How long is a lacrosse sixes game?
B · Beginner · The game · 2 of 4A game is four quarters of eight minutes. The clock runs through most stoppages and stops on every whistle only in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter. If the score is level, the teams play a full three-minute overtime period, and another if needed, until one team leads at the end of a period.
How it works
- Thirty-two minutes: "four (4) quarters of eight (8) minutes each".
- Breaks: two minutes after the first and third quarters, five minutes at half-time.
- Changing ends: the teams swap direction after every quarter.
- Running clock: the clock stops for timeouts, while a time penalty is being administered and at the end of a quarter.
- Last two minutes: in the fourth quarter it stops on every whistle for a dead ball.
- Overtime: periods of three minutes of stopped time, with two-minute breaks.
- Not sudden death: the whole period is played. The team ahead at its end wins.
- Timeouts: one for each team in each half, of 60 seconds.
- Who may call one: a coach or the player with the ball, when the team has the ball in its offensive zone or is due the ball at a stoppage.
- Forfeit: recorded as 1-0.
- Weather: a game stopped for lightning may resume. One that cannot is referred to the governing body.
The glossary has the quarter, overtime, the game clock, the timeout, the injury timeout and the shot clock.
Tricky cases
A team scores 40 seconds into overtime. Is the game over?
No. The full three-minute period is played, and the team leading at the end wins.
The ball goes out of bounds with five minutes left in the second quarter. Does the game clock stop?
No. Outside the last two minutes of the fourth quarter the game clock runs through a dead ball. The shot clock stops while the ball is out.
Can a defending team call a timeout to regroup?
No. A team may call one only when it has the ball in its offensive zone, or during a dead ball when it is entitled to possession.
A team did not use its first-half timeout. Does it have two in the second half?
No. The limit is one in each half.
Why the rule exists
Short quarters and a running clock keep a game to under an hour, so that several can share a field in a day. Playing overtime as a full period, not to the first goal, means one lucky bounce at a draw does not decide a match.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation play | Running clock, four quarters of 8 minutes | WL Sixes Rule 5.1.1; 5.2.2 |
| Last two minutes of the fourth quarter | Clock stops on every dead-ball whistle | WL Sixes Rule 5.2.2 |
| Overtime | Three minutes of stopped time, repeated until decided | WL Sixes Rule 5.1.4 |
| Field lacrosse | Four quarters of 15 minutes | WL Men Rule 29.1; WL Women Rule 12.A.1 |
From the rule book
World Lacrosse, 2026-2028 Sixes Lacrosse Official Playing Rules (version 2.0, May 2026), Rules 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5 and 6.10. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: World Lacrosse Sixes Rule Book 2026-2028 (PDF).