How badminton scoring works

The badminton scoring system is simple: every rally wins a point for whoever wins it, a game goes to 21 points, and a match is the best of three games. At 20-all you must win by two; at 29-all the next point wins, so no game goes past 30. The winner of each rally serves the next one, from the right service court when their score is even and the left when it's odd.

That's the 21-point rally scoring in the BWF Laws of Badminton (Law 7) until 3 January 2027. From 4 January 2027 the Laws switch to games of 15, and 21-point games stay as an approved alternative. Both are below, and the simulator handles both.

Try it: badminton score simulator

Click who wins each rally. The simulator applies the badminton scoring rules as you go: who serves, from which court, intervals, deuce, the cap, change of ends and who serves first in the next game. Use Jump to 20-all to see deuce in action.

Badminton 21 point scoring system, step by step

1. Every rally scores. It doesn't matter who served: win the rally, add a point (Law 7.3).
2. The rally winner serves next. If the server wins, they keep serving. If the receiver wins, they score and take over the serve (Laws 10 and 11).
3. Even right, odd left. The server serves from the right service court when their score is 0, 2, 4…, and from the left on 1, 3, 5…
4. First to 21 wins the game, as long as they lead by two.
5. Best of three games. Win two games and the match is yours.

Because every rally counts, a game of 21 takes somewhere between 21 rallies (a whitewash, 21–0) and 59 rallies (30–29). Keeping track by hand at club night? The free badminton score keeper does the server and court logic for you, and the printable score sheet is there for tournaments.

Badminton deuce rules: 20-all and the 30-point cap

When the score reaches 20-all, the game continues until one side leads by two points (Law 7.4): 22–20, 23–21, 24–22 and so on. Players often call this “deuce” or “setting”, though the Laws don't use either word.

The game can't go on forever: if it reaches 29-all, the side that scores the 30th point wins (Law 7.5). So 30–29 is the longest possible game, and the only way to win a game by one point.

Who serves first, and after winning a game?

At the start of the match a toss (usually a spun shuttle or coin) decides who chooses to serve or receive first, or which end to start at; the loser of the toss picks from what's left (Law 6). After that, the side that wins a game serves first in the next game (Law 7.7). They serve from the right, because their score is 0, which is even.

Intervals and changing ends

The Laws build two kinds of break into a match (Law 16.2):

• Up to 60 seconds in every game when the leading score reaches 11.
• Up to 120 seconds between the first and second games, and between the second and third.

Players change ends (Law 8):

• at the end of the first game;
• at the end of the second game, if there is a third; and
• in the third game, when the leading score reaches 11.

If the players forget to change ends, they change as soon as the mistake is discovered and the shuttle is not in play, and the score stands.

The 3×15 scoring system (from 4 January 2027)

At its Annual General Meeting in April 2026, the BWF's member associations approved a move from 3×21 to 3×15 scoring, ending the 21-point format used since 2006. The new Laws take effect on 4 January 2027:

Everything else, including rally scoring, best of three, even-right/odd-left serving and the winner of a game serving first in the next, stays the same. The 2027 Laws keep best of three games of 21 as an alternative scoring system that can be used by prior arrangement, alongside a single game of 21 and best of five games of 11.

Singles vs doubles scoring

The score works the same way in singles and doubles. What differs is who serves: in singles the server just alternates courts as their score changes. In doubles the side has two players, and partners only swap service courts when they win a point on their own serve. That's covered in the doubles rules and the step-by-step doubles serving order tool.

How badminton scoring used to work

Before 2006, badminton used side-out scoring: only the serving side could score, games went to 15 (11 in women's singles), and losing a rally on serve just passed the serve over. Rally scoring to 21 replaced it in 2006, and 15-point rally games replace that in 2027. If an older player talks about “second server” or “setting to 17”, that's where it comes from.

Want to check your knowledge? Try the badminton rules quiz, or go back to the complete rules overview.