Airsoft Game Rules

Airsoft Game Rules

Protection
All participants MUST wear eye protection! Mouth protection is recommended. Ideally all Airsoft players should have full face masks, long sleeve shirts, full pants, and gloves whenever they play Airsoft. If you plan on playing at any professional paintball/airsoft locales then you will have to have a full face mask. This is for legal/insurance reasons and cannot be avoided. It's strongly recommended that anyone that continues to be a problem in terms of wearing eye protection during games be banned from playing with your group. Nobody wants to be responsible for shooting someone's eye out. If you need to clear your mask because of fogging or some similar problem then crouch/lay on the ground with your face as close as possible to the ground and quickly clean your goggles.

If you are struck by an airsoft BB then you are hit and for purposes of the game are considered "killed". This means that you are out of the current game unless you are using special rules (see below). Most times when you are "killed" in a game you have to go to a safe-zone where you wait for the next game to begin. Hits to your weapon do not kill you. If you think that you might have been hit but aren't sure then you ARE hit and you should call yourself out immediately. This eliminates silly arguments during a game. Whenever you are hit during a game you must announce loud and clear, "HIT!" and then walk to the designated safe-zone with your weapon held high over your head with both hands. Be sure to keep your hands and weapon in the air so you aren't mistaken for a player that is still in the game. A player that repeatedly causes problems with calling himself out should not be allowed to play any more.

A Special Note: Eventually everyone is going to experience getting shot after they have called themselves out for a game. The #1 reason people get shot after they are out is because they don't readily identify themselves as being hit. If you don't want to get shot after you call out then be sure to do the following:

LOUDLY call out "Hit!";
Immediately stand straight up (If you weren't already) and hold your weapon above your head with both hands;

Begin walking towards the designated safe zone ASAP. If you follow these simple steps then you will greatly reduce (although not completely eliminate) getting shot after you call out;

Another method that an airsofting club or event organiser can arrange is for the use of red rags. When a player is hit, he or she should then immediately pull out a red rag and wave it around, places it over his head, or otherwises display it. This indicates that this person is now dead. This method greatly reduces the number of arguments and buised egoes brought about by people getting shot after they have already been hit. Many airsoft organizations are now beginning to use this method, such as Mike Force Airsoft.

Whistle signals
Some scenarios or fields use whistles to signal game on/off conditions. A common format is:

1 whistle = start game.

2 whistles = end game. All players stop shooting and head for the staging area.

Normally a game ends in one of three ways, depending on the scenario.

The time limit for the game expires

Only one team or player remains

Scenario Objectives have been completed

3 whistles = pause game. All players stop shooting, put their guns down and stay where they are. This is the whistle signal normally used when a non-player has entered the field.

Minimum engagement distance
A minimum engagement distance is normally established. Before firing at anyone within 10 feet or 3 meters, the attacking player must first call for surrender and the defending player must answer immediately. He cannot find cover and then answer. If a player fires from within the established distance without calling for surrender, that player is disqualified from the game and the kill does not count. If a player refuses to surrender (not encouraged to) then both players may fire. In most instances, if a player is taken by surprise, he should surrender as an act of good faith.

Sniper rifles have a minimum engagement distance that can go from 14 to 40 meters (46 ft to 131 ft) minimum range, depending of the BB weight/velocity used. This is both for safety (due to upgraded power) as well as to increase realism. Under this range, snipers must use alternate weapons (backups).

Optional Airsoft rules
The following rules are optional ones that you may or may not want to use in your Airsoft games.

Medics
One player on each team can be designated as a medic and this person has the ability to "resurrect" players once during a game, allowing them to return to play. When using medics in your Airsoft games it's important to remember to stay lying on the ground where you were "killed". The medic has to get to you and touch you in order for you to be "resurrected". If you are standing in or on unsafe terrain such as water, mud, broken glass, etc. then you are allowed to lie down near where you were hit so that you don't hurt or endanger yourself.

Multiple lives
Sometimes it's beneficial to allow players more than 1 life when playing games. This allows a larger variety of scenarios to be played with fewer players present. For instance a few players with 2 lives each could be defending a bunker/structure from 6 or more attackers that have only 1 life each for the game. This allows the defenders to stay in the game longer. When a player that has multiple lives gets hit he calls himself out as normal but instead of just saying "hit!" he should say "first hit!". This lets everyone know that he isn't dead yet. This player now has 30 seconds that he cannot shoot or be shot at. Any shots at this player at this time do not count. The player can use this time to get to better cover but he cannot use it to run towards an attacker and he is only allowed to get behind the nearest cover available to him. This prevents unusual situations from occurring where a player with multiple lives gets hit and during his 30 seconds decides to run directly towards his attackers and to use cover behind them, etc.

Damageable weapons
Some people prefer to play that if a weapon is struck it cannot be used for the rest of the game. This prevents people from pointing just their weapon around a corner and firing blindly, which can be VERY dangerous to those playing the game. Obviously, if a player that only has a single Airsoft weapon gets his weapon hit then he is considered "killed" because he has no further use in the game.

Locational damage
If you are playing with people that you trust (i.e. good friends) then you may want to try this slightly more involved system for damage. Instead of a player being considered "killed" if he is hit anywhere on the body this optional rule allows players to remain playing in a 'crippled' capacity as long as they aren't hit in a Vital region. Hits to the Head, Neck, Chest, Stomach, or back are considered vital areas and you are "killed" as normal if you are hit in one of these areas. Hits to the arms or legs force you to not be able to use them until the end of the current game. A second hit to an already damaged arm or leg means you are considered "killed" as normal. A hit limb CANNOT BE USED FOR ANYTHING AT ALL. This means that if your leg is hit you must hop or crawl, if your arm is hit you aren't allowed to brace yourself on it, open doors with it, hold your gun with it, etc. It must hag limp or be tucked against your body. You can see why this rule can only really be used with friends that you trust because it's very difficult to enforce.

No head hits
Some groups play that head hits don't count in order to discourage players from shooting at each others faces. This is mostly for safety reasons.

Ammunition
In Some cases groups can decide to use only fully biodegradable ammunition. This is due to concerns for the environment or by the owners of the field.

Also related with ammunition, airsoft groups may restrict the use of magazines to standard capacity (LOWCAPS) in order to have a more realistic BB quantity in game.