Steel Tip Darts: The Complete Setup and Rules Guide
- Matt Tizzard
- Aug 26
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 27
Most players who plateau early did not have a technique problem to begin with. They had a tape measure problem.
If your board hangs two centimetres low, or your oche sits five centimetres short, every hour of practice you put in is teaching your body the wrong throw. Then you turn up at a league night on a regulation setup and wonder where your game went.
This guide covers the official steel tip darts rules, the exact measurements for setting up a dart board at home, and the scoring rules you need for match play.
Steel tip versus soft tip: why the difference matters
Steel tip darts are thrown at a bristle board, made from compressed sisal fibres, and are the format used by the PDC, the WDF and virtually every pub and league in the UK. Soft tip darts use plastic points and an electronic board, and crucially they are thrown from a different distance.
If you have read a setup guide and the throwing distance looked slightly off, this is usually why. The two codes are not interchangeable. Everything below is the steel tip standard.
Official dart board height and distance
There are three measurements. The third one is the one people skip, and it is the one that catches errors.
Measurement | Metric | Imperial |
Floor to centre of bullseye | 1.73 m | 5 ft 8 in |
Board face to back of the oche | 2.37 m | 7 ft 9.25 in |
Bullseye to back of the oche (diagonal) | 2.93 m | 9 ft 7.375 in |
Height. Measure from the finished floor to the centre of the bullseye, not to the top or bottom of the board. If you are fitting a carpet or mats later, account for them now.
Distance. Measure from the face of the board, the front surface where the darts land, to the back edge of the throw line. Not from the wall. A bristle board with a surround sits proud of the wall by a few centimetres, and measuring from the wall is the single most common setup error there is.
The diagonal. Run a tape from the centre of the bull to the back of the oche. If it reads 2.93 m, your height and distance are both correct. If it does not, one of them is out. This one check saves a lot of arguing.
Wheelchair setup. The board is hung at 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) to the bull, with the same 2.37 m throwing distance.
Soft tip, for reference. Same 1.73 m height, but the oche moves back to 2.44 m (8 ft).
Hanging the board correctly
The 20 segment goes at the top, and on a standard board it is the black bed rather than the cream one. Sounds obvious, and yet.
Fit the board so it sits flush and does not rock. Most boards mount on a bracket with a central fixing that lets you rotate the board, which you should do regularly. Rotating spreads the wear across the sisal instead of chewing out the treble 20 bed, and a well rotated board will last you years rather than months.
Check the board is level and that the bull is plumb. A board hung at a slight tilt will quietly bias your throw.
The throw line should be a raised oche where possible, 610 mm (2 ft) long, so you can feel where the line is without looking down. A strip of tape works, but a raised oche is better because it stops the creeping that happens over a long session.
On the foot fault rule: you must throw from behind the oche. You may stand to either side of it, but you must not step over the front edge of the line, and if you throw from off to one side you should still be behind an imaginary extension of that line. Leaning over is fine. Standing over is not.
Space, lighting and protecting your walls
You want a throwing area of at least 1.5 m wide by 3.35 m long, roughly 5 ft by 11 ft, so you can stand comfortably and walk to the board without obstruction.
Lighting matters more than most people expect. An overhead light casts your own shadow across the board at exactly the moment you are looking at it. A dedicated dartboard light or a lamp mounted above and in front of the board removes the shadow and, as a side effect, makes your scoring noticeably more consistent because you can actually see the wires.
Protect the wall with a surround, and protect the floor with a mat. Dropped darts bury themselves in laminate very effectively.
Dartboard measurements and scoring areas
Useful to know, both for understanding the target and for checking a board you are thinking of buying.
Feature | Size |
Overall playing surface diameter | 451 mm (17.75 in) |
Diameter to outer edge of the doubles | 340 mm |
Double and treble ring width | 8 mm each |
Outer bull (25) diameter | 31.8 mm |
Inner bull (50) diameter | 12.7 mm |
That 8 mm ring is worth sitting with for a moment. The treble 20 bed is roughly the size of a postage stamp, and it is 2.37 m away. Precision at that scale is not achieved by aiming harder. It is achieved by repeatable mechanics, which is a coaching problem rather than an equipment one.
Steel tip dart specifications
Under PDC and WDF rules, a dart must not exceed:
300 mm in overall length
50 grams in weight
Within those limits you have a lot of freedom. Most match darts sit between 20 g and 26 g, and the common starting point for a new player is 22 g to 24 g. Weight is stamped on the barrel and refers to the barrel alone on some brands and the full assembled dart on others, so check before you buy a second set expecting them to match.
Points, shafts and flights are all replaceable, and none of them are worth agonising over until your throw is repeatable. Change one variable at a time or you will never know what helped.
The rules of 501
The standard singles game, and the one every league runs on.
Starting. Both players throw one dart at the bull to decide who starts. Closest to the centre throws first. This is usually called bulling up, or diddle for the middle.
The game. Each player starts on 501 and throws three darts per turn. The score for the turn is subtracted from the running total. The aim is to reach exactly zero.
Scoring. The outer ring doubles the segment value, the inner ring trebles it. The outer bull is 25, the inner bull is 50. A dart only scores if its point is in the board when the turn ends, so a dart that bounces out or falls out scores nothing and cannot be re-thrown. Do not touch or remove any dart until the score has been called and agreed.
Finishing. You must finish on a double, and the bullseye counts as a double for this purpose since it is double 25. The highest possible finish from a single visit of three darts is 170, made up of treble 20, treble 20, bullseye.
Busting. If your throw takes you below two, exactly to one, or to zero without landing on a double, the turn is a bust. Your score reverts to what it was at the start of that turn, and any darts remaining in your hand are forfeited.
Match format. Matches are played over legs, and longer matches are grouped into sets, where a set is usually best of five legs. Your league will specify the format.
Common setup mistakes to avoid
Measuring the throwing distance from the wall instead of the face of the board
Measuring the height to the top of the board rather than the bullseye
Never running the diagonal check, so two small errors compound
Practising on a soft tip distance and then playing league on steel tip
Hanging the board where an overhead light throws your shadow onto it
Leaving the board in one position until the treble 20 is a crater
Frequently asked questions
How high should a dart board be?1.73 m, or 5 ft 8 in, measured from the floor to the centre of the bullseye. This is the same for steel tip and soft tip.
How far do you stand from a dart board?2.37 m, or 7 ft 9.25 in, measured from the face of the board to the back of the throw line, for steel tip darts. Soft tip is 2.44 m, or 8 ft.
What is the diagonal measurement for a dart board?2.93 m, or 9 ft 7.375 in, from the centre of the bullseye to the back of the oche. Use it to verify that your height and distance are both correct.
How heavy can a steel tip dart be?The maximum is 50 g under PDC and WDF rules, with a maximum length of 300 mm. Most players use 20 g to 26 g.
Can you step over the line in darts?No. You must throw from behind the oche. You may lean over the line, and you may stand to either side of it, but your foot must not cross the front edge.
Does a dart count if it falls out of the board?No. Only darts with the point in the board when the turn ends are scored, and a fallen or bounced dart cannot be thrown again.
Once the setup is right
A regulation setup removes the excuses, which is exactly the point. From here, progress comes from what you do on the oche rather than what is on the wall, and that means a repeatable stance, a consistent throw and a practice routine that targets your actual weaknesses rather than the ones that are fun to practise.
If you want that mapped out properly for your game, that is what I do at DartsMatt.
Once the setup is right
A regulation setup removes the excuses, which is exactly the point. Your board is at 1.73 m, your oche is at 2.37 m, your diagonal checks out and your darts are legal. From here, nothing on the wall is holding you back. Progress comes from what happens in the three seconds between lifting the dart and releasing it.
That is the part almost nobody works on properly. Most players practise the throws they already like, avoid the ones they do not, and mistake time at the board for improvement.
Work with me at DartsMatt
I coach players online, from league beginners to county level, and the work is always the same three things: a stance and throw you can repeat under pressure, a practice routine built around your actual weaknesses rather than your favourites, and a mental game that holds up when you are sat on a double with the match on it.
If you have got the setup right and want the rest of it right too, get in touch and we will look at your throw together.
