Bocce Ball Rules

How to Play Bocce Ball

The Basics

Bocce is played with eight large balls and one smaller target ball called the pallino.

Each team gets four balls.
Each team’s balls are a different color or pattern so you can tell them apart.

The game is played with two teams. Each team can have one, two, or four players:

4-player teams: each player throws 1 ball
2-player teams: each player throws 2 balls
1-player teams: each player throws all 4 balls

When there are multiple players per team, decide a throwing order at the start of the game and keep that same rotation for the entire game.

Starting the Game

Flip a coin to see which team starts.
The winning team chooses to either:
- Throw the first pallino, or
- Choose the color of Bocce balls they want to use.
To start the frame, a player from the starting team rolls or tosses the pallino:
- It must pass the center line of the court.
- It must stay within the court boundaries.
If the pallino is not properly put into play (too short or out of bounds):
- A player from the opposing team attempts to throw it into play.
- If they also fail, the toss returns to the original team until the pallino is in play.

Throwing the Bocce Balls

The player who threw the pallino also throws the first Bocce ball.

If that first ball lands out of bounds, that team continues rolling until one ball is in play.

Once the first ball is in play:

The opposing team throws until:
- One of their balls is closer to the pallino than the other team’s closest ball, or
- They have thrown all of their balls.

This uses the “nearest ball” rule:

The team with the ball closest to the pallino is “in”.
The other team is “out” and must continue throwing until:
- They get a ball closer (not tied) to the pallino, or
- They run out of balls.

Teams alternate being in and out based on who is closest. Play continues until all eight balls have been thrown. Once all balls are thrown, the frame is over and scoring begins.

For the next frame:

Teams throw from the opposite end of the court.
The team that scored points in the previous frame throws the pallino to start the new frame.

Throwing Style & Foul Line

All balls must be thrown underhand.
You can roll, toss, or bounce the ball as long as:
- It stays inside the court boundaries, and
- You do not cross the foul line before releasing the ball.

Foul Line Rule

A player should not step on or over the foul line before releasing the ball.
First offense: the player receives a warning.
Second offense:
- The non-offending team is awarded points based on the score immediately before the foul.
- The frame ends, and the fouling team receives no points.
- The non-offending team may choose to decline the penalty and complete the frame instead.

Out of Bounds & Dead Balls

Any ball that goes outside the court boundaries becomes a dead ball and is removed from play for the rest of that frame.
If the pallino is knocked out of bounds:
- The frame ends immediately.
- No points are awarded.
- A new frame begins with a fresh pallino toss.

Bocce Ball Scoring

Scoring Rules

At the end of each frame, points are awarded.
Only one team scores in a frame.
The scoring team earns 1 point for each ball that is closer to the pallino than the closest ball of the opposing team.
If the closest ball from each team is exactly the same distance from the pallino:
- No points are awarded.
- The pallino returns to the team that originally delivered it for the next frame.
Only balls that are clearly closer to the pallino than any of the opponent's balls earn points.
Measurements should be taken from the center of the pallino to the edge of the Bocce ball.
Games are played to 16 points. The first team to reach 16 points wins.

Scoring Examples

Result 1

The white team has the closest two balls to the pallino.
White team scores 2 points.
Brown team scores 0 points.
Other balls on the court do not affect the score.

Result 2

The white team has the closest ball to the pallino.
The next closest ball belongs to the brown team.
White team scores 1 point.
Brown scores 0 points, but their ball acts as defense, blocking white from earning additional points.
Other balls do not affect the score.