Dartboard height
and distance
The centre of the bull sits 5' 8" — 1.73 m — off the floor, on a bristle board and on an electronic one alike, and the throw is taken from 7' 9¼" in steel tip, 8' where the North American and Asian soft tip bodies play. Both distances run from the face of the board, never from the wall, and a tape from the bull down to the back of the oche reads 2.93 m in steel tip. World ParaDarts drops the centre to 1.37 m for wheelchair play, leaving the oche where it was.
Floor to the centre of the bull, board hung.
Horizontal, from the face of the board.
Bull centre to the back of the oche, at floor level.
The sisal board of clubs and of PDC and WDF competition.
Three setups, three sets of numbers
| Setup | Height | Distance | Diagonal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel tip | 5' 8" · 1.73 m | 7' 9¼" · 2.37 m | 9' 7½" · 2.93 m |
| Soft tip | 5' 8" · 1.73 m | 8' · 2.44 m | 2.99 m |
| Wheelchair | 4' 6" · 1.37 m | 7' 9¼" · 2.37 m | 9' · 2.74 m |
The height never changes. Sisal or electronic, it is 5' 8" from the floor to the centre of the bull. It is the distance that moves, because a plastic point leaves the hand more slowly and forgives less: you stand back three inches, at 8'.
That soft tip figure is not universal. It is what the North American and Asian bodies play — the NDA, DARTSLIVE, the WSDA. Germany, the largest soft tip country in Europe, moved its federation to 2.37 m in 2016. If you play abroad, ask before you stand.
The wheelchair height is a recognised standard, not an improvisation: the centre of the board comes down to 4' 6", 36 cm lower, and the oche stays at 7' 9¼". The figures come from World ParaDarts, recognised by the WDF, and it is an option the player chooses and declares when entering — not a height imposed on anyone.
The diagonal follows from the other two. It is 9' 7½" in steel tip — a figure written into the WDF and DRA rule books — and 2.99 m in soft tip, where the governing bodies publish 2.984 m of their own, slightly inconsistent with their own height and distance. It is not a third rule to satisfy; it is the check that catches what the other two cannot.
Measuring without fooling yourself
- Hang first, measure second. The centre of the bull — the red dot, not the middle of the panel or of the outer ring — has to land 5' 8" from the finished floor. If a mat or new boards are going down, measure from the floor you will actually stand on.
- The distance starts at the face of the board, the surface the darts stick into. Never the wall. A bristle board is about 40 mm thick and that thickness sits in front of the wall: measuring from the wall shortens your throw by an inch and a half, and nothing on the board tells you so.
- The regulation reads to the back of the oche, the player's side. WDF rule 6.02 and DRA rule 15.01 both measure 7' 9¼" from the back of the raised oche to a plumb line at the face of the board, so the oche itself sits inside the distance. Soft tip bodies measure to the front edge instead. With a strip of tape the difference is nothing; with a raised oche it is the width of the bar.
- Your foot stays behind the oche. Both rule books are explicit: no player shall tread on any part of the raised oche. Throwing from the side is allowed, as long as your feet stay behind an imaginary extension of the line.
- Check the diagonal. Run the tape from the centre of the bull to the back of the oche at floor level: 9' 7½" in steel tip. It is the only measurement that adds information the first two do not contain — it tells you whether your wall is plumb and your floor level.
- The 20 goes at the top, in the black segment, between the 5 and the 1. A board turned one segment round changes the whole game, and nobody works out why the scores look strange.
Check what you have hung
Take your measurements to the centimetre and compare them against the setup you picked above. The gap is signed: positive means the board is too high or the oche too far, negative means the opposite.
Enter your two measurements: the page works out what your tape should read along the diagonal, and comparing that to the tape is what tells you whether the wall is plumb.
No rule book sets a tolerance on these three measurements — the WDF publishes them on the board itself, down to a fifth of a millimetre, but not on where it hangs. In competition the measurements are the measurements. In practice, 1 cm either way is how you held the tape. Past three, the darts land at a different height and you start building a reference that will not travel to any other board.
What goes around the board
Clearance. Allow roughly a metre either side so two players can pass without knocking each other, and a metre behind the oche: you step back between visits without thinking about it, and a wall at your heels shortens the action.
Protecting the wall. Darts that bounce out do not all land on the floor, and the plaster around a board pits quickly. A foam surround covers the common misses; a wider cork or plywood panel also catches the high bounce-outs, the ones that leave after hitting a wire.
Light. The most neglected part, and the one that changes the most. A ceiling light behind you throws the shadow of your own hand across the board; a light straight on flattens the wires out of existence. Light goes above and slightly in front of the board, aimed at it — which is exactly what the lighting rings sold for it do.
The floor. A dart mat comes with the distances already marked, which saves measuring again the next time you move, and it stops points from bouncing. On a wooden floor it is either the mat or the marks.
The mistakes that put a board out
- Measuring from the wall. The most common one by far: it puts the oche an inch and a half too close, and skews every reference you build without ever showing itself.
- Hanging the board by eye. 5' 8" is above eye level for most adults — a person of 5 ft 9 in has their eyes at about 5 ft 4 in. Hang it at eye height and it ends up four inches too low.
- Measuring the height to the edge of the panel. It is the centre of the bull that counts, not the top of the ring or the middle of the cabinet.
- Pacing the distance out. Three long strides are not 7' 9¼", and no two people walk the same three strides.
- Reusing soft tip measurements for a sisal board. Three inches is enough to shift every reference you have when you move between them.
Board hung, oche marked — all that is missing is the scoring. The rules of darts explain how the points work, and the DartSync scorer keeps them while you throw — no sign-up, everyone on their own phone.
Frequently asked questions about setting up
How far do you stand from a dartboard?▼
7 ft 9¼ in — 2.37 m — for a steel tip sisal board, and 8 ft (2.44 m) for soft tip. The distance is measured horizontally from the face of the board, the surface the darts stick into, and never from the wall.
How high should a dartboard be?▼
The centre of the bull goes 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) off the floor. That height is the same for a sisal board and for an electronic one: only the throwing distance changes between them.
Can I measure the distance from the wall?▼
No, and it is the most common mistake there is. A bristle board is about 40 mm thick and that thickness sits in front of the wall, so measuring from the wall puts the oche an inch and a half too close — not too far. The surround and the bracket do not count either.
Is the distance measured to the front or the back of the oche?▼
To the back, the player's side, under WDF rule 6.02 and DRA rule 15.01: the raised oche sits inside the 2.37 m. Soft tip bodies measure to the front edge of the line instead. With a strip of tape the difference is negligible; with a raised bar it is the width of the bar.
How high is a dartboard for a wheelchair player?▼
The centre of the board comes down to 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m), 36 cm lower than standard, and the throwing distance stays at 7 ft 9¼ in. The figures come from World ParaDarts, recognised by the WDF, and the player chooses between the standard and the lowered height when entering.
What is the 9 ft 7½ in diagonal for?▼
It is a check rather than another rule: 9 ft 7½ in (2.93 m) is the distance from the centre of the bull to the back of the oche at floor level when the height and the distance are both right. If the tape does not read what your first two measurements predict, the wall leans or the floor slopes — it is the only measurement that can reveal that.
Is 8 ft the distance for every electronic board?▼
It is the figure of the North American and Asian bodies. The German federation, the largest soft tip organisation in Europe, moved to 2.37 m in 2016. Worth asking before you stand at an unfamiliar machine.
Should the height be lowered for children?▼
No rule book provides a junior height: the official measurements apply to everyone in competition. At home, lowering the board and moving the line closer makes the game playable sooner, as long as you know you have left the official measurements behind — the references built that way will not travel to a club board.
More questions? See the full FAQ