate	rr_ProspectusDate	May 01, 2012
Dreyfus High Yield Fund (Prospectus Summary) | Dreyfus High Yield Fund
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return, Heading	rr_RiskReturnHeading	Fund Summary
Investment Objective, Heading	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Investment Objective
investment Objective, Primary	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The fund seeks to maximize total return, consisting of capital appreciation and current income.
Expense, Heading	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses
Expense, Narrative	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the Shareholder Guide section on page 9 of the Prospectus and in the How to Buy Shares section and the Additional Information About How to Buy Shares section on page II-1 and page III-1, respectively, of the fund's Statement of Additional Information. Class A shares bought without an initial sales charge as part of an investment of $1 million or more may be charged a deferred sales charge of 1.00% if redeemed within one year.
Shareholder Fees, Caption	rr_ShareholderFeesCaption	Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses, Caption	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover, Heading	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	Portfolio Turnover
Portfolio Turnover	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 75.87% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	75.87%
Expense Breakpoint, Discounts	rr_ExpenseBreakpointDiscounts	You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds.
Expense Breakpoint, Minimum Investment Required Amount	rr_ExpenseBreakpointMinimumInvestmentRequiredAmount	50,000
Expense Example, Heading	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Example
Expense Example, Narrative	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. The examples are based on net operating expenses, which reflect the expense waiver/reimbursement by The Dreyfus Corporation. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example, No Redemption, By Year, Caption	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionByYearCaption	You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:
Investment Strategy, Heading	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategy
Investment Strategy, Narrative	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in fixed-income securities that, at the time of purchase, are rated below investment grade ("high yield" or "junk" bonds) or are the unrated equivalent as determined by The Dreyfus Corporation. In choosing securities, the fund seeks to capture the higher yields offered by junk bonds, while managing credit risk and the volatility caused by interest rate movements. The fund's investment process involves a "top down" approach to security selection. The fund looks at a variety of factors when assessing a potential investment, including the state of the industry or sector, the company's financial strength, and the company's management. The fund also looks for companies that are underleveraged, have positive free cash flow, and are self-financing. There are no restrictions on the dollar-weighted average maturity or average effective duration of the fund's portfolio or on the maturities or durations of the individual fixed-income securities the fund may purchase. The fund may, but is not required to, use certain derivatives, such as options, futures and options on futures (including those relating to securities, foreign currencies, indexes and interest rates), forward contracts, and swaps (including interest rate and credit default swaps), typically as part of a hedging strategy. The fund may enter into swap agreements, such as interest rate swaps and credit default swaps, which can be used to transfer the credit risk of a security without actually transferring ownership of the security or to customize exposure to particular corporate credit. The fund also may invest in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), which include collateralized loan obligations and other similarly structured securities. To enhance current income, the fund may engage in a series of purchase and sale contracts or forward roll transactions in which the fund sells a mortgage-related security, for example, to a financial institution and simultaneously agrees to purchase a similar security from the institution at a later date at an agreed upon price. The fund may also make forward commitments in which the fund agrees to buy or sell a security in the future at a price agreed upon today.
Risk, Heading	rr_RiskHeading	Principal Risks
Risk, Narrative	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. It is not a complete investment program. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money. o Credit risk. Failure of an issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of a bond, can cause a bond's price to fall, potentially lowering the fund's share price. The lower a bond's credit rating, the greater the chance - in the rating agency's opinion - that the bond issuer will default or fail to meet its payment obligations. High yield ("junk") bonds involve greater credit risk, including the risk of default, than investment grade bonds, and are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuer's ability to make principal and interest payments. The prices of high yield bonds can fall dramatically in response to bad news about the issuer or its industry, or the economy in general. o Interest rate risk. Prices of bonds tend to move inversely with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect bond prices and, accordingly, the fund's share price. The longer the effective maturity and duration of the fund's portfolio, the more the fund's share price is likely to react to interest rates. Unlike investment grade bonds, however, the prices of high yield ("junk") bonds may fluctuate unpredictably and not necessarily inversely with changes in interest rates. o Market risk. The market value of a security may decline due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in the outlook for corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investor sentiment generally. A security's market value also may decline because of factors that affect a particular industry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased production costs and competitive conditions within an industry, or factors that affect a particular company, such as management performance, financial leverage, and reduced demand for the company's products or services. o Liquidity risk. When there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities at or near their perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the fund's share price may fall dramatically, even during periods of declining interest rates. Liquidity risk also exists when a particular derivative instrument is difficult to purchase or sell. If a derivative transaction is particularly large or if the relevant market is illiquid (as is the case with many privately negotiated derivatives, including swap agreements), it may not be possible to initiate a transaction or liquidate a position at an advantageous time or price. o Mortgage-related securities risk. Mortgage-related securities are complex derivative instruments, subject to credit, prepayment and extension risk, and may be more volatile and less liquid, and more difficult to price accurately, than more traditional debt securities. The fund is subject to the credit risk associated with these securities, including the market's perception of the creditworthiness of the issuing federal agency, as well as the credit quality of the underlying assets. Although certain mortgage-related securities are guaranteed as to the timely payment of interest and principal by a third party (such as a U.S. government agency or instrumentality with respect to government-related mortgage-backed securities) the market prices for such securities are not guaranteed and will fluctuate. Declining interest rates may result in the prepayment of higher yielding underlying mortgages and the reinvestment of proceeds at lower interest rates can reduce the fund's potential price gain in response to falling interest rates, reduce the fund's yield or cause the fund's share price to fall (prepayment risk). Rising interest rates may result in a drop in prepayments of the underlying mortgages, which would increase the fund's sensitivity to rising interest rates and its potential for price declines (extension risk). o Market sector risk. The fund may significantly overweight or underweight certain companies, industries or market sectors, which may cause the fund's performance to be more or less sensitive to developments affecting those companies, industries or sectors. o Derivatives risk. A small investment in derivatives could have a potentially large impact on the fund's performance. The use of derivatives involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the underlying assets. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value. There is the risk that changes in the value of a derivative held by the fund will not correlate with the underlying instruments or the fund's other investments. Derivative instruments also involve the risk that a loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of the counterparty to the derivative instruments to make required payments or otherwise comply with the derivative instruments' terms. Certain types of derivatives involve greater risks than the underlying obligations because, in addition to general market risks, they are subject to illiquidity risk, counterparty risk and credit risk. Additionally, some derivatives involve economic leverage, which could increase the volatility of these investments as they may fluctuate in value more than the underlying instrument. o Leverage risk. The use of leverage, such as borrowing money to purchase securities, engaging in reverse repurchase agreements, lending portfolio securities, entering into futures contracts and engaging in forward commitment transactions, may magnify the fund's gains or losses. Because many derivatives have a leverage component, adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset, reference rate or index can result in a loss substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative itself. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment.
Risk, Lose Money	rr_RiskLoseMoney	The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money.
Risk, Not Insured Depository Institution	rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution	An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table, Heading	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Performance
Performance, Narrative	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The table compares the average annual total returns of the fund's shares to those of a broad measure of market performance. The fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future results. More recent performance information may be available at www.dreyfus.com.
Performance, Information Illustrates Variability of Returns	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund.
Performance, Availability Website Address	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	www.dreyfus.com
Performance, Past Does Not Indicate Future	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	The fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future results.
Bar Chart, Heading	rr_BarChartHeading	Year-by-Year Total Returns as of 12/31 each year (%) -- Class A
Bar Chart, Narrative	rr_BarChartNarrativeTextBlock	The bar chart shows changes in the performance of the fund's Class A shares from year to year. Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would have been less than those shown.
Bar Chart, Does Not Reflect Sales Loads	rr_BarChartDoesNotReflectSalesLoads	Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would have been less than those shown.
Bar Chart, Closing	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter               Q2, 2009: 11.32%           Worst Quarter              Q4, 2008: -14.16%
Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes	rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes	Index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes
Performance Table, Uses Highest Federal Rate	rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate	After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal tax rates, and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
Performance Table, Not Relevant to Tax Deferred	rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred	Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
Performance Table, One Class of after Tax Shown	rr_PerformanceTableOneClassOfAfterTaxShown	After-tax performance is shown only for Class A shares. After-tax performance of the fund's other share classes will vary.
Performance Table, Narrative	rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock	After-tax performance is shown only for Class A shares. After-tax performance of the fund's other share classes will vary. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal tax rates, and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
Average Annual Returns, Caption	rr_AverageAnnualReturnCaption	Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/11)
Dreyfus High Yield Fund (Prospectus Summary) | Dreyfus High Yield Fund | BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. High Yield Master II Constrained Index
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Average Annual Returns, Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. High Yield Master II Constrained Index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	4.37%
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	7.54%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	8.74%
Dreyfus High Yield Fund (Prospectus Summary) | Dreyfus High Yield Fund | Class A
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	4.50%
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of lower of purchase or sale price)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.70%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.25%
Other expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.01%	[1]
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.96%
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.01%)	[1]
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.95%
Expense Example, With Redemption, 1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	543
Expense Example, With Redemption, 3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	739
Expense Example, With Redemption, 5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	952
Expense Example, With Redemption, 10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	1,564
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	543
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	739
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	952
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	1,564
Annual Return 2002	rr_AnnualReturn2002	(12.19%)
Annual Return 2003	rr_AnnualReturn2003	29.87%
Annual Return 2004	rr_AnnualReturn2004	10.44%
Annual Return 2005	rr_AnnualReturn2005	2.22%
Annual Return 2006	rr_AnnualReturn2006	8.66%
Annual Return 2007	rr_AnnualReturn2007	2.03%
Annual Return 2008	rr_AnnualReturn2008	(20.17%)
Annual Return 2009	rr_AnnualReturn2009	40.43%
Annual Return 2010	rr_AnnualReturn2010	12.50%
Annual Return 2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	1.33%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2009
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	11.32%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Dec. 31, 2008
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(14.16%)
Average Annual Returns, Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	Class A returns before taxes
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(3.21%)
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	4.49%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	5.71%
Dreyfus High Yield Fund (Prospectus Summary) | Dreyfus High Yield Fund | Class A | After Taxes on Distributions
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Average Annual Returns, Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	Class A returns after taxes on distributions
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(5.78%)
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.43%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.61%
Dreyfus High Yield Fund (Prospectus Summary) | Dreyfus High Yield Fund | Class A | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Average Annual Returns, Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	Class A returns after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(2.07%)
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	1.99%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	2.97%
Dreyfus High Yield Fund (Prospectus Summary) | Dreyfus High Yield Fund | Class C
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of lower of purchase or sale price)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	1.00%
Management fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.70%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	1.00%
Other expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.01%	[1]
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.71%
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.01%)	[1]
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	1.70%
Expense Example, With Redemption, 1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	273
Expense Example, With Redemption, 3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	536
Expense Example, With Redemption, 5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	923
Expense Example, With Redemption, 10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	2,009
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	173
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	536
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	923
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	2,009
Average Annual Returns, Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	Class C returns before taxes
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	(0.36%)
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	4.64%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	5.39%
Dreyfus High Yield Fund (Prospectus Summary) | Dreyfus High Yield Fund | Class I
Risk Return [Abstract]	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice	none
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of lower of purchase or sale price)	rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice	none
Management fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.70%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	none
Other expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.01%	[1]
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.71%
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	(0.01%)	[1]
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	0.70%
Expense Example, With Redemption, 1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	72
Expense Example, With Redemption, 3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	224
Expense Example, With Redemption, 5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	390
Expense Example, With Redemption, 10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	871
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01	72
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03	224
Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear05	390
Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear10	871
Average Annual Returns, Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	Class I returns before taxes
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.74%
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	5.72%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	6.46%

[1] The Dreyfus Corporation has agreed to pay all of the fund expenses, except management fees, Rule 12b-1 fees, and certain other expenses, including the fees and expenses of the non-interested board members and their counsel. The Dreyfus Corporation has agreed to reduce its fee in an amount equal to the fund's allocable portion of the fees and expenses of the non-interested board members and their counsel (in the amount of 0.01% for the past fiscal year).