*Fortnite: Zone Wars leagues are unaffiliated with the NFHS Network and certain state associations.*
View the Competition Rulebook for league details.
Introduction and Purpose
These official rules of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2025-2026 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, starters, substitutes (collectively team members), and other members.
1. Game Rules
1.1 Game Account Connections
Players are required to create and connect the in-game name of their Epic Games account to their PlayVS profile before competing in a match.
Players without in-game accounts connected are ineligible to participate in the match.
Per section 6.2.7 Connected Accounts of the league’s Competition Rulebook,
teams must address missing game account connections before establishing a game of record. Reaching a game of record without confirming game accounts or addressing missing game account connections is not grounds for a match restart or loss.
1.2 Roster Requirements
Team members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in section 2. Team Member Eligibility of the league's Competition Rulebook.
Each league page will list the number of players necessary to fill a team’s roster and bench. No individual may simultaneously hold two or more roles as listed above. All players and coaches must be present physically or virtually for all official PlayVS matches. The roster and bench must be finalized before the roster lock date, as listed in section 3.4 Roster Submission of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.3 Substitutions
Substitutions must be made before the start of each game by using the Match Assistant to change the roster and re-confirm rosters during the roster confirmation step.
Once a game of record is established, substitutions are not allowed. Once the game is complete and the results are recorded, player substitutions may be made before the start of the following game.
In the event the Match Assistant is unavailable, rosters and substitutions must be confirmed before the start of each game unless otherwise approved by a League Official and stated by a PlayVS Admin in the match lobby chat.
Players on the bench may be used for any match their team is competing in within their assigned league. Eligible substitutes for a match will be displayed on the Bench tab of the team’s roster card. Only the players shown on a team’s bench can be used as substitutes in an official PlayVS Match.
If a player on the starting roster cannot compete in the match and there are no available substitutes, competition may continue without that player as long as it does not disadvantage the opposing team.
1.4 Game of Record
A game of record (GOR) in Fortnite: Zone Wars is established in the following conditions:
When the barrier drops in the first round.
Once GOR is established, game restarts will only be allowed under limited conditions as listed in section 7.4 Game Restart of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.5 Stoppage of Play
During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. Coaches must communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’ Match Lobby Chat.
Directed Pause
At any time and at their sole discretion, League Officials may order the pause of a match. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results.
Player Pauses
By default, players are not able to pause an in-progress game.
In the event of an equipment failure, an in-progress game will not be stopped. Players should attempt to reconnect or correct their equipment.
Player Disconnection
In the event of a player disconnection in the middle of a round, teams will complete the current round and screenshot the results of the current game (up to the point of the most recent round’s completion).
Once the disconnected player can reconnect, the game must be recreated and the match played out until a team has earned 10 round wins.
For example:
Player A on team 1 disconnects in the 15th round of game 1.
The match continues to complete the 15th round, resulting in a win for team 2.
Player B on team 1 confirms the current score of 8-7, with team 1 in the lead.
There are at least two more rounds needed to confirm a winner for the game, so the game is recreated with the same teams as originally listed in game 1.
Game 1 will then continue in the recreated game until a team has won the minimum ten rounds needed to win the individual game.
If the disconnected player, or their coach for the team, has not shared any updates in Match Lobby Chat within the 10-minute window, notify PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.
1.6 Match Format
Format | Best-of-Three (Bo3) games |
Game Format | First-to-10 round wins |
Team Size | 2 players |
Island Code | 3237-7822-8160 Rapid Realistics 2v2 🎯(Speed) |
Loadout Selection | Boxfights |
All matches within the season will share the same match format as listed above, regardless of phase.
For a detailed breakdown of each phase available for the league, see section 5.2 Phase Details of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
2. Player Equipment
2.1 Equipment
Each player on the starting roster must have access to school-provided equipment or must be permitted by the school to provide their own equipment in the following categories:
PC or compatible gaming console
Compatible controller, or mouse and keyboard
If the mouse and keyboard is used on a console, it must be directly connected with no adapters.
Stable internet connection
3. Match Process
3.1 Pre-Match Setup
Teams must adhere to section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.
3.2 Match Setup
Teams will follow Fortnite: Zone Wars Match Instructions for lobby creation setup and joining the game lobby.
Weapon Selection
After team selection, players will vote for the Box Fights loadout. If a different loadout is selected, teams should Return to Lobby and recreate the game.
If a game is completed with incorrect loadouts, it will be considered a game of record. If multiple games in a match are completed with incorrect loadouts, a forfeit will be issued to both teams unless the match can be completed with the correct loadout selected.
3.3 Match F.A.Q.
Spectating
The spectating feature is not available within the select Fortnite Creative Island.
It is possible to record replays of the games by turning the following settings on within Fortnite: Settings ➤ Game ➤ Replays ➤ Record Creative Replays ➤ On
In-Game Content Updates
Rapid Realistics 2v2 🎯(Speed) is an UEFN (unreal editor for Fortnite) island that may release new content patches. At any time, this island may be updated to improve the competitive experience of the community.
Any items currently disabled in-game by Epic Games will not be available for use during official PlayVS matches. All PlayVS matches will occur on the most up-to-date patch.
4. Post-Match Process
4.1 Results
If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, then in-game statistics and results will be recorded at each game's conclusion.
In the event that the PlayVS Match Assistant cannot be used, then statistics will not be tracked, and the match results must be submitted manually within 1 hour of match completion. Players should take screenshots of the match results and share those with their coaches.
In the event of an error, coaches must contact PlayVS directly.