Dart Board Height and Distance Explained

A regulation dart board is hung so the centre of the bullseye is exactly 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) above the floor. The throwing line, called the oche, sits 7 feet 9.25 inches (2.37 m) back, measured flat along the floor from the face of the board. Get those two numbers right and everything else about your setup falls into place.

Both figures come from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the World Darts Federation (WDF), the bodies that run the professional and amateur game. They are the same in a pub, a league hall or a world final. Below is the full setup, a quick-reference table, and the differences you will hit with soft-tip boards.

The two numbers that matter

Everything starts with the bullseye, not the edge of the board. Measure to the centre of the bull and set it at 5 feet 8 inches. Then measure the throwing distance horizontally along the floor, not on a slant, from the point directly below the board’s face.

• Board height: centre of the bullseye 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) from the floor.
• Throwing distance (oche): 7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m), measured flat from the face of the board.
• Diagonal check: 9 ft 7.5 in (2.93 m) from the bull to the oche, used to confirm both other measurements.

The oche is the line you cannot step over while throwing. You can lean across it, but a foot on or beyond the line means the throw does not count in match play.

Full setup measurements

Here is the standard steel-tip setup in both imperial and metric, plus the soft-tip variation used on electronic boards.

Measurement	Steel-tip (PDC/WDF)	Soft-tip (electronic)
Bullseye height from floor	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Throwing distance (oche)	7 ft 9.25 in (2.37 m)	8 ft 0 in (2.44 m)
Diagonal (bull to oche)	9 ft 7.5 in (2.93 m)	9 ft 9.5 in (2.98 m)
Board diameter	18 in (45.72 cm)	15.5 in (typical)

The height never changes between the two formats. The main difference is the throwing line, which sits a few inches further back for soft-tip play. That small gap is why players who switch between formats sometimes feel their range is slightly off for a game or two.

How to hang the board correctly

Measure to the bull first, mark the wall, then set the bracket so the finished board lands on that mark. A common mistake is measuring to the top of the board or to the number ring, which leaves the bull too high or too low. If you are new to the whole setup, our guide on how to play darts walks through scoring and stance once the board is up.

For the oche, drop a plumb line or lay a straightedge from the face of the board straight down to the floor, then measure back from that point. Measuring from the wall instead of the board face adds the depth of the board and cabinet, which throws the distance off by an inch or more.

Once both are set, use the 9 ft 7.5 in diagonal as a final check. Run a tape from the centre of the bull down to the throwing line. If it reads 9 ft 7.5 in, your height and distance are both correct. If it does not, one of them is off.

Why the standard exists

The 5 ft 8 in height traces back to the early 20th-century British pub game, where the number roughly matched eye level for the average adult player of the day. The 7 ft 9.25 in distance is the metric conversion settling point of 2.37 metres, which is why the imperial figure has that odd quarter-inch on the end.

Standardising both meant a player could practise at home and walk into any venue with the same muscle memory. That consistency is the whole point: the throw you groove in your garage should work in a tournament. It is the same logic behind the fixed cricket darts scoring board, where every player attacks the same numbers from the same spot.

Common setup mistakes

The two errors that ruin a setup are measuring to the wrong point on the board and measuring the oche on a slant. Both are easy to avoid once you know to measure to the bull and to measure the floor distance flat.

Lighting matters too. A board lit from directly above or with a purpose-made surround throws even light across the face and kills the shadows cast by the wire, which otherwise hide part of the double and treble beds. None of that changes the two core numbers, but it changes how well you can aim at them.

Floor markings are the last piece people forget. In a proper setup the oche is a raised strip or a clearly taped line, not a rough guess, because a throw with a foot over the line does not count in league or tournament play. If you are marking a home setup, tape the line at exactly 7 ft 9.25 in and make it wide enough to see from your stance. Once your board is dialled in, the rest is practice, which is where our tips on the best ways to throw darts come in, and where the greatest darts players separate themselves.

The short version: bull at 5 ft 8 in, oche at 7 ft 9.25 in for steel-tip or 8 ft for soft-tip, and a 9 ft 7.5 in diagonal to confirm you got both right.