Rules

Last Revision (v1.2): 25/06/2025

League Operators

BFBS | Organiser
George / Geo | League Ops Manager
Dan / Dunceantix | League Ops
Tag / Tagmata | League Ops

1. Introduction

This document lays out rules which all tournaments and their qualifiers operated under the BFBS Pro League Season 1, specifically for Rocket League, will be governed by. This rulebook aims at providing and codifying a structured and consistent set of rules and standards enforceable across all levels of competition for every player, team, and service partaking in the BFBS Pro League.

1.1 Purpose

Participation in any competitions part of the BFBS Pro League is conditioned to the acceptance of the following rules and standards (collectively the “Rules”):

The rules and penalties contained in the present BFBS Pro League specific rules, as updated, amended or supplemented from time to time (this document).
The BFBS Pro League Code of Conduct. Setting forth the acceptable behaviour of each player, service or representative must follow when participating.
The BFBS Pro League Terms and Conditions. Outlining entry guidelines and requirements to the overall BFBS Esports platform, security, data processing, and limitation of liability.

Each player, team leader, and representative must read, understand and agree to these Rules, and particularly the Code of Conduct, to participate in BFBS Pro League events.

1.2 Acceptance and Modification of the Rules

1.2.1 Acknowledgement and Acceptance

Each player, team leader, and team or service representative must read, understand and agree to these Rules and any other documentation as listed under BFBS or BFBS Pro League. By accepting these Rules, the players, team leaders, and team or service representatives’ consents to the measures and/or definitive sanction or sanctions, preliminary conservative measures and/or definitive sanctions as defined and set forth in these Rules, without prejudice.

These Rules may be deemed as accepted either through the registration process of any BFBS Pro League competition or deemed accepted when a Player or its Team enter and/or participate into any tournament or match within a BFBS Pro League competition. This acceptance extends to any representative of a Team and its Service (RAF, Royal Navy, BAES).

Players and their Team may not participate if they do not agree to be bound to these Rules or otherwise do not meet the eligibility requirements set forth in the Rules.

1.2.2 Modification of the Rules

In order to ensure that the BFBS Pro League is operated in accordance with the values conveyed by the Code of Conduct and Terms of Service, or for the protection of any interest that BFBS considered material in order to preserve the values, legitimacy and integrity of the BFBS Pro League, or in order to comply with any applicable law, BFBS and Tournament Officials may amend, or supplement these Rules with or without prior notice. BFBS and Tournament Officials may also change part of, or the entirety of, the format and eligibility requirements for the BFBS Pro League with a reasonable notice before said modified parts are executed upon.

Any modification of these Rules in relation to eligibility requirements and format will be communicated or made available to the Teams either through the update of a revised version of these Rules by document, or by notification via the official BFBS Esports Discord server.

1.3 Player Responsibility

It is the responsibility of Players to help ensure fellow Participants are abiding by the rules laid out in this document. If a Player wishes to flag an infringement that effects a live match, they must do so before or during the live match (e.g. an opponent not using the correct Epic Games Name as listed on their BFBS Profile whilst in game, or any other eligibility infringement). Tournament Officials cannot apply the necessary sanctions if such issues are raised multiple games, hours or days after the infringement took place as to maintain the integrity and schedule of the competition, or at the very least, will impact their ability to apply such sanctions.

2. Eligibility and Team Composition

2.1 Player Eligibility

All players must be part of the military community. This is defined as:

All UK serving military
Reservists
Cadets
Veterans
The Bereaved community
MOD Civil Servants
Direct family members of military / veterans.

The minimum age required to participate in the tournament is 13 years of age.

Any players under the age of 18 require consent from a parent or guardian to participate. Parental acknowledgement and consent is checked when registering for a BFBS Pro League account. BFBS staff may complete further assessments on parental consent prior to or during tournament dates.
Players may be required to submit ID in order to attending the finals and claim any prizes or if there is any\doubt about their age. If evidence of being the appropriate age cannot be provided you may be disqualified from the tournament and prizes forfeit.

Players can’t use names that are deemed to be offensive or otherwise in violation with these Rules or the Code of Conduct. This applies to their in game names and any name used in tournament communications.

All players on a team must have specified their Epic Games username in the tournament platform before being able to play. Players may not use any alternate accounts not linked to their profile on the tournament platform.

Epic Games usernames are important for player communication during the event and for seeding purposes, players must ensure their linked Epic Games Username is accurate, and that they only use the Epic Games account listed on the BFBS Esports profile for any matches they participate in. You will not be able to change or modify your Epic Games name via BFBS Esports during active competitions you are participating in. Your Epic Games Name cannot be changed whilst you are in an active tournament, this must be completed prior to live events and is then locked.

2.2 Team Eligibility

Teams require a minimum roster of 3 players to be signed up by the deadline stated on the tournament page; teams without the requisite number of players by that time may not be admitted into the tournament.

The tournament works on a first-come-first-served basis, when the team limit is reached, we will be unable to guarantee admission for any new teams. You may join the waiting list but there is the possibility that the team will not be able to play in the tournament, in order to ensure you are able to take part please sign up with a full roster well in advance of the qualifier.

Teams must have a minimum of 3 players on their roster and a maximum of 5 to allow for 2 substitutes.

Teams are allowed coaches but must be on the Team’s roster. Coaches can only view the match via external teammate screenshare.

Once the sign-up deadline is reached teams are not allowed to change their roster. Depending on certain circumstances this rule may not be enforced but is subject to Tournament Manager discretion.

The team logos, avatars and sponsors for each team must not display or represent any offensive imagery or anything otherwise in violation of these Rules or the Code of Conduct.

2.2.1 Service Representation

Players registering teams are not permitted to misrepresent Military Services or claim to be competing under the banner of a Military Service without approval from that specific Service’s Representative.

These Services include the RAF, RN and BAES.

(e.g. Your team’s name cannot be “RAF Typhoons” without approval for the team’s name and all team members to participate under the RAF banner by an RAF official representative).

Teams representing a Military Service must have at least 1 representative signed up to the team on the BFBS Esports website for each competition they partake in.

Players are not permitted to misrepresent Military Services by attempting to modify acronyms or words associated with a Service.

(e.g. Your team’s name cannot be “RAFlyers” any attempt to modify officially recognised Service names or acronyms is forbidden).

2.3 Team Composition and Points Accumulation

Should a team decide to participate in more than 1 BFBS Pro League Qualifier or in any BFBS Esports competition that awards points over multiple tournaments, teams will need to abide by the following restrictions to retain their accumulated points.

2.3.1 Team Core and Points

Teams must retain a core (minimum of TWO) players over the course of THREE qualifiers on a rolling procedure, tournaments or other competitions to retain and accumulate new points towards the same team’s name.
Example:

Team Rocket list Players A, B and C to play in Qualifier 1 and earn 10 points.
Team Rocket swap Player C, replacing them with Player D for Qualifier 2, and earn 8 points.
Team Rocket is eligible to retain their previous points under the Team Rocket name, totalling 18 points, as Player’s A and B have played in both Qualifiers so far.

What would make Team Rocket ineligible to retain points:

Team Rocket swap Player B, replacing them with Player E for Qualifier 3, now starting with Player A, D and E. This team would not be eligible to retain points as they have not retained a core over the 3 Qualifiers.

The team would only be eligible to make a change like this by Qualifier 4 in this example, as the core of Player’s A and D would be consistent across Qualifiers 2, 3 and 4.

If you do not retain a core over the course of 3 Qualifiers, your team points will not add up together and you will be entered under a different team, effectively starting your points from 0.

This rule applies to all teams, either as independent entries or as a represented Military Service, the points are retained by maintaining a core, replacing more than a core would forfeit points continuity.

2.3.2 Substitutes

Up to 2 Substitutes can be listed on a team at any given time (3 full time players + 2 substitutes, for a total of 5). The purpose of Substitutes is to be a couple of emergency backup options in case something happens to your full-time Players. Substitutes are not permitted for strategic or gameplay specific reasons.

Teams are required to ensure their Players and Substitutes are correctly categorised on the BFBS Esports website as either “Player” or “Substitute”. A “Leader” is considered a full-time Player; your Leader cannot be a Substitute.

Substitutes do not count as core players and require approval to be used. It is highly recommended you list 2 substitutes for emergencies, but it is not permitted to swap between full-time Players and Substitutes freely.

If you are in a situation where a Substitute must be used, Tournament Officials must be notified of your request before any official matches they will be playing.

Substitutes cannot be used in place of a Team’s full-time core. This means whilst you can list 2 emergency substitutes, using both in the same Qualifier would forfeit points continuity.

Substitutes must follow all the same eligibility requirements as regular Players.

Players cannot be substituted in and out once a match has begun.

Your Team is not guaranteed to have an emergency player approved especially if you have not listed them as an eligible player on your BFBS Esports Team Roster.

2.4 Verification

You may be required to provide verification of your eligibility at any point during participation of any BFBS Esports competition. This includes but is not limited to your Epic Games account name and/or Military status and/or age.If your Military status needs verifying, you may be asked to provide the following to Tournament Officials or BFBS:

Service Personnel:

MOD90
Email Verified through mod.gov.uk
Vouched by the chair of your esports club/Service Representative.

Veterans:

Veteran ID card
Service number (Independently verified)
Vouched by a chair of an esports club/Service Representative
Certificate of service

Service Family:

Relation to be disclosed and proof of service from said family member i.e. MOD90, Certificate of service etc.

Cadets:

An adult point of contact from whom detachment could be provided with a MOD email address

2.5 Communication

When a Team registers to any form of competition for BFBS Esports. That team agrees to be active in communication with Tournament Officials through the official BFBS Esports Discord server in accordance with any stipulations of competition play, or the Code of Conduct. Team members must join the BFBS Esports Discord from this link.

Support communication or Admin communication with individual participants must be conducted through either the Discord linked above or the Support Ticket system on the BFBS Esports website. Any correspondence attempts through DM may be ignored or any actions stated in private messaging may not be binding. This is to ensure all Tournament Officials have access to ongoing discussions and that transcripts can be generated of said discussions, which can be provided to both the Tournament Officials and the user(s) involved for clarity.

2.6 Confidentiality

All contents of tickets, support requests, and correspondence with the Admins or Tournament Officials, or BFBS in any BFBS Esports competition are to be treated confidentially and may not be published in picture, text or in analogous reproduction. Publication requires agreement from BFBS.

3. Qualifier Format

3.1 Individual Qualifiers

This qualifier uses a scaling format to allow for a changing number of registered teams. Exact group and bracket sizes will be determined on the number of registered teams. 

Stage 1: Round Robin Group Format 
Stage 2: Single Elimination Bracket including position break games for 5th/6th and 3rd place

3.2 Scoring System

The BFBS Rocket League qualifiers operate on a points system. Competing teams will earn points based off finishing position in each qualifier. 

The top 8 teams at the end of all 8 qualifiers will progress to the Main Event.
Teams can compete in all 8 qualifiers to maximise their points across the qualification period.
Teams are not required to participate in all qualifiers across all dates. (e.g. a team may wish to compete in Qualifier 2, 4 and 7)

Points awarded per Qualifier are as follows:

1st: 16 pts
2nd: 12 pts
3rd: 10 pts
4th: 8 pts
5th-6th: 6 pts
7th-8th: 4 pts

3.3 Seeding Methodology

Each BFBS Qualifier will be independently seeded. Seeds will only be logged for the top 16 teams of the qualifier.

Seeding relies on player data and records being available. This means players must follow the rules in section 2.1 Player Eligibility to be seeded accurately. Tournament Officials will collect player data based off of their Epic Games name. Players can list their Epic Games name against their BFBS Account from this link.

Teams will be seeded on priority data in this order:

BFBS Qualification Leaderboard position
Ranked Standard 3v3 Average MMR

Teams who have BFBS Qualification points will have seed priority and be seeded above teams without. If 2 teams have the same BFBS Qualification points, the team with the highest Ranked Standard 3v3 Average MMR will have a more favourable seed.

Teams will not be seeded off of Peak MMR or for a different Ranked mode (e.g. 2v2), as this is purely a 3v3 based tournament, it is not consistent or fair to seed teams on different metrics depending on their more favourable MMR.

The Average MMR will take all 3 full-time players MMR into account. If your Epic Games Name is incomplete or changed, your value will be set to 0 and factored into your entire teams MMR Average.

Players or Teams that try and falsify their records to improve their seed for any given Qualifier may be sanctioned.

Players or Teams that play under Epic Games accounts that are not listed on their BFBS Esports profiles may be sanctioned.

If your team signs up to an event less than 1 hour prior to check-in and/or signups being closed, you will not be guaranteed to be seeded accurately.

3.4 Match Setup

Lobby settings should be as follows:

Server: Europe
Game Mode: Private Match
Size: 3on3
Match Time: 5 minutes

The team listed as the “Home” team in a given fixture must host the custom lobby.

Teams may only start the match once: the minimum number of players (3 players) from both teams are in the lobby, maps have been selected and both teams have confirmed they are ready to start. If the no show time has been reached, maps selected, and there are enough players to start the match the lobby host can start the game but must inform the other team they will be doing so.

3.5 Map Selection

The host may select any of the standard competitive maps from the active map pool which includes:

DFH Stadium
Urban Central
Beckwith Park
Utopia Coliseum
Mannfield
Wasteland
Aquadome
Neo Tokyo
Champions Field
Farmstead
Salty Shores
Forbidden Temple
Neon Fields
Deadeye Canyon
Sovereign Heights
Estadio Vida
Drift Woods
Futura Garden

3.5.6 Map Changes

Players may request a map change on the basis on their limited FPS on a specific map. Any map disputes are to be actioned by the tournament manager who may force a map selection.

3.6 Remakes

In the first 2 minutes of the match either team can request a match remake provided the following criteria are met:

The match has been played for less than 90 seconds
No goals have been scored.
At the time of the remake request, there was not a reasonable chance for a goal from the opposing team. If there is disagreement over this, the replay must be sent to the tournament admin for review.

No team can request for more than 1 remake per series, outside of mutually agreed instances for issues affecting both teams.

Teams may request a late remake from the admin team if they believe there is a bug that is affecting the competitive integrity of the match. It is then for the tournament manager to decide if the match should be remade or not.

3.7 Group Tiebreaks

In case teams are on the same score within the group stage, these tiebreak methods will be applied in the order below:

Head 2 Head
Game Difference
Goal Difference
Tiebreaker Match

3.8 Qualification Points Tiebreaks and Invites

In case teams are on the same Qualification points after all 8 Qualifiers have completed, these tiebreak methods will be applied in the order below:

Higher overall finishing position average
Direct Head 2 Head record
Game Difference
Tiebreaker Match

If a qualified team is invited to the Main Event Finals but is unable to either travel to the Finals or participate for eligibility reasons, the invite will be forfeited and given to the next team down in the leaderboard without an invite. Reasons could be but are not limited to:

Logistically unable to attend due to ongoing commitments or failure to comply with travel restrictions or applicable travel laws in the host country
Team or Players no longer meet the eligibility requirements
A team that has accumulated enough points has disbanded or a team core has moved over time to a different team name

3.9 Timekeeping

3.9.1 Check-In

Check-in for the first day of each qualifier will start at 15:00 BST through to 17:30 BST.
If a team does not check-in during this period you will not be granted admission to the tournament, as it is assumed that the team is unable to play.
All times on the website are BST, except the “Calendar” specifically, which will display in local time.

3.9.2 No Shows

Teams have 10 minutes from the scheduled start time of their fixture to be in the match lobby and ready to play. If a team does not have all 3 players in the lobby and are not ready to start within the 10 minute time limit said team will forfeit the match.

If teams are still participating in an earlier fixture of the tournament the no show rules no longer apply to the scheduled start time and instead starts 5 minutes after their previous fixture is completed.

In a multi-match series teams have 10 minutes from the scheduled start time of their fixture to be in the match lobby and ready to play. If a team is not ready at this time they will forfeit the first match in the series. Said team will then have an additional 5 minutes to be in the match lobby and ready to play the next match in the series, or will have the match and the entire series forfeited.

f both teams do not have at least 2 team members in the match lobby and are ready to play then the team with the fewest number of players will forfeit the match. If both teams have the same number of players in the lobby and are not ready, the away team will forfeit the match.

If a team forfeits 2 matches in a series they forfeit the whole series.

If a team does not notify Tournament Officials of a known or approved delay, and the opponent is the only team that raises a your absence, you will forfeit that game or series.
Tournament admins reserve the right to change these timings if circumstances require it.

3.9.3 Breaks

Players are allowed a 5-minute break between tournament fixtures, if the previous fixture overran.

Players may take a maximum of 3 minutes break between matches in a series.

4. Media & Broadcast

4.1 Streaming

Players will take full responsibility for any consequences of broadcasting their POV.

Players are not to watch or listen to any streams of the tournament while playing.

The Tournament Organiser will have an official broadcast. Players are not guaranteed to be represented on this broadcast, however, the Tournament Organiser will make an effort to showcase a variety.

4.2 Screenshots / Match Recordings

Teams should take screenshots of the scoreboard at the end of the match for submission to the tournament platform along with the score.

We would suggest players record the match in case of any disputes.

In the case of any conflict in result, screenshots and recordings will be referred to. If neither team provided proof of the match result, the team's match histories will be reviewed.

When reporting rule infractions to admins it is necessary for teams to provide proof of the incidents in the form of a screenshot or preferably a recording of the whole incident.

Editing any form of screenshot or recording of a match that is to be submitted to admins as evidence is strictly forbidden.

5. Prizing

Please see the prize details over on our website:

https://bfbsesports.com/tournaments/rocket-league-qualifier-7/prizes

Prizing for competitions that are linked within a league or qualification structure may not be paid out immediately but rather after all competitions in the series conclude, in the chance Participants earn over multiple events in the league or series. See terms for further prizing information.

6. Sanction(s)

If a Player, Team, or Representative are found to be in violation of the Rules or any accompanying documentation such as the Code of Conduct, Tournament Officials reserve the right to apply any of the following penalties that they deem fit for purpose based off the severity of the infraction:

Verbal Warning
Written Warning
Communication Suspension
Communication Ban
Game Forfeiture
Match Forfeiture
Disqualification from a specific Tournament
Disqualification from a Tournament Series
Undefined time – temporary suspension from any BFBS Esports competitions or activities
Permanent ban from any BFBS Esports competitions or activities
Reduction and/or removal of accumulated points in any given points system or structure
Reduction and/or withholding of all prize earnings either monetarily or otherwise.

7. Spirit of the Rules

It is at the discretion of the Tournament Manager to modify any of the rules above for any reason. The rules are most likely to be amended in the following cases (without limitation):

If a different patch/version release is used and modifications to the rules are necessary to ensure fair play.

If a game-breaking bug is discovered during the course of the tournament.

If players are suspected or proven to be engaging in unfair play or collusion to fix the results of a game.

If changes to game settings and/or operations guidelines are necessary due to differences between online and offline tournaments.

If there are substantial delays to a tournament that would prevent it from concluding in a timely fashion.

In the event that a rule amendment is made, teams will be informed immediately of the changes made and the reasons why, via the tournament’s main communication channels.

All decisions regarding the interpretation of these rules lie solely with the Tournament Manager, the decisions of which are final.