Volleyball rules for beginners: scoring, rotation and faults

Rally scoring means every rally gives a point to the team that wins it, whether or not that team served. When the receiving team wins a rally, it scores and also takes over the serve. Older side-out scoring let only the serving team score.

An indoor set is won by the first team to reach 25 points with a lead of at least 2. At 24–24 play goes on until one team is two clear, so a set can end 26–24 or 30–28. There is no cap. The match goes to the team that wins three sets. If the sets are tied 2–2, the deciding fifth set is played to 15 points, again with a two-point lead.

FIVB's rule book sets best of five for indoor matches. A shorter best-of-three match is a casual option, and leagues choose their own formats, so agree yours before the first serve.

A team gets three touches to return the ball over the net, and one player can't touch it twice in a row. A typical rally runs pass, set, attack. In indoor volleyball a block touch is not one of the three, so after a block the team still has three hits.

• Any part of the body is allowed, but the ball must rebound cleanly. Catching, holding or throwing it is a fault.
• Several contacts in one action are allowed on a team's first touch, such as digging a hard-driven ball, and on a block. Anywhere else, two contacts in a row by one player is a double contact.
• The ball may touch the net while it crosses, and a ball driven into the net can still be played within the three touches.

A ball is "in" if any part of it touches the court, lines included. It is "out" if it lands completely outside the lines or touches the antennae or anything outside the court.

Rotation is how a team takes turns to serve. Each time your team wins the serve back from the other side, all six players move one position clockwise, and the player who moves into the back-right spot serves. While your team keeps winning rallies on its own serve, nobody rotates.

Positions are numbered 1 to 6 as the players face the net, and position 1, back right, is where the server stands.

Players move 2 → 1 → 6 → 5 → 4 → 3 → 2. Here is one rotation for Ana, Ben, Cat, Dan, Eli and Fay:

What is overlap?

When the server hits the ball, each receiving player must stand in order relative to their neighbours: back-row players further from the net than the front-row player in front of them, and each row in its left-to-right order. Referees judge this by where the players' feet touch the floor. After the serve, everyone may move anywhere. FIVB's 2025–2028 rules free the serving team from this restriction at the moment of service, but rule sets differ, so ask which version your league uses.

Standing out of position is a positional fault, and serving in the wrong order is a rotational fault. Either one gives the other team a point and the serve.

The server puts the ball in play from behind the end line, inside the 9 m wide service zone, and has 8 seconds to hit it after the referee's whistle. Toss or release the ball once, then hit it with one hand or any part of the arm. Overhand, underhand and jump serves are all allowed.

• Stay behind the line. At the moment of the hit, the server must not touch the court, the end line included. After the hit, the server may land inside the court.
• The serve may clip the net and still be good if it crosses between the antennae and lands in.
• A serve is a fault if it lands outside the lines or touches a player on the serving team.
• No screening. The serving team must not hide the server or the flight of the ball by waving arms, jumping or standing in a group.

The server keeps serving until the team loses a rally, and then the other team rotates and serves. A coin toss decides who serves first in set one and in a deciding fifth set. In the other sets the teams alternate the first serve.

A fault gives a point to the other team, and the serve too if that team was receiving. These are the faults beginners meet most, with the FIVB rules behind them:

• Four touches. A team touches the ball a fourth time before it goes over.
• Double contact. One player hits the ball twice in a row, or it hits several parts of the body one after another. The exceptions are a team's first touch and a block.
• Lift or catch. The ball is held, carried or thrown instead of rebounding.
• Net touch. A player touches the net between the antennae while playing the ball. Touching the net or posts outside the antennae is fine unless it interferes with play.
• Centre line. A foot goes completely over the centre line into the other court. A foot may cross if some part of it stays on or above the line and the opponents aren't disturbed.
• Reaching over. A player touches the ball on the other side before the opponents' attack hit. A blocker may reach over once they have attacked.
• Back-row attack. A back-row player attacks from in front of the 3 m attack line, hitting the ball while it is completely above the net.

Beach volleyball is played by two players per team on a 16 × 8 m sand court. Sets go to 21 points, the deciding third set to 15, and teams switch sides every 7 points, or every 5 in the deciding set. There are no fixed positions, and the two partners take turns to serve. The net is the same height as indoors: 2.43 m for men and 2.24 m for women.

The side switch uses the combined score. Teams change ends at 7, 14, 21, 28 points and so on in total. A set that ends 21–15 has five switches, at 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 points.

The tip rule surprises indoor players. On the beach you can't dump the ball over the net with open, floppy fingers. Use your knuckles, a closed fist or stiff fingertips held together, because FIVB calls an attack with an open-handed finger action a fault.

King of the Court, or queen of the court, is a way to play with more people than a court holds. One side is the king's court and the other is the challengers' court. Teams wait for the challengers' side, and only the king's side can score. It is usually informal, but it is also an organised event format.

Volleyball Ireland ran this version at its 2023 beach events, describing it as a format introduced by the CEV (European volleyball):

• Teams of two. The challengers serve every rally.
• If the king's side wins the rally, it scores one point and stays. The challengers are replaced by the next team in the order.
• If the challengers win the rally, nobody scores, but the teams swap sides.
• Rounds last 15 minutes, and after each one the team with the fewest points is out.

For a casual night, agree a target, such as first king to 15 points, or a time limit, and use the usual rules for each rally. King of the Court isn't a tournament format in Flobit. For a bigger group, a round robin or group + knockout tournament gives everyone a fair number of games, and the tournament formats guide compares them.

Flobit's volleyball formats follow the scoring in this guide. Indoor 6v6 can be best of 5 or best of 3 sets, to 25 with the deciding set to 15. Beach 2v2 is available in tournaments, best of 3 sets to 21. Live scoring works set by set: add each point as the rally ends and undo a slip with one tap. A public live page lets friends follow along. Flobit is free, with no ads and no subscription.

• Casual 6v6. Start a Quick Match, a lobby you share with an 8-character code, a QR code or a flobit.app/join link. Friends join as players or as the referee, guests need no account, and a coin toss decides who serves first.
• Even sides. Split a drop-in crowd with the fair teams guide.
• A beach day or a club night. Tournaments can run as a league (round robin) or group + knockout, with up to 20 referees.

Flobit doesn't book courts or halls, so reserve the venue with the venue itself. The volleyball page covers the rest of what the app does for the sport.

What is rally scoring in volleyball?

How many points is a set of volleyball?

How does volleyball rotation work?

How many touches do you get in volleyball?

How often do you switch sides in beach volleyball?

What is king of the court in volleyball?

Is it a fault to touch the net in volleyball?

How many players are on a volleyball team, and how high is the net?