For steel tip darts, hang the board so that the center of the bull is 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) above the floor, and put the throw line 7 ft 9¼ in (2.37 m) from the face of the board. Check both with the diagonal: 9 ft 7⅜ in (2.93 m) from the center of the bull to the back of the throw line at floor level. Every steel tip rule book we read uses these figures. For soft tip darts, the distance depends on the league: 8 ft (about 2.44 m) in the US under NDA rules, 2.37 m in Germany under DSAB rules.
| Rule book | Bull height | Throw distance | Diagonal | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WDF (world, steel tip) | 1.73 m | 2.37 m | 2.93 m | 6.01 to 6.03 |
| DRA (PDC events) | 1.73 m | 2.37 m | not stated | 6.5.9, 6.7.1 |
| ADO (US, steel tip) | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | 7 ft 9¼ in (2.37 m) | 9 ft 7⅜ in (2.93 m) | rule 62 |
| DDV (Germany, steel tip) | 173 cm | 2.37 m | 2.93 m | §7(8), §9(1), §9(2) |
| FFD (France, steel tip) | 1.73 m, ±5 mm | 2.37 m, ±5 mm | 2.93 m | art. 311.120, 313.100 |
| POD (Poland, steel tip) | 173 cm | 2.37 m | 2.93 m | sections 5 and 7 |
| NDB (Netherlands, steel tip) | 1.73 m | 2.37 m | 2.93 m | rules page |
| VDF (Flanders, Belgium) | 1 m 73 | 2 m 37 | not stated | reglement |
| NDA (US, soft tip) | 5 ft 8 in (68 in) | 8 ft (96 in) | not stated | machine specifications |
| DSAB (Germany, soft tip) | not stated | 2.37 m | not stated | 1.4.3 |
| France Darts (France, soft tip) | not stated | 2.44 m | not stated | règlement 2018 |
"Not stated" means the document gives no figure, not that any figure is allowed. This page is the setup part of our darts rules.
Dartboard height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
The height is measured from the floor to the center of the bull, not to the top of the board. The WDF puts it this way: "the vertical height from the floor, at the same level as the Oche, to a horizontal line through the centre of the 'Bull' shall measure 1.73 metres" (WDF 6.01). The same 1.73 m is in DRA 6.5.9, DDV §7(8), FFD article 311.120, Regulamin POD section 5 and on the Dutch federation's rules page. The ADO gives it in feet: "The board height is 5'8"" (ADO 62), and the US soft tip body NDA uses "5 ft. 8in. (68") from Floor to Center of Bull's Eye".
1.73 m and 5 ft 8 in are not exactly the same length: 5 ft 8 in is 1.727 m, and 1.73 m is 68.1 in (our conversion). The difference is 3 mm.
- "The same level as the oche" matters if you stand on a mat or a platform: measure from the surface you stand on.
- The top edge is not a rule measurement. For a board of the WDF diameter, 451 mm, the top edge sits at 1.73 m + 0.2255 m = about 1.96 m (our calculation). Brackets and boards differ, so hang the board and then measure to the bull.
- The 20 goes at the top, in the darker color (WDF 4.02, DDV §7(9)).
Throw distance: 7 ft 9¼ in (2.37 m)
The throw distance runs along the floor from the throw line (the oche) to a point straight below the face of the board. WDF 6.02: the raised oche "shall measure from the back of the Oche, 2.37 metres along a horizontal line to a plumb line at the face of the dartboard". DRA 6.7.1, DDV §9(1), FFD 313.100 and Regulamin POD section 7 give the same 2.37 m, the Flemish VDF "2 m 37 gemeten vanaf de voorkant van het bord" (measured from the front of the board), and the ADO "7'9¼"" (ADO 62 and 64).
- Measure from the face of the board, not the wall. The board and its bracket stick out from the wall, so a line measured from the wall is too close. The NDA spells it out for machines: the measurement is to the face of the dartboard "and not from 'Foul Line' to the front of the machine cabinet".
- Which edge of the line counts. For a raised oche the rule books measure from its back, the side you stand behind; the French federation says the diagonal ends at the foot of the oche "côté joueur", on the player's side. For a flat tape, the ADO measures from "the front edge of the tape closest to the dartboard" (ADO 65). In soft tip, the DSAB measures from the edge facing the machine (1.4.3) and the NDA from the "Front Edge of Foul Line".
- It is a minimum. The WDF, DRA and ADO call it the "minimum throwing distance": you may stand further back, never closer.
Check it with the diagonal: 9 ft 7⅜ in (2.93 m)
Measure from the center of the bull down to the back of the oche at floor level. It should be 2.93 m (WDF 6.03, DDV §9(2), FFD 313.100, Regulamin POD section 7) or 9 ft 7⅜ in (ADO 62). If the diagonal is right, height and distance are right together, because the diagonal follows from the two by Pythagoras. The ADO booklet prints the calculation: √(1.73² + 2.37²) = 2.934 m.
For NDA soft tip, which gives no diagonal, the same calculation from 68 in and 96 in gives about 117.6 in, 9 ft 9.6 in or 2.99 m (our calculation).
How exact? The French federation allows ±5 mm on height and distance (FFD 311.120, 313.100). The Dutch federation allows 0.5 cm on the horizontal and vertical measurements and 1.0 cm on the diagonal (NDB Algemeen Wedstrijdreglement, article 11.1).
2.37 m or 2.44 m?
2.44 m is the soft tip distance of US leagues. It is 8 ft (2.438 m) rounded: the NDA puts the foul line "8 ft. (96") from Face of Target". The French soft tip league France Darts, an association of machine operators, uses the same figure: players stand "à 2.44 mètres à l'horizontale de la cible de l'appareil" (France Darts règlement, edition 16, 2018).
2.37 m is the steel tip distance everywhere, and in Germany also the soft tip distance: the DSAB league rules put the line "2,37 m zum Board" (1.4.3). No German rule document we read uses 2.44 m.
The two differ by about 7 cm (8 ft minus 7 ft 9¼ in = 2¾ in, 6.98 cm; our calculation). If you play in a soft tip league, use its figure; for steel tip and for German E-Dart, use 2.37 m.
Imperial and metric
| Measurement | Rule book figure | Conversion (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|
| Bull height | 5 ft 8 in (ADO, NDA) | 1.727 m |
| Bull height | 1.73 m (WDF, DRA, DDV, FFD, POD, NDB) | 68.1 in |
| Throw distance, steel tip | 7 ft 9¼ in (ADO) | 2.369 m |
| Throw distance, steel tip | 2.37 m (WDF, DRA, DDV, FFD, POD, NDB, DSAB) | 93.3 in |
| Diagonal, steel tip | 9 ft 7⅜ in (ADO) | 2.931 m |
| Throw distance, US soft tip | 8 ft, 96 in (NDA) | 2.438 m |
The oche (throw line)
| Rule book | Raised oche |
|---|---|
| WDF 6.02 | 38 mm high, 610 mm long |
| DRA 6.7.1 | at least 40 mm high, 20 mm deep and 500 mm wide |
| ADO 64 | at least 1½ in high and 2 ft long, "whenever possible" |
| DDV §9(1) | 3.8 to 5 cm high, at least 61 cm long |
| FFD 313.100 | 38 mm high, at least 61 cm long |
| NDB article 11.3 | 3.8 to 6 cm high, at least 61 cm wide |
| VDF | at least 1000 mm long and 30 mm high |
At the line, steel tip rules only regulate your feet: no treading on the oche, and when you throw from beside it, your feet stay behind its imaginary extension (WDF 6.04, 6.05; DRA 6.7.3 requires the front foot to be grounded behind the toe edge). Soft tip rules allow leaning over the line: "It is legal to lean over the line. They may step on, but not across, the line" (NDA); "Es ist gestattet sich über die Abwurflinie zu beugen" (DSAB 2.3.1).
How much room you need
| What | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bull to a side wall | at least 90 cm | DDV §9(4); recommended in Regulamin POD section 7 |
| Between two boards, bull to bull | at least 180 cm (DDV) or 120 cm (POD) | DDV §9(4), Regulamin POD section 7 |
| Free space behind the oche | at least 1.22 m | FFD 313.100; DDV §9(3) for a raised playing area |
| Raised playing area | at least 1,200 mm wide at the oche and 1,200 mm deep behind it | DRA 6.7.2 |
| A full competition lane | at least 4 m long and 3 m wide | NDB rules page |
From these, a single board needs at least 2.37 m + 1.22 m = 3.59 m from the board face to the back of the standing area, and 2 × 90 cm = 1.80 m of width (our calculation from the DDV and FFD figures). None of the documents we read gives a minimum ceiling height.
Light
| Rule book | Light on the board |
|---|---|
| WDF 5.01 | at least 1600 lm (100 W) per floor board, shielded from the player's eyes (5.03) |
| DRA 6.6.1 | an 11 to 13 W LED fitting or equivalent per floor board |
| DDV §8(1) | at least 400 lux, without glare; LED surrounds allowed if they meet this (§8(4)) |
| NDB article 11.7 | at least 600 lux on T20, T16 and T15, color 2700 to 3000 K; with an LED surround at least 300 lux on the bull |
Wheelchair players
The WDF lets its member bodies change board height and oche for events for disabled players (WDF 6.08). The German federation sets the details: for seated wheelchair players the bull hangs at 137 cm and the distance stays 237 cm (DDV §98), and the rear wheels must touch the floor behind the line (DDV §95). The Dutch federation also allows 137 cm in para events (NDB article 11.8). The DDV gives the diagonal for this setup as 275.75 cm; from 1.37 m and 2.37 m we calculate 2.74 m (273.75 cm), so check with height and distance directly. Under NDA soft tip rules, a wheelchair player's torso "can be on but not across the foul line".
For children, none of the documents we read gives a lower height; the DDV refers youth questions to its separate youth rules, which we did not read.
Once the board hangs
Score your first game: Darts Counter counts X01 and Cricket for you and keeps your 3-dart average for every leg. New to the game? Start with darts for beginners, and if you are still choosing a board, read steel tip vs soft tip and types of dartboards.
Sources
Written by FLAME Apps, maker of Darts Counter since 2015. All documents read 2026-09-24 and 2026-09-25.
- WDF Playing and Tournament Rules, 20th revised edition, rules 4.01, 4.02, 5.01 to 5.03, 6.01 to 6.08
- DRA Rules 2026, rules 6.5.9, 6.6.1, 6.7.1 to 6.7.3 (Darts Regulation Authority)
- ADO Tournament Rules Booklet, rules 62 to 65 and the standard dimensions table
- DDV Sport- und Wettkampfordnung, §7 to §9, §95 and §98 (German)
- DSAB-Liga-Regeln 2016, rules 1.4.3 and 2.3.1 (German soft tip)
- NDA Rules: dart machine specifications, throwing area, general rules of play (US soft tip)
- Fédération Française de Darts, règlement intérieur, updated July 5, 2026, articles 311.120 and 313.100 (French)
- France Darts, règlement, edition 16, 2018 (French soft tip league)
- Regulamin Polskiej Organizacji Darta, sections 5 and 7 (Polish)
- NDB: Spelregels and NDB Algemeen Wedstrijdreglement, version 007 of June 20, 2026, article 11 (Dutch)
- Reglement Vlaamse Darts Federatie (Dutch)
- Keep reading: darts rules, steel tip vs soft tip, darts for beginners
