Steel tip vs soft tip darts: how the two codes differ

Steel tip vs soft tip darts comes down to the board. Steel points go into sisal from 7 ft 9¼ in and you keep score yourself; plastic points go into a segmented electronic board from 8 ft and the machine keeps score. Almost every other difference follows from that.

Steel tip vs soft tip darts at a glance

	Steel tip	Soft tip
Board	Sisal bristle, wire spider	Molded plastic segments over switches
Throw distance	7 ft 9¼ in (2.37 m)	8 ft (2.44 m)
Bull height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Typical dart weight	21–26 g	16–20 g
Weight limit	50 g (WDF/PDC)	20 g (NDA), lower in some houses
Scoring	Manual — chalker, paper, or app	Automatic

Electronic vs bristle dartboard: what you're throwing at

A bristle board is compressed sisal fiber in a hoop, divided by a thin wire spider. The fibers part around the point and close when you pull the dart out, so a rotated board lasts years. Nothing on it measures anything: the wires only divide, and a dart landing flush on one kicks out.

An electronic board is molded plastic. Each segment is a grid of small holes over a switch — the tip drops into a hole, presses the segment down, and the board reads which segment moved. Plastic beds are commonly larger than a bristle board's, whose ring widths are fixed by rule, but the hole grid limits the angle a dart can enter at. A steep dart that buries itself in sisal can skid off plastic.

Distance and height

Bull height is identical in both codes: 5 ft 8 in to the center of the bull. The throw line isn't. Steel tip is 7 ft 9¼ in horizontally from the board face, or 9 ft 7⅜ in on the diagonal from bull to oche. Soft tip sets the line at 8 ft, 2¾ in farther back — enough that switching codes feels wrong for a week. (Full measurements.)

The darts: weight, points, and threads

Steel-tip darts commonly sit between 21 g and 26 g; WDF and PDC cap a dart at 50 g, a limit nobody approaches. Points are steel, fixed or movable, dressed with a stone to knock the burrs off — a needle-sharp point skates off a wire instead of biting.

Soft tip runs lighter, usually 16–20 g, because heavy darts pound the segments and shorten a board's life. The NDA caps a complete dart at 20 g, raised from 18 g, and at 8 in overall; operators can set a lower limit locally, so ask before you buy. The tip is replaceable plastic, most often 2BA thread and occasionally ¼ in — they snap, so carry spares. Conversion points screw plastic tips into a steel-tip barrel.

Soft tip darts scoring, and what steel tip gives up

The machine does the bookkeeping: it subtracts, tracks cricket marks, calls the score aloud, and restores the number on a bust. It also sets the finish — under NDA rules '01 games default to any-in, any-out, with double-in/double-out kept for higher-level events. Machines can be set either way, so confirm before your first match.

Steel tip hands all of that back to the players. Someone chalks, or everyone does mental arithmetic after a 140 and argues about the total. Darts Scoreboard is a darts scoreboard app for iPhone that tracks your games, so a bristle board gets the same instant subtraction without a machine on the wall.

Soft tip darts rules that come from the hardware

Bounce-outs and darts that don't register

Both codes treat a bounce-out the same way: it counts as a dart thrown, scores nothing, and you don't throw it again. They split on what happens next. On sisal, a dart that falls out before it's scored counts for nothing either; on plastic the machine has already recorded the hit, so it still scores. A dart that sticks in a hole without tripping the switch scores nothing, and NDA rules say the machine is always right — darts thrown after a stuck-segment message can't be rethrown. The usual exception is the winning dart: if the board was ready for it and everything else was legal, the player wins.

Busts and whose word is final

A bust works the same in both codes: your score reverts to what it was when the turn began. Enforcement differs. The machine reverts instantly, hands the turn over, and its display is the record. With chalk a person does it, which is where most scoring disputes start.

Why soft tip leagues run cricket and 301

Two reasons. Machines are often coin-operated and league nights run on a clock, so shorter games fit better than 501. And cricket is the format the hardware helps with most — the board tracks marks and points for both sides, tedious work to chalk by hand. Steel tip stays on 501 and 301 with a double finish at every serious level, while cricket is the bar staple on plastic. Soft-tip 501 is standard in Japan and much of Asia, usually with an open finish.

Which code fits you

The soft tip vs steel tip darts choice settles on three things. Space: a bristle board wants a surround, since missed steel points go into drywall, while plastic tips skid off paint. Noise: an electronic board beeps and talks, though most can be muted, and sisal takes a steel point almost silently. Scoring: if automatic scoring is the only thing pulling you toward a machine, that part is solvable on a bristle board.

FAQ

Can you use steel tip darts on an electronic dartboard?

No. Steel points tear the plastic segments and can damage the switch layer underneath. Some hybrid boards accept both by swapping the face, but a standard soft-tip board takes plastic tips only.

Is the throwing distance the same for soft tip and steel tip?

No. Steel tip is 7 ft 9¼ in from the board face; soft tip is 8 ft. Height is the same in both — 5 ft 8 in to the center of the bull.

Are soft tip darts easier to score with?

The board is more forgiving: most plastic boards have bigger beds, and the hole grid catches darts a wire would reject. But lighter darts fly differently and the extra 2¾ in costs precision, so expect your average to move either way.

Can you convert steel tip darts to soft tip?

Often, yes. Conversion points screw plastic tips into a steel-tip barrel when the thread matches, usually 2BA. Check total weight first — a converted steel barrel can easily exceed the 20 g a soft-tip league allows.