Volleyball Rules of the Game

Lessons

Senior 6 · Physical Education

Volleyball Rules of the Game

3 lessons

Lesson 1 of 3

Court layout, player positions, rotation and scoring

25 min

The serving team may now stand anywhere

For decades both teams had to stand in their rotational order when the ball was served. The FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, approved by the 39th FIVB World Congress in 2024, changed that: only the receiving team must now be in order at the service hit, while the serving team may stand wherever it likes on its own court. The change was made to strengthen defence and lengthen rallies. In Senior 1 to 3 you learned to play, rotate and use tactics; in this lesson you learn the rules exactly as a referee applies them: the court, positions and overlap, rotation and scoring, and the Libero.

Definition

Rotational order: the order of players recorded on the line-up sheet at the start of a set; it fixes who serves and, for the receiving team, where each player stands at the service hit.

Positional (overlap) fault: a player of the receiving team out of position relative to a neighbour at the moment of the service hit.

Rotational fault: the service is not made in the rotational order.

Rally-point system: every rally scores a point for the team that wins it, whichever team served.

Libero: a specialist defensive back-row player in a different-coloured shirt, who replaces back-row players without counting as a substitution.

The court and the net

Item	Rule
Playing court	18 m × 9 m, lines 5 cm wide and part of the court
Free zone	At least 3 m wide on all sides; for FIVB world competitions 5 m beyond the sidelines and 6.5 m beyond the end lines
Attack line	Its rear edge 3 m from the axis of the centre line; it divides each half into a front zone and a back zone
Net height	2.43 m for men, 2.24 m for women, measured at the centre of the court; at the sidelines it may be up to 2 cm higher, never more
Antennae	Flexible rods 1.80 m long fixed at the outer edge of each side band; the top 80 cm stands above the net
Service zone	9 m wide behind the end line, extending back to the end of the free zone

Positions and overlap

Front-row players occupy positions 4 (front-left), 3 (front-centre) and 2 (front-right); back-row players occupy 5 (back-left), 6 (back-centre) and 1 (back-right, the server). At the moment of the service hit, the receiving team's positions are judged by the players' feet in contact with the floor:

each back-row player must have at least part of one foot further from the centre line than the front foot of the corresponding front-row player (5 behind 4, 6 behind 3, 1 behind 2);
in each row, each right (or left) player must have at least part of one foot closer to the right (or left) sideline than the feet of the centre player of that row.

After the service hit, everyone may move anywhere on their court and in the free zone. A positional fault gives the opponent a point and the service. If the server commits a fault at the moment of the hit (a foot fault, serving out of turn) and the receivers are also out of position, the serving fault counts; if the service goes wrong only after the hit (it goes out), the positional fault counts.

Worked example

Worked example 1: is the receiving team in position? At the service hit the referee checks Team B (distances from the centre line):

Pair	Front-row player's front foot	Back-row player's rearmost foot	Legal?
4 and 5	3.0 m	4.0 m	Yes: 5 is further back
3 and 6	2.8 m	2.6 m	No: no part of 6's feet is behind 3's front foot
2 and 1	1.0 m	5.0 m	Yes

Decision: positional fault by Team B; Team A wins the point and serves again. Had Team A's server stepped on the end line at the hit, the serving fault would have been sanctioned instead, and Team B would have won the point.

Rotation, scoring and the match

When the receiving team wins a rally it gains the service and rotates one position clockwise: the player in position 2 moves to 1 and serves, 1 moves to 6, 6 to 5, 5 to 4, 4 to 3 and 3 to 2.
A set is won by the first team to 25 points with a lead of at least 2 (26–24, 27–25 …). A match is won by the first team to win 3 sets; at 2–2 the deciding fifth set is played to 15 points, again with a 2-point lead.
Each team may take up to 2 time-outs of 30 s and make up to 6 substitutions in each set.
The Libero may replace any back-row player, as often as the team likes with a completed rally in between. The Libero may not serve, block or attempt to block, may not complete an attack hit when the ball is entirely above the top of the net, and a team-mate may not attack from above the net a ball set by the Libero's overhand finger pass from inside the front zone.

Worked example

Worked example 2: following the rotation. Team A's line-up is: position 1 #7, 2 #10, 3 #4, 4 #12, 5 #9, 6 #1. Team A serves first and wins two rallies (score 2–0, #7 still serving), then loses one (2–1, Team B serves). Team A wins the next rally (3–1).

Team A has won back the service, so it rotates clockwise.
New positions: 1 #10, 2 #4, 3 #12, 4 #9, 5 #1, 6 #7.
#10 serves. If #12 served instead, it would be a rotational fault: point and service to Team B.

Video: "Volleyball Rule Change Video 2025", Volleyball Australia (Ausvolley). Watch the part on team positions at the service: the serving team may now stand anywhere, while the receiving team must still be in rotational order.

Tip

Memory hook: "two to one, then round the clock". On a side-out the front-right player (2) moves to serve (1), and everyone follows clockwise.

Warning

Common mistakes. Overlap is judged by the feet on the floor, not by the body or the hands. It applies only at the moment of the service hit and only to the receiving team under the 2025–2028 rules. A set at 24–24 is not won at 25: a 2-point lead is needed.

✦

Practice

State the dimensions of the court and the distance of the attack line from the centre line.
Give the net height for men and for women, and say where it is measured.
Number the six positions and say which are front row.
At the service hit, Team A's (serving team's) position 4 player is behind its position 5 player. Is there a fault? Explain.
A team's line-up is 1 #3, 2 #8, 3 #11, 4 #5, 5 #14, 6 #6. After a side-out, which player serves?
Team A leads Team B 14–13 in the fifth set. Team B then wins the next three rallies. What is the result of the set?
Explain the rule of priority between a serving fault and a receiving team's positional fault, with an example of each case.
Evaluate the 2025 change that frees the serving team from positional faults. Who does it help, and why might rallies get longer?

Show answersHide answers

18 m × 9 m; the attack line is 3 m from the centre line (to its rear edge).
2.43 m (men) and 2.24 m (women), measured at the centre of the court.
4 front-left, 3 front-centre, 2 front-right (front row); 5 back-left, 6 back-centre, 1 back-right (back row).
No fault: since 2025 the serving team may occupy any position at the service hit.
#8 (the player in position 2 rotates to position 1).
14–14, then 14–15 (a 1-point lead is not enough), then 14–16: Team B wins the set 16–14.
If the server faults at the moment of the hit (foot fault, wrong server) and the receivers overlap, the serving fault is sanctioned. If the hit is correct but the serve later goes out, the receivers' positional fault happened first and is sanctioned.
It helps the serving team, which can place its best blockers and defenders where they are needed from the start of the rally; with better defensive positioning, more attacks are dug and rallies last longer. It may make the receiving team's task harder and requires referees to watch only one side.

Remember

Court 18 m × 9 m; attack line 3 m; free zone at least 3 m; net 2.43 m (men), 2.24 m (women).
2025–2028: only the receiving team must be in rotational order at the service hit.
Rotate clockwise on winning the service: 2 → 1.
Sets to 25 (fifth set 15), always by 2 points; best of five sets.
The Libero: back row only; no serve, no block, no attack from above the net.

Sources and credits

Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB): Rules 1, 2, 6, 7, 15 and 19 summarised, not copied.
Volleyball, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Photo: Volleyball field, Emeritha izabayo, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC0.
Video: "Volleyball Rule Change Video 2025", Volleyball Australia (Ausvolley), embedded from YouTube.
Court diagram, overlap and rotation examples, and practice: written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1The serving team may now stand anywhere

2The court and the net

3Positions and overlap

4Rotation, scoring and the match

The serving team may now stand anywhere

The court and the net

Positions and overlap

Rotation, scoring and the match