The construction of a reliable numerical model and the clarification of its operational conditions are necessary for maximizing fuel cell operation. Numerous operating factors, such as mole fractions of species, pressure distribution, overpotential, and inlet relative humidity, affect the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Among these operational parameters, geometrical shape and relative humidity are investigated in this paper. Specifically, the land ratio of the gas channel and rib is an important parameter affecting PEMFC performance because current density distribution is influenced by this geometrical characteristic. Three main variables determine the current density distribution, namely, species concentration, pressure, and overpotential distributions. These distributions are considered simultaneously in assessing fuel cell performance with a given PEMFC cell-operating voltage. In this paper, three different land ratio models are considered to obtain better PEMFC performance. Similarly, three different inlet relative humidity variations are studied to achieve an enhanced operating condition. A three-dimensional numerical PEMFC model is developed to illustrate the current density distribution as the determining factor for PEMFC performance. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.