Pickleball · Rules explained
Why does pickleball start at 0-0-2?
A side-out doubles game starts at 0-0-2 because the team that serves first gets only one server on its first turn. Both scores are 0, and the 2 marks that player as the team's second and last server, so one lost rally hands the serve to the other team.
What does 0-0-2 mean?
A doubles score call has three numbers, always in the same order:
| Number | What it means | At the start of a game |
|---|---|---|
| First | Serving team's score | 0 |
| Second | Receiving team's score | 0 |
| Third | Server number, 1 or 2 | 2 |
So 0-0-2 reads: nobody has scored yet, and the player serving is the second server. Every later call follows the same pattern, such as 0-0-1 or 3-1-2.
Why is the first server called server 2?
In side-out doubles each team normally gets 2 servers per turn. Server 1 serves until their team loses a rally, then server 2 takes over, and when server 2 loses a rally the serve passes to the other team. That hand-over is a side out.
The team serving first in a game is the exception: it gets only one server on its opening turn. Instead of a separate rule for that turn, the call labels the opening server as server 2. Everything that applies to any server 2 then applies to them: one lost rally and it is a side out.
What does the first-server exception change?
Without it, the team that serves first would get two servers before the other side served once. Only the serving side can score under side-out scoring, so those serves are chances to score that the other team has not had. Cutting the opening turn to one server shrinks that head start. It happens at the start of every game in a match, not just the first.
| First service turn of a game | Every later turn | |
|---|---|---|
| Servers | 1 | 2 |
| First call of the turn | 0-0-2 | Serving score, receiving score, then 1 |
| Turn ends | On the first rally the serving team loses | On the second rally the serving team loses |
The opening of a game, rally by rally
This time Cal and Dee (Them) win the very first rally, so the one-server opening turn of Ana and Ben (Us) ends at once. Ana and Cal start in the right-hand courts, and each call is what the server says before the next serve. We checked each row by hand against the USA Pickleball rules.
| Rally | Won by | Next call | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | – | 0-0-2 | Ana serves from the right, the only server Ana and Ben get on this turn |
| 1 | Them | 0-0-1 | Side out after one lost rally: Ana was the only server on this turn. Cal serves from the right |
| 2 | Them | 1-0-1 | Point. Cal serves again, from the left |
| 3 | Us | 1-0-2 | No point and no side out: Dee, server 2, serves from the right |
| 4 | Us | 0-1-1 | Side out. Ana serves from the right, and from now on Ana and Ben get two servers too |
| 5 | Us | 1-1-1 | Point. Ana serves from the left |
| 6 | Them | 1-1-2 | No point. Ben, server 2, serves from the right |
After six rallies Ana and Ben have had one server on their first turn and two on their second, while Cal and Dee had two on their very first turn. That asymmetry is the whole 0-0-2 rule. The pickleball score caller starts every doubles game at 0-0-2 and keeps the server number for you.
Who is server 1 after a side out?
Every side out starts with a serve from the right-hand court, so whoever is standing on the right when their team wins the serve back is server 1. It is not a fixed player. The player who started the game on the right is back on the right whenever the team's score is even, and on the left when it is odd; their partner is in the other court. In the table, Ana and Ben won the serve back at 0, so Ana was server 1.
When is it not 0-0-2?
- Singles: one server per side and no server number, so the first call is 0-0. See pickleball singles scoring.
- Rally scoring: doubles has no server number and no second server, so the call is two numbers, starting at 0-0. See rally vs side-out scoring.
The rest of the doubles call, from court positions to game length, is in how to keep score in pickleball.
How the app handles it
Sport Score Tracker does not model the 0-0-2 start or the two-server turn, and it does not call the three numbers. In side-out doubles it passes the serve after any rally the serving team loses, so every turn gets one server. That happens to match the opening turn, but after the first side out a rally lost by server 1 hands the serve over too early, and the score on screen stops matching the real one. Tap the six rallies in the table above and the app shows Us 2, Them 1 with Them serving, where the correct call is 1-1-2. For side-out doubles, use the score caller. In rally scoring, the app's default, there is no server number and the app's score follows the rules.
Questions
Do you call 0-0-2 at the start of every game?
Yes, in side-out doubles. Each new game opens with one server for the team serving first, so every game starts with the call 0-0-2.
Why is it not 0-0-1?
A 1 would say a second server is still to come. Calling 2 tells everyone that one lost rally ends the turn and the serve goes to the other team.
What happens if the first server wins the first rally?
Their team scores 1, the server switches courts with their partner and serves again, calling 1-0-2. They keep serving until they lose a rally, which is then a side out.
Who serves first for the team that serves first?
Whoever the team puts in the right-hand court. The first serve of a game comes from the right, so choosing who starts on the right chooses the first server.
Last reviewed September 25, 2026
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