Cornhole Bag Rules: Official Size, Weight & Regulations

Under ACL rules, a bag measures 6 inches wide by 6 inches long, with a tolerance of ± 1/4 inch. That tolerance accounts for minor variation in stitching and fill settling, not for bags cut to a noticeably different size.

The ACA specifies a larger bag: 6.25 inches by 6.25 inches, made from two fabric squares with a 1/4 inch stitched seam on all four sides. The quarter-inch difference sounds trivial, but it means a bag cut to the ACA size sits at or outside the top of the ACL's tolerance — the two standards are not a single "regulation" size with rounding between them.

Casual and backyard bags are often close to these sizes since most sets sold for home use are modeled on one standard or the other, but they are rarely measured before a game. Competition play is different — bags that fall outside the tolerance of the rulebook in force can be set aside during inspection.

It depends on the sanctioning body. The ACL specifies 6 inches by 6 inches with ± 1/4 inch of tolerance; the ACA specifies 6.25 inches by 6.25 inches with a 1/4 inch stitched seam on all four sides. Check which rulebook governs your event before you buy.

The ACL requires 15.5 to 16.5 ounces. That narrow range gives every bag in a set a similar feel in the hand and a similar amount of momentum in the air, so the outcome of a throw comes down to skill rather than equipment. The ACA allows 14 to 16 ounces — a wider band, and one that sits lower, reflecting the feed-corn fill the ACA is written around.

The practical consequence: a 14.5 oz bag is legal under the ACA and illegal under the ACL, while a 16.5 oz bag is legal under the ACL and illegal under the ACA. Only the 15.5–16 oz overlap satisfies both.

Recreational bags are rarely weighed and can drift outside either range, especially with corn-filled bags that lose or absorb moisture over time. In sanctioned play, bags that are significantly under or overweight can be flagged during inspection and swapped before the match continues.

The ACL requires 15.5 to 16.5 ounces per bag; the ACA allows 14 to 16 ounces. Bags between 15.5 and 16 ounces meet both, which is the safest range if you play under more than one rulebook.

The outer shell is typically a woven duck cloth or an approved synthetic fabric, chosen for durability and a consistent surface texture. Seams are double-stitched and sealed to keep the fill contained through repeated throws, and the shell holds its square shape rather than stretching out of tolerance with use.

This is where the two rulebooks diverge most sharply, so the answer depends entirely on which one you play under.

The ACL permits plastic resin and nothing else. Resin is a small, uniform plastic fill that packs evenly inside the bag, so the weight stays consistent across every bag in a set and doesn't shift unpredictably mid-throw. A corn-filled bag is not legal in ACL sanctioned play, and bags may not be altered after purchase — no adding or removing resin, no re-stitching, no ironing.

The ACA is written around feed corn, roughly two cups per bag, and allows plastic pellets as an all-weather substitute. A corn-filled bag that would be rejected outright at an ACL event is the ACA's default.

Resin has become the competitive norm because it holds up better across three areas that matter for consistent play: consistency from bag to bag, durability over hundreds of throws, and resistance to moisture and weather. Corn-filled bags remain common for casual and backyard sets — they're cheaper and still throw fine for a backyard game — but corn absorbs humidity, can develop mold over time, and settles unevenly.

Beyond size, weight and fill, regulation bags have to hold together the same way over the course of a match. That comes down to a few construction details: seams, containment and overall uniformity.

Seams must be fully sealed so the fill can't leak or shift out through a gap. The ACA states the requirement dimensionally — two fabric squares joined by a 1/4 inch stitched seam on all four sides. The ACL states it by outcome instead: a bag with holes where resin can leak is not allowed, and once a bag leaves the manufacturer it may not be altered in any way, which rules out repairs and re-stitching. The fill needs to stay evenly distributed inside the shell rather than clumping in a corner, and the bag needs to keep its square shape throw after throw instead of stretching, sagging or ballooning out of tolerance.

The ACL adds a gate the ACA has no equivalent for: bags used in sanctioned play must come from a manufacturer on the Approved Bag Manufacturer List, published annually, and must carry that manufacturer's logo or stamp. A faded stamp is not accepted, and bags cannot be re-stamped.

For backyard play, homemade bags are perfectly fine — plenty of casual sets are sewn at home with a fabric shell and a corn or resin fill, and no one is checking dimensions before the game starts.

For sanctioned or tournament play, it's different, and the two bodies differ here too. Under the ACA, a homemade bag can be used in competition if it's built to the size, weight, material and construction rules above and passes any inspection the event requires. Under the ACL it cannot: bags must come from a manufacturer on the Approved Bag Manufacturer List and carry that manufacturer's stamp, so a home-sewn bag is ineligible however precisely it's made.

Each side's set of 4 bags is a single, distinct color so players and spectators can tell at a glance which bags belong to which side once they land on the board. The two colors just need to be clearly distinguishable from each other — there's no official list of approved colors, and casual sets come in whatever colors the manufacturer offers.

Under ACA rules, bags don't need any specific marking to be legal for play as long as they meet the size, weight and material rules. The ACL is stricter: all four bags in a set must share the same design and color on each corresponding side, and every bag must carry a legible manufacturer logo or stamp. Players may write their initials or name on a bag in permanent marker, within about 5 square inches.

A bag that met the size, weight and construction rules when it was new can still be pulled from play later if it no longer holds up. Bags with visible rips or tears, leaking or contaminated fill, or seams that have come apart are generally not allowed once the damage affects how the bag performs.

Bags that have been deliberately altered — resewn to a different size, refilled with a non-regulation material, or weighted unevenly — fall under the same restriction, since the point of the condition rule is to keep every bag performing the way it did when it was inspected and approved.

In backyard play, a slightly worn or lightly torn bag usually just keeps getting thrown until someone replaces it. In sanctioned play, a bag with a tear, a leak, or damage that changes its weight or shape is not tournament-legal and should be swapped for a compliant bag before the match continues.

Sanctioned tournaments can inspect bags before or during play to confirm they meet the size, weight, material and construction specifications above. Any bag a player brings to the event — not just bags supplied by the organizer — is expected to comply.

A bag that fails inspection is simply not used. The player or team swaps it for a compliant bag, either from their own set or one provided by the event, and play continues. Repeatedly bringing non-compliant equipment can be treated as a rules violation depending on the tournament's own policy.

No. Bag specifications don't change based on the format being played — the same size, weight, material and condition rules apply whether it's singles or doubles. What changes between formats is the number of players, not the equipment.

What this means in practice. The overlap between the two standards is narrow. A bag has to be 6 to 6.25 inches square and weigh 15.5 to 16 ounces to satisfy both on size and weight at once — and even then, an ACL event will still reject it unless it came from an approved manufacturer with the stamp intact.

If you play under one body, buy to that body's spec. If you play under both, buy ACL-approved resin bags: they clear the ACL's manufacturer gate, and their size and weight fall inside the ACA's ranges, since the ACA permits plastic pellets as an all-weather alternative to corn. The reverse doesn't work — a corn-filled ACA bag is never legal in ACL play.