Volleyball / Law 18
Intervals and changing courts
FIVB · 2025–2028In short
Time between sets and the change of ends in the deciding set.
Rule 18 — Between sets
Intervals normally last 3 minutes and allow teams to change courts and register the next starting line-ups. At the organizer’s request, the competent authority may extend the interval between the second and third sets to as much as 10 minutes. Teams change courts after each set, with the deciding set governed by its own procedure.
Rule 18 — During the deciding set
When the leading team reaches 8 points in the deciding set, teams change courts without delay while keeping their player positions. This change is not an interval. If officials miss the moment, the change happens as soon as the mistake is noticed and the current score stands. There is no replay of points solely because the change occurred late.
Independent explanations and translations, not official federation publications. Based on the supplied FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025–2028. These are indoor volleyball rules; beach volleyball and separate competition or video-challenge regulations are not included. References use physical PDF pages, which are 2 ahead of the printed page numbers.
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