Every completed rally awards one point.

The rule and version used here

This page applies the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028 for six-player indoor volleyball, especially Rules 6–8, 12, 16, 17 and 21. The edition was approved by the 39th FIVB World Congress in 2024 and is to be implemented in competitions beginning after 1 January 2025.

It is the international baseline, not a universal rule for every game called volleyball. Beach volleyball, sitting volleyball, domestic federations, schools, colleges, youth events and recreational leagues can prescribe different set formats or procedures. The appointed competition rules control where they differ.

Three routes to a point

FIVB Rule 6.1.1 gives three routes. A team scores when it legally grounds the ball on the opponent's court, when the opponent commits a fault, or when the opponent receives a penalty.

• Ball down: any part of the ball touching the court, including a boundary line, is “in” under Rule 8.3.
• Opponent fault: examples include sending the ball out, four team hits, a catch or throw, a service fault, or an illegal playing action at the net.
• Penalty: specified delay or misconduct sanctions award a point and the next service even though no ordinary rally has just been played.

A hard attack is not a special type of score. Like a tip or serve, it is worth one point only when it wins the rally.

A rally and a completed rally are not identical

Rule 6.1.3 defines a rally as the playing actions from the service hit until the ball is out of play. A completed rally is a sequence that results in a point. That definition also includes the award of a penalty and loss of service for a service hit made after the eight-second time limit.

This is why “every rally scores” needs a qualification: every completed rally scores. A sequence ordered to be replayed is not converted into a point. A service struck before the referee's whistle is cancelled and repeated under Rule 12.4.5; because an authorized service hit did not put the ball in play, that action does not score.

How to settle the score and next service

1. Was the ball legally in play? An authorized service hit starts the rally under Rule 8.1.
2. What ended the sequence? Find the ball-down result, the first successive fault, a simultaneous double fault, or a penalty.
3. Point or replay? A normal rally win or penalty produces one point; a prescribed replay produces none.
4. Who serves next? The serving team continues after winning. The receiving team gains service after winning.
5. Is a rotation required? Only a receiving team that has just gained the right to serve rotates before serving.
6. Did the point finish the set? Check both the target and the two-point margin.

Winning the point decides the next server

Under Rules 6.1.3 and 12.2.2, if the serving team wins, the same player—or that player's substitute—serves again. If the receiving team wins, it scores, gains the right to serve and rotates one position clockwise before the next serve. The player moving from front-right position 2 to back-right position 1 becomes the server.

“Side-out” is still commonly used for the receiving team winning service. Under rally-point scoring that side-out also adds one point; it is not merely a change of possession.

25 points, then 15 in the deciding set

FIVB Rules 6.2 and 6.3 make the match best of five sets: the first team to win three sets wins the match. Sets 1–4 are won at 25 points with a minimum two-point lead. If the match reaches 2–2, the fifth set is to 15, also with a minimum two-point lead.

The target is not a ceiling. At 24–24 a regular set continues to 26–24, 27–25 or any later two-point margin. At 14–14 in the fifth, 15–14 is not enough; play continues until one team leads by two.

The first successive fault controls

When two or more faults happen one after another, FIVB Rule 6.1.2.1 counts only the first. A later result cannot replace a fault that already ended the rally. If an attacker commits a net fault and the ball then lands in, the net fault decides the point.

This is different from opponents committing faults simultaneously. Rule 6.1.2.2 calls that a double fault and orders a replay. Officials must therefore decide whether the events were successive or genuinely simultaneous, rather than simply choosing the most visible event.

When the rally is replayed

The FIVB baseline identifies several replay situations:

• Opponents commit faults simultaneously: double fault under Rule 6.1.2.2.
• A serious accident occurs while the ball is in play: Rule 17.1.1.
• External interference affects play: Rule 17.2.
• The net mesh rips or the net is torn down: Rule 10.3.2.

The score stays unchanged for the replay. Do not confuse a replay with an overturned call that identifies a rally winner: if review establishes the first fault, the point follows that corrected ruling under the competition's review procedure.

Not every card changes the score

Under Rule 16.2, a team's first delay in a match is a delay warning with no point. The second and every later delay by that team is a delay penalty: one point and service to the opponent. Under Rule 21, a misconduct warning likewise has no immediate score consequence, while the first rude-conduct penalty is a point and service to the opponent.

Expulsion and disqualification are removal sanctions, not automatic extra points: Rule 21 states they have no other consequences, and an on-court player must be replaced as the rules permit. If a team is ultimately declared incomplete, the separate outcome in Rule 6.4 applies.

A late rotation discovery can remove points

A rotational fault means the service was not made in the recorded rotational order. Rule 7.7 awards the opponent one point and the next service and corrects the faulty team's order. If the fault is detected only after that rally, the opponent receives only that single rally point regardless of the rally's apparent result.

The scorer should also identify when the fault began. Points scored after that moment by the team at fault are cancelled, while the opponent's points remain. If the moment cannot be established, there is no retrospective cancellation; the only sanction is the point and next service. This is a score correction, not multiple points for one rally.

Some set scores are administrative

Rule 6.4 treats default and an incomplete team differently. A team that refuses to play after being summoned, or fails to appear on time without justification, defaults the match 0–3 with each set recorded 0–25. A team declared incomplete loses the set or match, but keeps the points and sets it already won; the opponent receives only what is needed to complete the set or match.

These recorded scores do not represent rallies that were played. They are rulebook outcomes used to close the set or match.

The ceiling and challenge can work differently

The main 2025–2028 rules make a ball touching the ceiling or another object outside the court “out” under Rule 8.4.2. FIVB's 27 February 2026 test notice changes that result only in the 2026 Volleyball Nations League, FIVB U17 World Championships and 2026 Continental Championships: a first or second team contact with overhead venue infrastructure may remain playable if it stays on the same side. A rebound into the opponent's court is a fault, while contact with an in-field spider cam or crane cam produces a replay.

The same 2026 events use challenge bookmarks: a team may mark a reviewable action during the rally and, after losing the rally, pursue one marked challenge; if both teams marked actions, the first fault found prevails. These are named 2026 tests, not changes to every match using the FIVB rulebook.

The receivers win at 23–23

Situation: Blue is serving at 23–23. Red legally blocks the ball onto Blue's court.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: Red leads 24–23, rotates clockwise and serves next. The decisive fact is that the receiving team won the completed rally; Red has set point but has not won the set yet because it does not lead by two.

A net fault happens before the ball lands

Situation: Blue's attacker commits a net fault during the action of playing the ball. The untouched ball then lands on Red's boundary line.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: point to Red. Rule 6.1.2 counts the first successive fault, so the later “ball in” result cannot give Blue the point.

One rally win is not always set point converted

Situation: the deciding fifth set is tied 14–14. Blue wins the next rally.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: Blue leads 15–14, but play continues. Rule 6.3.2 requires both 15 points and a two-point lead; Blue must win the next rally for 16–14 or later build another two-point margin.

The wrong server is found after the rally

Situation: Blue serves out of rotational order and appears to win the rally. The scorer then confirms the fault began three rallies earlier, during which Blue scored twice and Red scored once.

FIVB 2025–2028 ruling: Red receives the point and next service, Blue's two later points are cancelled, Red's point remains, and Blue's order is corrected. Rule 7.7 makes the known start of the fault—not the apparent result of the latest rally—the decisive fact.

Five scoring claims to avoid

• “Only the serving team can score.” FIVB rally-point scoring awards the rally winner a point.
• “A side-out only changes serve.” The receiving team also scores and rotates.
• “First to 25 always wins.” A two-point lead is also required; the fifth-set target is 15.
• “Every whistle adds a point.” Early service, double faults and prescribed replays can leave the score unchanged.
• “A serve touching the net is a let.” Rule 10.2 allows the ball to touch the net while crossing; if it crosses legally and remains playable, play continues.

Check the event before applying the format

This page does not convert FIVB indoor rules into NCAA, NFHS, USA Volleyball, beach or sitting-volleyball rulings. Those organizations and disciplines publish their own rules, and local conditions can change the number of sets, point targets, caps, time limits or review procedure.

When a regulation says only that rally-point scoring is used, that establishes who can score; it does not by itself prove that the match is best of five or that every set follows the FIVB targets. Confirm the appointed rulebook and competition regulations together.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• FIVB — Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028, current English edition: Rules 6–8, 10, 12, 16, 17 and 21
• FIVB — Official Volleyball Rules document register: current-edition status
• FIVB — 2026 competition rule tests, 27 February 2026: ceiling contact and challenge bookmark provisions

Checked on 28 August 2026 against the FIVB 2025–2028 rules implemented for competitions beginning after 1 January 2025 and the named 2026 test notice. Event regulations, national rules and discipline-specific codes may supplement or replace this baseline.