What do I do when a team serves out of order?

From the FIVB Rules 2025-2028 (Rules 7.7, 12.2 and 27.2.2.2). You control the serving order of each team and must indicate any error to the referees immediately after the service hit.

A rotational fault is a service not made in the rotational order. The consequences, in order:

1. You stop play with the buzzer.
2. The opponent gains a point and the next service.
3. The faulty team's rotational order is rectified.

You should also determine the exact moment the fault was committed. All points the faulty team scored since that moment are cancelled, and the opponent's points remain valid. If that moment cannot be determined, no points are cancelled, and a point and service to the opponent is the only sanction.

If the fault is only discovered after the rally that started with the rotational fault, the opponent is awarded a single point regardless of how the rally ended.

A scorer's mistake on the rotational order is one of the cases the 2026 VA Indoor Handbook lists as a valid ground for a coach's formal protest, so check each service against the line-up.

Related line-up errors found by the 2nd referee: a discrepancy between a player's position on court and the line-up sheet found before the set starts is simply corrected with no sanction. If it is found later, the team reverts to the correct positions, its points from the exact moment of the fault are cancelled, and the opponent gains a point and the next service.