The official rules of Bufferball

Configuration & sizing of the playing field

1. Occupied zones are always sixteen feet (16′) deep and as wide as the appropriate number of players.
2. The buffer zone is twenty feet (20′) across and as wide as the appropriate occupied zones. In highly competitive Bufferball the buffer zone increases to twenty-five feet (25′).
3. The width of the occupied zones depends on how many players are on each team:
   • 2 person — twenty-four feet (24′) wide
   • 3 person — thirty feet (30′) wide
   • 4 person — thirty-six feet (36′) wide

Buffer zone depth (the distance from one occupied zone to the other) can be adjusted for ages and skill levels:

• Normal play for novice and beginner adults — twenty feet (20′).
• Beginner or younger players — adjust to whatever distance is needed to make it playable.
• Expert, active and hard-hitting players — twenty-five feet (25′).

Note: During fun play, teams can have as many people as they want in a zone. The recommended sizes and team numbers are for competitive play only. Most of the play happens close to the middle of the occupied zone, so with too many players on a team, some will not play the ball as often as others.

Definitions

Occupied zone

The area one team resides in and protects the ball from falling into.

Buffer zone

The area between the two occupied zones.

Offensive play

A play/hit that travels, in the air, from one team’s occupied zone to the other team’s occupied zone.

Continued play

Play/hits after the initial serve that lead to a point.

Targeting play

A play/hit made by one team on another team’s player in the buffer zone — also known as playing the Stokos.

Stokos

Any player, permanently or temporarily, in the buffer zone during a game.

Dyo

A two-point continued play started by the Stokos making the initial play/hit from the opposing team.

Occupation

A player in any zone with two feet inside that zone (buffer or occupied) who starts a play/hit with both feet in that defined zone. Feet cannot be on the boundary line.

General rules

1. Bufferball is played in three zones — two occupied zones on either end, held by two opposing teams, and a buffer zone in between. Players may play freely inside their own occupied zone and the buffer zone. Players may not play a ball inside the opposing team’s occupied zone.
2. Two to four players can play a standard game. One additional player can join a team during permanent Stokos play.
3. Boundary lines (in or out): during play, balls landing on any part of the boundary lines are “in” and valid. Players may have a foot on a line, or be outside the lines, while making a play — except on an offensive play into the opposing occupied zone. On an offensive play, a foot on or over your zone boundary makes the hit invalid; your feet must start inside your zone. Jumping out of your zone to make an offensive hit is valid as long as your feet did not touch the ground until the play was complete. This applies to one-hand tips and two-handed sets/pushes; full-force spiking is the exception.
4. Number of hits: each team gets up to four plays/hits to send the ball into the opposing team’s zone. An offensive play into the other team’s occupied zone must come from within your own occupied zone. A direct hit from the buffer zone or out-of-bounds into the opposing zone is not allowed.

Spike exception: when completing a full wind-up spike with full force into the opposing zone, the player’s feet must, after the hit and landing, end up inside their own occupied zone.

Playing / hitting the ball

Playing the ball is similar to other volley games — the ball must bounce, ricochet, or rebound off the body, whether hands, feet, or any other body part. Legal ways to play the ball:

• Hands together below the shoulders.
• Two hands separated at or above the elbows — “setting” the ball.
• One hand, open or closed fist.
• A foot, legs, or head.
• A ball that goes off any part of the body or ricochets counts as one play/hit.

Illegal play/hits:

• A play below the height of the elbows with hands apart where the ball hits both hands separately.
• Any ball that is lifted or held in the hand and directed.

Serving the ball

1. The opening serve is decided by any means the teams agree on (hint: serving first may not be an advantage). In later games, the previous game’s winner serves first. During a game, the team that won the last point serves next. Each time a team earns a serve, a different player serves, keeping the same order all game. Serving out of order is a loss of serve and a point for the other team. A serving team that wins the point keeps serving with the same player until the point is lost.
2. Serves must be made by hand, underhand, and must rise above the server and the tallest player on the opposing team. If there’s any question that a serve wasn’t high enough and it lands in the opposing zone, a re-serve is granted; if the re-serve also fails to land in the opposing zone, the point and serve go to the other team. No low serves — just get it over there. Serving high and deep keeps the ball away from the Stokos.
3. Players serve from any spot behind their occupied zone and may not step on or over the rear boundary line. There are no rotations or set positions. Serving out of order is a point for the opposing team but not a loss of serve — the correct server then serves.
4. The receiving team may have one player in the buffer zone (the Stokos) at the time of service. Other players may not enter the buffer zone until the serve leaves the server’s hand. After receiving the serve, the receiving team may not make an offensive play until its second play/hit; after that, one play/hit is enough to return the ball.
5. If the receiving team has a Stokos (two feet in the buffer zone) who plays the serve without stepping into their occupied zone, the continued play becomes a “Dyo” worth two points to the team that wins it. If the Stokos has to step into their occupied zone, or onto its line, it’s worth one point. This is why high, long serves matter.

Active play — after the serve

1. Once the serve is in the air, each team may have players in their occupied zone, the buffer zone, or out-of-bounds — wherever needed to make a play. An offensive play into the other team’s zone can only come from your own occupied zone, with both feet inside and no foot on a boundary line.
2. If a player enters and occupies the buffer zone (two feet), they become a target — a Stokos — for the other team.
3. Each team has a maximum of four plays/hits to move the ball to the opposing zone. The offensive play must come from a player fully occupying their zone (two feet inside, within the boundary lines). A foot on or over any boundary line during an offensive play gives the point to the opposing team. Leading up to that offensive play, players may be out-of-bounds or in the buffer zone.
4. A player may jump over a boundary line to complete an offensive play, as long as the hit is finished before the feet touch the ground. The Stokos may do the same when entering their occupied zone. This applies to one-hand tips and two-handed sets/pushes; full-force spiking is the exception (the spiker’s feet must land inside their own zone).
5. A play from out-of-bounds or the buffer zone directly into the opposing team’s zone is invalid — play stops and the point goes to the opposing team.

Buffer zone play

1. A player occupying the buffer zone is a target, or Stokos. The opposing team can direct the ball at the Stokos; if it hits them, or if the Stokos makes the initial play directly off the opposing team’s offensive play, a two-point Dyo is in play.
2. At service, the receiving team may have one Stokos in the buffer zone; the serving team may not have a player there until the serve leaves the server’s hand. After the serve, players are free to play in the occupied zone, buffer zone, or out-of-bounds — but remember, they are a Stokos whenever they’re not in their occupied zone.
3. No player in the buffer zone may interfere with the opposing team’s four-hit continued play. Interference — hitting or blocking, on purpose or by accident — loses the play and gives the point to the opposing team. A defensive player may play a ball in the buffer zone only when no opposing player is attempting to play it, or when it’s needed (for example, the ball may land on their line) — the ball must go back into their own zone to continue play.
4. Players may not play the ball into the opposing occupied zone while in the buffer zone. All offensive plays must come from your own occupied zone.

Scoring

1. Games are played to 11, 15, or 21 points, and a team must win by two. Bufferball allows one- or two-point plays; two-point plays are called a “Dyo” (pronounced “deo”).
2. Single points are scored when:
   • the ball drops to the ground in a team’s occupied zone (opposing team scores);
   • a team makes more than four successive plays/hits (opposing team scores);
   • the ball lands in the buffer zone or out-of-bounds after a team hits it (opposing team scores);
   • an illegal play/hit occurs — a two-handed hit, interference, and so on (opposing team scores).
3. A Dyo (a two-point opportunity) starts with a play from or on a Stokos in the buffer zone. A team can use its offensive play to hit the Stokos (a targeting play). If the Stokos is hit and the ball falls without their team playing it, that team scores the Dyo — two points. If the ball ricochets off the Stokos and can be played, the rally continues, and the team that wins it scores the Dyo.
4. A Dyo can also open a second way: if the Stokos makes the first play/hit after the opposing team’s offensive play — touching, tipping, or playing it to teammates while both feet are in the buffer zone or out-of-bounds (never in their occupied zone). A Dyo is announced and normal play resumes; the winner scores two points. This is valid on serves too, so servers must avoid the opposing Stokos.
5. Teams switch sides (occupied zones) after each game when playing more than one.

Permanent Stokos play

1. Any competition of 2–4 players can add a permanent Stokos. This player joins a team and stays in the buffer zone for the whole game and does not serve. They may only play balls in the buffer zone (two feet in) or out-of-bounds, trying to put the ball back into their team’s zone for a valid offensive play.
2. The permanent Stokos may not play the ball while in their own occupied zone. They may cross boundary lines during play but only play from the buffer zone or out-of-bounds, and may not interfere with the opposing team’s continued four-hit play. They remain a target all game, and Stokos scoring applies.
3. During permanent Stokos play, other players may enter the buffer zone and out-of-bounds to make plays — but they too are a Stokos while there. Only the designated permanent Stokos may never play in the team’s occupied zone; everyone else can move freely back into theirs.
4. A Stokos may not play a ball with a foot on any line — only from the buffer zone or out-of-bounds, and only to their own team. A Stokos may never make an offensive play.

Revised 06/17/2026.