📐Court dimensionsThe playing court is a rectangle of 18 m × 9 m, surrounded by a free zone at least 3 m wide on all sides.Rule 1.1▾
📐Lines on the courtAll lines are 5 cm wide and are part of the area they bound — a ball touching the line is IN.Rule 1.3▾
📐Zones and areasEach half has a front zone, a back zone, a service zone, a substitution zone and a libero replacement zone.Rule 1.4▾
📐Net heightThe top of the net is 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women, measured at the middle of the court.Rule 2.1▾
📐Side bands and antennaeAntennae mark the sides of the crossing space. A ball touching an antenna — or passing outside it — is out.Rules 2.3–2.4▾
📐PostsNet posts stand 0.50–1.00 m outside the sidelines, are 2.55 m high and must be rounded and smooth.Rule 2.5▾
📐The ballA spherical ball, 65–67 cm in circumference, weighing 260–280 g, with inner pressure of 0.30–0.325 kg/cm².Rule 3▾
📐Temperature and lightingThe minimum temperature is 10 °C. FIVB competitions require 16–25 °C and 1000–1500 lux lighting.Rules 1.5–1.6▾
👥Team compositionSix players are on court per team. A team may register up to 12 players (up to 14 in FIVB senior competitions).Rule 4.1▾
👥Captain and coachThe team captain signs the score sheet; on court, a game captain is the only player who may speak to the referees.Rules 5.1–5.2▾
👥Equipment and uniformsPlayers wear matching jerseys, shorts and socks with clearly visible numbers. Liberos wear a contrasting colour.Rule 4.3▾
🏆Rally point scoringEvery rally scores a point. The team that wins the rally scores — whether or not it was serving.Rule 6.1▾
🏆Winning a setA set is won by the first team to 25 points with at least a 2-point lead. There is no point cap.Rule 6.2▾
🏆Default and incomplete teamA team that refuses to play or fails to appear loses by default: 0–3 in sets and 0–25 in each set.Rule 6.4▾
🏆The tossBefore the match, a coin toss between the captains decides who serves first and which side each team starts on.Rule 7.1▾
🏆Intervals and change of courtsIntervals between sets last 3 minutes. Teams change courts after every set (and at 8 points in the deciding set).Rule 18▾
🔄Player positions at the serveAt the moment of the service hit, players must be in their rotational order: three front-row and three back-row players.Rule 7.4▾
🔄Positional fault (overlap)If any player is out of rotational order when the ball is served, the team loses the rally.Rule 7.5▾
🔄RotationWhen a team wins the serve back (side-out), its players rotate one position clockwise.Rule 7.6▾
🔄Rotational faultServing out of the rotation order is a rotational fault: the opponents get the point and the serve.Rule 7.7▾
🔄Starting line-upBefore each set the coach hands in a line-up sheet showing the rotation order of the six starting players.Rule 7.3▾
🏐Ball in and ball outThe ball is IN if it touches the court, including the lines. It is OUT if it lands fully outside the lines or touches anything outside the court.Rule 8▾
🏐Three hits per sideEach team may touch the ball at most three times (block touches excluded) before sending it back over the net.Rule 9.1▾
🏐Double contact (consecutive contacts)A player may not touch the ball twice in a row — except during a block, or during one action on the team’s first contact.Rule 9.2.3▾
🏐Catch / lift (held ball)The ball must be hit, not caught or thrown. It can rebound in any direction.Rule 9.2.2▾
🏐Simultaneous contactsTwo teammates touching at the same time count as two hits. Opponents touching simultaneously over the net give the receiving side three new hits.Rule 9.1.2▾
🏐Playing the ball back from outside the antennaA ball that crosses to the opponent’s free zone outside the antenna may be chased and played back — around the outside of the antenna on the same side.Rule 10.1.2▾
🥅Ball touching the netWhile crossing the net, the ball may touch it — including on the serve. A ball driven into the net may be recovered within the three hits.Rule 10.3▾
🥅Touching the netTouching the net between the antennae during the action of playing the ball is a fault.Rule 11.3–11.4▾
🥅Crossing the centre lineA foot may touch the opponent’s court only if part of it stays on or above the centre line, and only if it does not interfere.Rule 11.2▾
🥅Reaching beyond the netBlockers may reach over the net without interfering; attackers may follow through over the net after hitting the ball on their own side.Rule 11.1▾
🎯Making a legal serveThe server hits the ball with one hand or arm, after one toss, from the service zone, within 8 seconds of the whistle.Rule 12.1–12.4▾
🎯Who serves first, and orderThe toss decides the first server of set 1 and set 5; after that, the team that did not serve first in the previous set starts.Rule 12.2▾
🎯ScreeningThe serving team may not hide the server or the flight of the ball from the receivers.Rule 12.5▾
🎯Service faultsA serve is a fault if the server breaks the serving rules, or if the ball touches a teammate, fails to cross through the crossing space, goes out, or passes over a screen.Rule 12.6–12.7▾
💥What is an attack hit?Every action that sends the ball towards the opponent — except the serve and the block — is an attack hit.Rule 13.1▾
💥Back-row attackA back-row player may attack a ball above the net only if they take off from behind the attack line.Rule 13.2–13.3▾
💥Attack-hit faultsFaults include hitting the ball in the opponent’s space, hitting it out, illegal back-row attacks, attacking the serve above the net, and certain libero-related attacks.Rule 13.3▾
🧱BlockingOnly front-row players may block — reaching higher than the net to stop the opponent’s attack. A block touch does not count as one of the three hits.Rule 14.1–14.2▾
🧱Block touch and team hitsAfter a block touch, the team still has three hits — and the blocker may make the first one.Rule 14.4▾
🧱Blocking within the opponent’s spaceBlockers may reach over the net, but may not touch the ball on the other side before the opponent has made its attack hit.Rule 14.3▾
🧱Blocking faultsFaults include blocking the serve, a back-row player or libero blocking, and blocking outside the antenna.Rule 14.6▾
⏱️SubstitutionsUp to 6 substitutions per team per set. A starter may leave and return once, only to their original position; a substitute may enter once and be replaced only by the same starter.Rules 15.5–15.6▾
⏱️Exceptional substitution (injury)If an injured player cannot be replaced legally, any player not on court (except a libero or the libero’s replaced player) may replace them.Rule 15.7–15.8▾
⏱️Illegal substitutionAn illegal substitution that is discovered after play resumes costs a point and serve, and points scored since are cancelled.Rule 15.9▾
⏱️Game delaysThe first delay by a team gets a delay warning; any later delay in the same match is a delay penalty (point and serve to the opponents).Rule 16▾
⏱️Exceptional interruptionsInjury, outside interference or unforeseen events stop play; the rally is replayed. Interruptions totalling over 4 hours mean the match is replayed.Rule 17▾
🟪The liberoA defensive specialist in a contrasting jersey who can replace any back-row player — up to two may be designated per team.Rule 19.1–19.2▾
🟪Libero restrictionsThe libero plays only as a back-row player: they cannot serve, block, or attack a ball that is entirely above the net.Rule 19.3.1▾
🟪Libero replacementsLibero replacements are unlimited and not counted as substitutions, but there must be a completed rally between two replacements.Rule 19.3.2▾
🟪Re-designation of a liberoIf the acting libero cannot continue, the second libero takes over; with only one libero, the coach may re-designate a new libero.Rule 19.4▾
🟥Sportsmanlike conductParticipants must know the rules, accept referees’ decisions without dispute, and behave respectfully.Rule 20▾
🟥Misconduct and sanctions (cards)Warning (yellow) → Penalty (red: point to opponents) → Expulsion (red + yellow together) → Disqualification (red and yellow separately).Rule 21▾
🧑⚖️The refereeing teamA match is run by a first referee, second referee, scorer (and assistant scorer) and line judges. Only the referees may whistle.Rules 22–27▾
🧑⚖️Line judge flag signalsFlag down = ball in; flag up = ball out; flag up with palm on top = ball touched; waving flag = antenna, crossing-space or foot fault.Rule 28.2▾
🧑⚖️Common referee hand signalsReferees use official hand signals to show the fault and which team serves next.Rule 28.1▾
🧑⚖️Video challengeMany FIVB and top-level events let coaches challenge certain decisions using video replay.Competition regulations▾