Dartboard Height and Distance: The Regulation Setup

Setup · Board and oche · Updated 2026-08-04

Hang the bull 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) from the floor and mark the throw line 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m) from the face of the board. Those two numbers are the whole answer for a steel-tip setup, and they are the same measurements the PDC and WDF use on every professional stage. Soft-tip players keep the same bull height but stand at 8 ft (2.44 m).

The rest of this guide covers everything the headline numbers do not: the full measurement table in feet, metres and centimetres, the diagonal check that catches errors from sloping floors and leaning walls, a step-by-step hanging guide, the space and lighting a board needs, and the one measuring mistake that quietly ruins more home setups than any other.

Every regulation measurement

Four measurements define a regulation darts setup, all fixed by the sport's governing bodies rather than by pub folklore. Two of them you will use with a tape in hand: the bull height and the throw distance. The other two exist to keep you honest: the soft-tip distance for electronic boards, and the diagonal, which cross-checks the first two in a single pull of the tape. All horizontal distances are measured from the face of the board, never from the wall behind it.

Note where each measurement starts and ends. The bull height runs from the floor to the centre of the bull, not to the top of the board. The throw distances run from the front surface of the board to the oche, the line or raised bar you throw from behind. A bristle board on its bracket stands roughly 1.5 in proud of the wall, which is exactly why the face, not the wall, is the reference point.

Why the diagonal measurement exists

The diagonal is not a third independent rule; it is a built-in error check. Bull height, throw distance and the diagonal form a right triangle: the height is the vertical leg, the throw distance is the horizontal leg, and the 9 ft 7.5 in (2.93 m) diagonal is the hypotenuse. If the bull really is at 5 ft 8 in and the oche really is at 7 ft 9.25 in, then the tape run from the centre of the bull to the back of the oche must read 9 ft 7.5 in. If it does not, one of the first two measurements is wrong.

The diagonal earns its keep in imperfect rooms. A garage floor that slopes toward a drain, a skirting board that pushes the tape off line, an old wall that leans a degree or two: any of these can corrupt the two straight measurements without you noticing. The diagonal is a single straight line through the air from bull to oche, so it ignores all of them. Measure the height and the distance, confirm with the diagonal, and the setup is proven.

How to hang a dartboard step by step

1. Pick the wall: Choose a solid wall with nothing breakable to either side and no door that swings through the throwing lane. You need about 5 ft of clear width centred on the board and about 11 ft of depth so the thrower has room to stand and swing behind the oche. Misses will happen, so avoid spots where a stray dart meets brick, tile or a window frame.
2. Mark the bull height: Measure 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) up from the floor and make a pencil mark. This is the height of the centre of the bull, not the top of the board. Most bristle boards hang from a centre screw that hooks into a wall bracket, so the bracket goes at exactly this mark.
3. Hang the board flush, 20 at the top: Fit the centre screw to the back of the board, hook it into the bracket, and rotate the board until the 20 segment sits at the top. Clockwise from the 20 the numbers should run 1, 18, 4, 13 and onward. Check the board sits flush against the wall and does not rock; stick-on felt pads at the edges cure a wobble.
4. Measure the throw line from the board face: Hang a plumb line (a string and any small weight) from the face of the board and mark where it meets the floor. From that mark, measure 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m) along the floor for steel tip, or 8 ft (2.44 m) for soft tip. Measuring from the wall is the classic error; the board's thickness would leave you standing too close.
5. Confirm with the diagonal: Run the tape from the centre of the bull straight through the air to the back edge of the throw line. It should read 9 ft 7.5 in (2.93 m). If it is off, recheck the bull height first; it is the measurement most often taken to the wrong point.
6. Fix the oche: Mark the line with heavy tape, a dart mat with a printed oche, or a raised oche bar. You throw from behind the line: your toes may touch it but not cross it, and leaning over it is fine as long as both feet stay behind.

Steel tip vs soft tip: what changes

The bull height never changes: 5 ft 8 in for both codes. The only measurement that moves is the throw line. Steel-tip darts, the bristle-board game played in PDC and WDF competition, uses 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m). Soft-tip darts, the electronic-board game that grew out of American and Japanese leagues, uses 8 ft (2.44 m). The longer distance is written into soft-tip league rules rather than being a matter of taste, so if you play both codes, mark both lines; a gap of just under 3 in is enough to change how a throw lands.

• Same bull height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) for steel tip and soft tip alike.
• Different oche: 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m) for steel tip, 8 ft (2.44 m) for soft tip.
• Same measuring rule: both distances run from the face of the board to the oche. The 9 ft 7.5 in diagonal check is defined for the steel-tip setup.

Ceiling height, room size and lighting

A dartboard asks less of a room than most people fear. Vertically, a standard 8 ft ceiling clears the board with ease. What the game really needs is depth. Budget about 11 ft from the wall: 7 ft 9.25 in to the oche, plus a couple of feet for the thrower's stance and follow-through. Width is easier; about 5 ft of clear wall, centred on the board, keeps wild darts away from picture frames and light switches.

• Light the board from above or in front, angled down at the face, so the wire spider casts no shadows into the scoring beds.
• Avoid relying on a ceiling light behind the thrower; it throws your own silhouette onto the board.
• Purpose-made surround lights that ring the board give shadow-free coverage, but two angled spotlights do much the same job.

Protect the wall and the floor

Every board eventually shares its wall with a halo of dart holes, so protect the surface before the first throw rather than after. A foam or EVA surround ring slips around the board and swallows most misses, and it also quiets the thud that travels through a shared wall. A cabinet does the same job while hiding the board between sessions and adding storage for your darts. Think about the floor too: a steel point that bounces out falls tip-first, and hardwood remembers every landing. A dart mat solves that, and most mats have the oche distances printed on them.

Tournament standards: WDF and PDC

These are not house rules; they are the sport's rules. The WDF and the PDC both specify the same setup used throughout this guide: bull at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m), steel-tip oche at 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m), diagonal of 9 ft 7.5 in (2.93 m). Every televised stage, county fixture and sanctioned league night is built to those numbers. That consistency is the practical argument for measuring carefully at home: a throw grooved at the wrong distance has to be relearned the moment you step up to a properly hung board.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the regulation height of a dartboard?

The centre of the bull sits 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) from the floor. The same height applies to steel-tip and soft-tip boards.

How far away do you stand from a dartboard?

For steel-tip darts the oche is 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m) from the face of the board. For soft-tip darts it is 8 ft (2.44 m). Both are measured from the board face, not from the wall behind it.

What is the diagonal dartboard measurement for?

The diagonal runs 9 ft 7.5 in (2.93 m) from the centre of the bull to the back of the oche. Because it depends on both the bull height and the throw distance, one tape check verifies the whole setup, even on a sloping floor or a leaning wall.

Do you measure the dartboard distance from the wall or the board?

Always from the face of the board. A hung board projects roughly 1.5 in from the wall, so measuring from the wall leaves you standing too close.

Keep reading

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