Fantasy Football Scoring System Setup: How to Choose and Configure Your Point Settings
Most scoring decisions are set once and last for the entire league. Get them right before the season — changing scoring mid-season or mid-year frustrates managers and creates disputes about historical fairness.
Scoring System Quick Reference
| Setting | Standard value | Alternative | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rushing yards | 0.1 pts/yard (1 pt per 10) | 0.1 uniform | Different rates for rush vs. receive tilt RB vs. WR value |
| Receiving yards | 0.1 pts/yard | — | Same as rushing in most standard setups |
| Rushing + receiving TDs | 6 pts | 4 pts (less common) | 4-pt TDs compress the gap between volume scorers and TD-dependent players |
| Passing TDs | 4 pts (platform default) | 6 pts | 6-pt passing TDs elevate QB draft value significantly; make QB a must-start |
| Receptions | 0 (standard), 0.5 (half-PPR), 1.0 (PPR) | 1.5 for TE only (TEP) | PPR elevates pass catchers; TEP creates elite TE scarcity premium |
| Fumbles lost / INTs | −2 pts each | −1 per fumble regardless of recovery | Either is reasonable; set explicitly before season |
| Decimal scoring | Enable | — | Never disable; rounding creates false ties between very different yardage totals |
| Kicker | Remove or score minimally | Retain with fractional scoring | Kicker is nearly random; most competitive leagues drop it |
Core Scoring Categories
Rushing and receiving yards. The standard is 1 point per 10 yards (0.1 per yard), applied identically to rushing and receiving yards in most standard leagues. Some leagues use different rates for rushing vs. receiving — a potential source of RB vs. WR value tilts.
Touchdowns. Standard is 6 points for rushing and receiving touchdowns. The major variation is passing touchdowns, which many platforms default to 4 points rather than 6. Six-point passing TDs significantly elevate QB values and make QB a must-start position rather than a streamed position.
Receptions (PPR scoring):
- Standard: 0 points per reception (yards and TDs only)
- Half-PPR: 0.5 points per reception
- PPR: 1 point per reception
PPR is the most popular format in competitive leagues. It elevates pass catchers (WRs, receiving RBs, TEs) and makes the game more interesting for players at those positions.
TE Premium (TEP). Some leagues give TEs 1.5 points per reception instead of 1.0, making elite TEs significantly more valuable. This reduces the positional scarcity disadvantage at TE and creates more competition for top TEs at the draft.
Secondary Scoring Categories
Bonuses for big games. Many leagues add bonuses for performance thresholds: 100-yard rushing or receiving game: +1 or +2 points; 300-yard passing game: +1 or +2 points; 40+ yard plays: +1 point each. Bonuses reward elite performances and create additional scoring drama. Positive addition for engaged leagues that want more in-game events to track.
Fumbles and interceptions. Most leagues score fumbles lost and interceptions at −2 points each. This creates mild downside for mistake-prone players.
Two-point conversions. Two-point conversion catches and runs score at 2 points in most systems that include them.
What to Leave Out
Kicker. The kicker position is nearly random in fantasy football — a kicker’s floor is driven by his offense’s red zone failure rate, not his own skill. Most competitive leagues eliminate kicker entirely. Removing kicker opens a roster spot for a meaningful skill-position player.
Individual defensive players (IDP). IDP leagues score individual defensive players in addition to team DST. IDP creates significant additional complexity and is appropriate for experienced leagues — not casual or new leagues.
Platform Configuration Checklist
Tiebreakers. When two teams tie at the same point total in a head-to-head week, most leagues break ties by total bench points. Set this in platform settings explicitly before the season.
Decimal scoring. Enable decimal scoring (0.1 per yard) rather than rounded scoring. Decimal scoring eliminates unfair situations where two players with very different yardage totals score identically because both round to the same integer.
For how the scoring system interacts with draft strategy for each format, see: PPR Fantasy Football Strategy: How PPR Scoring Changes Lineup Decisions and Player Values. For how to document the scoring system in your league constitution, see: How to Write a Fantasy Football League Constitution: What to Include and Why It Matters.