Numerical simulations of the evolution of gravity wave spectra of fairly narrow bandwidth have been performed both for two and three dimensions. Simulations using the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation approximately verify the stability criteria of Alber (1978) in the two-dimensional but not in the three-dimensional case. Using a modified NLS equation (Trulsen et al. 2000) the spectra ‘relax’ towards a quasi-stationary state on a timescale (ε2ω0)−1. In this state the low-frequency face is steepened and the spectral peak is downshifted. The three-dimensional simulations show a power-law behaviour ω−4 on the high-frequency side of the (angularly integrated) spectrum.