Hang it at the wrong height and every game is slightly off. Here are the exact regulation measurements — the same ones used in professional steel-tip darts.
Score your first game →Steel-tip darts has one universal setup, agreed by the world governing bodies. Get these three numbers right — board height, throwing distance and the diagonal — and your board plays exactly like the one on television.
| Measurement | Metric | Imperial |
|---|---|---|
| Centre of bullseye to floor | 1.73 m | 5 ft 8 in |
| Oche (throw line) to face of board — horizontal | 2.37 m | 7 ft 9¼ in |
| Diagonal — bullseye to the oche | 2.93 m | 9 ft 7⅜ in |
The diagonal is the clever check. Because it's fixed by the other two numbers, running a tape from the centre of the bull to the throw line and getting 2.93 m confirms both the height and the distance are right in one measurement. If the diagonal is off, something else is too.
| Part | Size |
|---|---|
| Overall playing diameter (double to double) | 451 mm (17.75 in) |
| Inner bull (50) | 12.7 mm diameter |
| Outer bull (25) | 31.8 mm diameter |
| Double & treble ring (scoring width) | 8 mm |
The thin double and treble rings are only about 8 mm wide — which is exactly why treble 20 is such a prized, difficult target.
Reading clockwise from 20 at the top, the numbers run:
20 · 1 · 18 · 4 · 13 · 6 · 10 · 15 · 2 · 17 · 3 · 19 · 7 · 16 · 8 · 11 · 14 · 9 · 12 · 5
The layout isn't random. It's credited to carpenter Brian Gamlin in 1896, and it's designed to punish inaccuracy: the big numbers are flanked by small ones. Miss the 20 and you hit 1 or 5; miss the 19 and you hit 3 or 7. It rewards precision and stops wild throwing from paying off.