Gameplay Rules

Treat your opponent with respect on and off the field. Disrespectful communication, disrespectful gameplay and attempts to circumvent the rules will not be tolerated. Treat others better than you would like to be treated.

Mix up your offensive and defensive plays and formations. Use moderation, realism and good judgment. Your opponent’s Coach Report will reflect your decisions.

Coach Reports should be fair and honest. Consider waiting 24 hours before submitting a report rather than writing in haste. Administrators may review egregious reporting.

Use the published CFCS block deadlines. Request any extension from an administrator as early as possible; extensions are considered only in rare cases.

All scheduling must take place in the game’s designated Discord scheduling thread. Communication outside that thread cannot be considered when deciding an unplayed game. Tag your opponent every time you post.

Both coaches must post specific availability within 24 hours of games opening. Reply to your opponent, agree on a time and confirm it. Use Eastern Time unless both coaches acknowledge another time zone.

Keep communicating throughout the open period, even if your opponent does not respond. Update your availability about every 48 hours. Give advance notice if you cannot make an agreed time. A no-show without communication results in a force loss and may lead to further discipline.

Administrators consider both the quality and quantity of communication and reasonable availability when deciding fair sims or force results under CFCS rules. Offering only overnight hours is not equivalent to offering reasonable evening availability.

• Good: “I’m available Sunday noon–6 p.m. ET, Monday 5–9 p.m. ET and Tuesday 7–10 p.m. ET.”
• Good: “You listed Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. Let’s play then; please confirm.”
• Not enough: an untagged message, “I’m around,” “When are you free?” without your availability, or a vague promise to message later.

• Difficulty: Heisman. Quarter length: 7 minutes. Accelerated clock: Off.
• Fatigue: On. Injuries: On. Even Teams: Off. Weather: On.
• Custom offensive and defensive playbooks are allowed. Stadium selection is currently not supported.
• The home coach chooses the time and weather and must communicate the weather to the away coach before sending the invitation.
• Home teams should wear dark or colored uniforms. Away teams should wear white, light or contrasting uniforms. The home team may not wear white in snow.

• Both coaches must stream every game through Twitch or YouTube.
• Add your Twitch or YouTube channel link to your CFCS profile. Use the website’s LIVE notification at the start of each game so league members can find the broadcast.
• Game broadcasts must be accessible through the league’s stream links. Viewers watch on Twitch or YouTube.
• The home coach must start streaming before sending the game invitation so the game settings are visible.
• Keep the game recording posted and available on the streaming platform for at least 7 days.

Set your depth chart before the game. If your opponent asks for time at the start to make adjustments, allow it and do not exit the pause screen.

Substitutions and packages permitted by the game are allowed, but use common sense and realism. Your opponent may address questionable roster choices in a Coach Report.

Examples that may result in poor reports include using four defensive ends all game, a 180-pound halfback at fullback, or repeatedly using offensive linemen at tight end or fullback. Offensive linemen at tight end or fullback must follow the Jumbo Formation rules below.

Allow your opponent 2 minutes after a pause before returning to the game. This should cover normal roster, injury and wear-and-tear adjustments.

If you need longer than 2 minutes, contact your opponent immediately through Discord. A communicated 5–10 minute interruption is acceptable when necessary. If more time is needed, consider rescheduling. Be considerate of each other’s time.

• Onside kicks are allowed when trailing in the fourth quarter.
• Normal, squib and sky kicks may not be used in a way that exploits kick recovery.
• Low onside kicks are banned.
• Fair-catching an onside kick is banned.

Use a variety of plays and formations. The following formations and plays are banned:

• Shotgun Wide Stack.
• Shotgun Ninja.
• Shotgun Monster.
• Wildcat Wing Flex.
• Any variation of a pass play where the ball changes hands before being thrown.

• Play action is allowed in moderation. Do not abuse it.
• Do not hot-route the halfback out of the play-action animation or cancel that animation in any other way.
• Play-action passes are not allowed on third or fourth down with 6 or more yards to go.
• RPOs are not considered play action for this restriction; the restriction addresses downfield play-action success potential.

• No-huddle may not be your base offense.
• Do not use no-huddle after a clock stoppage, including an incomplete pass or going out of bounds.
• No-huddle is allowed when trailing by more than 24 points at any time.
• No-huddle is allowed when trailing in the fourth quarter.

Jumbo formations with no wide receivers are limited to short-yardage situations. Offensive linemen used at tight end or fullback follow these same limits.

• Allowed inside your own 10-yard line.
• Allowed inside your opponent’s 10-yard line.
• Allowed on third or fourth down with 3 or fewer yards to go.
• Exception: a primary option offense that rarely uses more than two wide receivers, such as Army or Navy, may use these formations at any time.

You may make at most three pre-snap adjustments per play. Failed attempts count toward the limit.

Within that total, you may make at most two hot-route or route-stem adjustments: two hot routes, two stems, or one of each. A failed hot-route attempt still counts.

• An audible counts as one adjustment, whether successful or failed.
• Quick-switching the direction of a run counts as one adjustment.
• Motion of one HB, FB, TE or WR counts as one adjustment, including moving out and returning. A halfback moving across the quarterback and then to the line counts as one; a receiver or tight end crossing and returning also counts as one.
• A manually motioned player must come to a complete stop before the snap. Watch the play clock.
• Selecting a hot route counts as one. Stemming manually or using “to the sticks” counts as one.
• Stemming corner routes up or down is banned.
• Blocking line shifts and identifying the Mike each count as one adjustment. Unblocking a defender is also a blocking adjustment under the rule of three.
• Substitutions from the line-of-scrimmage menus do not count as adjustments.

• React to the defense, use moderation and exercise good judgment.
• Excessive dropbacks of more than 13 yards from the line of scrimmage should be addressed in Coach Reports.
• Designed rollouts are allowed. Leaving the pocket horizontally without pressure is strongly discouraged; report excessive rollouts through Coach Reports.
• Scrambling is allowed in moderation. Do not immediately run after the snap. Go through your reads; if no receiver is open or there is pressure, you may run. Taking 2–3 seconds to make those reads is acceptable.
• Playmaker, the right-stick function that reroutes a receiver, is banned.

Use the situation below. Unless an exception is listed, you may not go for it from your own goal line through your own 49-yard line.

Chew clock is allowed in the final 2 minutes of either half or at any point when you lead by 28 points or more.

In the second half, the losing coach may request a “speed concede” to finish an unwinnable game quickly. Both teams should chew clock and primarily use running or short-yardage plays to keep it moving.

Do not blitz relentlessly after accepting a speed concede. Finish with respect. The requesting coach cannot undo the speed concede if a few favorable plays make the game seem winnable again.

Mix up your plays and formations. Your Coach Report will reflect your choices.

Goal-line formations are allowed inside your own 10, inside your opponent’s 10, on third or fourth down with 3 or fewer yards to go, or against an offense with one wide receiver or fewer.

• Preset defensive adjustments are unlimited.
• Stunts are allowed, but creating situations that clearly exploit the game’s AI will be harshly penalized.
• Other preset movement and coverage adjustments are allowed.
• Run commit and pass commit are allowed. Manual player movement remains subject to the restrictions below.

• You may manually move one linebacker or defensive back before the snap. You may not manually move a defensive lineman except under the short-yardage exception below.
• If you already moved one player and the offense then shifts or motions, you may move one additional eligible player. If you had not moved anyone before that motion, you may move only one player, not two. All positioning restrictions still apply.
• After moving a player, remain on that player until the snap. If an audible or shift naturally resets the player’s position, the manual-movement rules restart.
• Linebackers and defensive backs may not enter the defensive-line box, bounded by the outside shoulders of the down defenders, including edge players in nickel or dime. Do not move them forward to stack with the line.
• Defensive backs may not enter the linebacker box, which extends the defensive-line box outward and through the linebackers’ depth.
• Never move a player to exploit AI flaws.
• Exception: inside your own 10, or against a jumbo formation or a formation with additional offensive linemen in short yardage, you may move one player of any position to any location before the snap.

• Always rush at least three players. If switching players leaves you controlling the third rusher, engage as soon as you recognize it.
• You may control a defensive lineman, and a defensive lineman may drop into coverage if at least three other players rush.
• After engaging a blocker with any player, do not disengage and drop into coverage unless it is a screen pass.

• You may manually move one player before the snap.
• If you suspect a fake, you may choose a non-goal-line defense.
• The field-goal block exploit in which an inside defensive tackle loops around unrealistically to block the kick is banned.

• Never lead by more than 35 points at any time during a game. Breaking this rule results in removal from the league.
• Do not pad stats for individual awards through gameplay or any other means. The affected player becomes ineligible for postseason awards, and the coach may be removed.
• The winning coach enters the box score and team game statistics for both sides. Each coach enters their own team’s player statistics.
• Enter complete player statistics. Defensive statistics for offensive players are the exception.

After a disconnect, both coaches should work together on a fair resolution. You may agree to play a shortened game reflecting the time remaining or replay the full game. The leading coach should lead the discussion when restoring an advantaged game state.

Contact a CFCS administrator if you disagree or are unsure how to proceed. Repeated disconnects by the same coach trigger administrative review, whether accidental or intentional. Use a reliable internet connection.

Send complaints to a CFCS administrator. Identify the specific actions to review and include video clips or timestamps.

Never quit because you believe your opponent is breaking rules. Finish the game and do not retaliate by breaking rules yourself; doing so can also lead to your removal.

You may pause and message your opponent to discuss a remedy. For example, after an illegal fourth-down conversion, both coaches may agree that the offending coach punts. This agreement is optional.

If you cannot agree or the discussion becomes combative, end the conversation, finish the game and report the issue afterward. Always play with integrity, regardless of your opponent’s behavior.

Administrators review the severity, impact and repetition of violations. Consequences may include a corrected or overturned result, loss of team or removal from the league. CFCS scoring and league policies continue to govern disciplinary decisions.