Section 5: Rules of Play
Playing time (Rule 5.2): A match is played in two halves of 25 minutes of real (running) playing time, each half divided into two equal periods by a one-minute technical time-out. The time clock stops whenever the referees blow their whistle for any reason and whenever a goal is scored, and restarts on the throw-off or restart whistle, keeping the "real playing time" concept central to the sport.
Zone changes (Rule 5.6): Each time two goals have been scored in total, all players change zones, and with that change the roles reverse — attackers become defenders and defenders become attackers. There is no role change at half-time, only a change of ends (Rule 5.4): both teams keep the same line-up but switch which korf they attack.
Throw-off (Rule 5.7): A throw-off is taken by an attacker from a point inside their own zone, no more than 2 m from the centre of the field, at the start of each period and after every goal conceded, following the same conditions as a re-start (Rule 7.3).
Running with the ball (Rule 6.1): A player who has caught the ball while stationary may pivot on one foot but may not move that pivot foot and subsequently lift the other before releasing the ball. A player who receives the ball while running or jumping must come to a stop "within the least possible distance" before throwing or shooting; the referees judge this against the field conditions and the player's speed and technical ability.
Solo play (Rule 6.2): Players are prohibited from "solo play" — repeatedly bouncing, or throwing and catching the ball to themselves — without genuinely involving teammates, reflecting the sport's cooperative-play ethos.
Defended shot (Rule 6.3): A shot is deemed to be taken from a defended position, and therefore infringes the rules, when four conditions are simultaneously met by a same-gender defender: the defender is within "arm's length" of the attacker (defined by the glossary as the measured reach of the defender's arm to the attacker's torso, whether standing, jumped, or bent); the defender is positioned between the attacker and the korf; the defender faces the attacker; and the defender is "actually trying to block the ball" — the glossary defines this as the conscious, admissible use of the arms/hands to prevent the throw or shot.
Gender-restricted defence (Rule 6.6): Players may not hinder an opponent of the opposite gender while that opponent is in the act of throwing the ball — defence is restricted to same-gender match-ups, a defining structural feature of korfball's mixed-team format.
Passive play (Rule 6.9): Teams may not deliberately withhold a genuine attempt to score. If both teams intentionally play passively in turn, the referee duo must stop the game under Rule 4.6.b.
Shot clock (Rule 6.16): The attacking team has 25 seconds of possession in the attack zone in which to attempt a shot; failing to do so results in loss of possession, as tracked and signalled by the shot-clock operator under Rule 4.9.
Golden goal and shoot-out (Rule 5.3): If the score is level at the end of regulation, a 10-minute golden-goal period follows a one-minute break, restarting with a throw-off for the team that held possession at the end of regulation; both teams keep attacking the same korf and the same zone line-up as at full time. The match ends immediately when either team scores. If the golden-goal period ends level, a "sudden death" penalty shoot-out decides the match, taken in a pre-announced player sequence after which no further substitutions are allowed.