Rules & court
The key indoor volleyball rules (FIVB) in a nutshell, plus indoor and beach court dimensions.
Court
Loading court…
Rules in a nutshell
Scoring and sets
- Every rally ends with a point, no matter who served (rally point system).
- A set is won by the first team to reach 25 points with a lead of at least 2.
- A match is best of 5 sets. The 5th set (tie-break) is played to 15, and teams change sides at 8.
- Each team gets 2 time-outs of 30 seconds and 6 substitutions per set.
Contacts
- A team has at most 3 contacts to return the ball. The block does not count.
- A player may not touch the ball twice in a row (except after a block and on the team’s first contact in one action).
- The ball must not be caught or thrown. It must be clearly hit, and any part of the body may be used.
Rotation and position faults
- At the moment of the serve each team must stand in its rotational order. The position of the feet counts.
- Each back-row player must be farther from the net than their front-row partner (1 behind 2, 6 behind 3, 5 behind 4).
- Within each row the left-to-right order is kept: 4-3-2 and 5-6-1.
- When a team wins the serve back, it rotates one position clockwise.
- Serving out of order is a rotational fault and costs a point.
Serve
- The right-back player (zone 1) serves from behind the end line, within a service zone as wide as the court.
- The server has 8 seconds after the referee’s whistle.
- Screening the server, e.g. by grouping up or waving arms, is not allowed.
Attack and block
- A back-row player may attack from any height only from behind the 3 m attack line. The take-off must be behind it.
- Back-row players and the libero may not block.
- Attacking the opponent’s serve is not allowed when the ball is in the front zone and entirely above the net.
Libero
- The libero wears a different jersey colour and may replace any back-row player.
- They do not serve, block, or attack a ball that is entirely above the net.
- When the libero sets overhand from the front zone, a teammate may not attack that ball above the net.
- Libero replacements do not count as substitutions, but a rally must be played between two replacements.
Net and centre line
- Touching the net between the antennae while playing the ball is a fault.
- You may cross the centre line with a foot as long as part of it touches or is above the line.
- Touching the opponent’s court with any other body part is allowed as long as it does not interfere with their play.
- The ball must cross the net between the antennae, which stick out 80 cm above the net.
Beach volleyball: differences
- Played 2 vs 2 on a 16 × 8 m court, with no attack line and no positional rotation (only a serving order).
- Sets to 21, best of 3, and the 3rd set is played to 15.
- Teams change sides every 7 points (every 5 in the 3rd set).
- Open-hand tips are not allowed, and the block counts as the first of three contacts.