DartCounter Tournaments

Create and manage darts tournaments directly in DartCounter. Organise tournaments for players online or in the same location, choose your tournament format and customise how every match is played.

DartCounter keeps track of participants, matches, standings and tournament progress, so you can focus on the competition instead of managing brackets and results manually.

Whether you are organising an online tournament, a club competition, a pub night or a tournament with friends, you can build the competition around the way you want to play.

Online and local tournaments

DartCounter supports both online and local tournaments.

Both tournament type use the same core setup. You choose the number of participants, tournament format and game settings before starting the competition.

Online tournaments include additional options for managing players who are competing remotely. You can control access, require approval and set requirements such as camera, Omni scoring or a specific 3-dart average.

Local tournaments are designed for players competing in the same location and do not require these additional participation settings.

Online darts tournaments

Online tournaments allow players to compete from different locations.

Players can browse tournaments through the online tournament lobby, view the tournament details and join the ones that are open for registration.

As a host, you can determine how players enter your tournament and which requirements they need to meet. You can choose whether your tournament is Open or Private, and whether players Need approval or can join with No approval.

Online tournament can also include the following requirements:

• Camera required
• Omni scoring required
• Specific 3-dart average

These settings give hosts more control over the type of tournament they want to organise. For more information about playing remotely, read our guide to online play in DartCounter.

Local darts tournaments

Local tournaments are designed for players who are competing in the same place. Players can join a local tournament using a play code or by scanning a QR code shared by the host.

Because everyone is competing locally, settings such as Open or Private access, player approval and online requirements are not needed.

The tournament itself still uses the same core format and game settings as an online tournament.

Choose your tournament format

DartCounter offers three tournament formats.

Knockout

In a Knockout tournament, the loser of each match is eliminated and the winner progresses to the next round. The tournament continues until the final decides the winner. Knockout works well when you want a straightforward tournament structure and clear route towards the final.

Group (Round-Robin)

In a Round Robin tournament, players compete within a group and play several matches against other participants. This gives players more opportunities to play and allows results across multiple matches to determine the standings. It works particularly well for smaller groups, practice competitions and events where you want players to play more than one match.

Group & Knockout

Group and Knockout combines both structures. Players first compete in groups before progressing to a knockout stage. This gives participants multiple matches during the group stage while still finishing the tournament through elimination rounds. It is useful for larger or more structured competitions.

Choose the number of participants

When creating a tournament, you can choose the maximum number of participants. Available tournament sizes are:

• 4 players
• 8 players
• 16 players
• 32 players
• 64 players
• 128 players

The right size depends on the format, available time and number of players you expect to join. A Knockout tournament generally progresses more quickly, while Round-Robin and Group & Knockout formats involve more matches.

Customise your game settings

Tournament hosts can control how matches are played. DartCounter provides a range of game settings that can be adjusted when creating the tournament

Match format

Choose between:

• Best of
• First to

You can then choose whether the match is played in:

• Legs
• Sets

and select the number required.

Starting score

Choose from:

• 301
• 501
• 701
• Custom

Starting rules:

Choose between:

• Straight in
• Double in
• Master In

Straight in allows players to begin scoring immediately. Double in requires the player to hit a double before their score starts counting. Master in requires a double or treble.

Finishing rules

Choose between:

• Double out
• Master out
• Straight out

Double out requires the winning dart to land in a double. Master out allows either a double or treble, while straight out allows the player to finish with any scoring dart. For more information about finishing , visit our darts checkout guide.

Additional settings

Tournament hosts can customise matches further with additional settings, such as:

Checkout rate

Enable checkout rate when you want this setting to apply to tournament matches.

Two legs difference

You can require a two-leg difference before a player can win the match.

Apply game settings to all rounds

Game settings can be applied to all tournament rounds at once. This is useful when every stage of the tournament should use the same match format.

In-game timer

Set the amount of time a player has to throw their darts and enter their score during each turn.

Send scores immediately

Choose whether scores are sent immediately or with a short delay. Turn this setting on if you want scores to be sent straight away, or leave it off if you prefer a small delay before receiving the score.

Hosts can also choose whether scores are sent immediately during tournament matches.

Tournament dates and registration

Online tournaments include settings for scheduling when the competition takes place. You can set a start date, while DartCounter also shows the corresponding check-in time. You can also choose to have registration open at the specific date. This allows you to create and announce the tournament before players are able to register.

Players can then check when registration opens, when check-in begins and when the tournament starts.

Manage access

Online tournament hosts can choose between Open and Private access.

Both Open and Private tournaments can be discovered through the tournament lobby. Players can join an Open tournament directly from the lobby, while a Private tournament requires a code to join.

Hosts can also choose between:

• Needs approval
• No approval

When approval is required, the host can review players before allowing them into the tournament.

Set requirements for online players

Online tournaments can include additional participation requirements.

Camera required

Hosts can require participants to use a camera during their matches. This allows players to see each other's dartboard setup and provides greater transparency during online competition.

Omni required

A tournament can require players to use Omni. This makes it possible to create tournaments specifically for players using Target Omni.

Specific 3-dart average

Hosts can also set a specific 3-dart average requirement. This can be used to create tournaments aimed at players within a particular performance range.

Host and moderate your tournament

Creating an online tournament also makes you responsible for managing the competition.

The tournament host acts as a moderator and helps ensure that matches are played fairly and that participants follow the tournament rules.

Hosts can manage player participation and, when approval is enabled, decide which players can enter the tournament.

While the tournament is in progress, the host cannot play other online games in DartCounter. As host and moderator, you remain responsible for managing the tournament until it has finished.

DartCounter keeps the tournament structure organised while the host oversees the competition itself.

Join and follow online tournaments

Players can find online competitions through the Online Tournaments section. The tournament overview includes three areas:

• Lobby
• Participating
• Live

Tournament cards can show information such as the match format, starting score, tournament structure, number of players, date, start time, check-in time and participation requirements.

This allows players to understand the tournament before deciding whether to join.

While you are still participating in an online tournament, you cannot play other online games in DartCounter. Once you have been eliminated from the tournament, you can return to regular online play.

Follow tournament progress

Once a tournament begins, DartCounter keeps track of the competition. Depending on the chosen format, this can include:

• participant lists
• match results
• group standings
• player averages
• knockout progression
• tournament winners

In Group (Round-Robin) and Groups & Knockout tournaments, players can follow how the group stage develops before the tournament moves into later rounds. In Knockout tournaments, winners continue through the bracket until the final. This removes much of the manual work normally involved in updating tournament brackets and results.

Which format should you choose?

Choose Knockout when you want a simple competition in which every loss eliminates a player.

Choose Group (Round-Robin) when you want players to compete in multiple matches and build standings across a group.

Choose Groups & Knockout when you want the playing time of a group stage combined with the competitive finish of knockout rounds.

The best option depends on the number of players, how much time is available and how many matches you want participants to play.

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