Equipment

The paintball equipment used may depend on the game type, for example: woodsball, speedball, or scenario; on how much money one is willing to spend on equipment; and personal preference. However, almost every player will utilize three basic pieces of equipment:

Paintball marker: also known as a "paintball gun", this is the primary piece of equipment, used to mark the opposing player with paintballs. The paintball gun must have a loader or "hopper" or magazines attached to keep the marker fed with paint, and will be either spring-fed, gravity-fed (where balls drop into the loading chamber), or electronically force-fed. Modern markers require a compressed-air tank or CO₂ tank. In contrast, very early bolt-action paintball markers used disposable silver capsules (12-gram CO₂ cartridges) normally seen in pellet guns. In the mid to late 1980s, marker mechanics improved to include constant air pressure and semi-automatic operation. Further improvements included increased rates of fire; carbon dioxide (CO₂) tanks from 3.5 to 40 ounces, and compressed-air or nitrogen tanks in a variety of sizes and pressure capacities up to 5000 PSI. The use of unstable CO₂ causes damage to the low-pressure pneumatic components inside electronic markers, therefore the more stable compressed air is preferred by owners of such markers.

Paintballs: The ammunition used in the marker, paintballs are spherical gelatin capsules containing primarily polyethylene glycol, other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, and dye. The quality of paintballs is dependent on the brittleness of the ball's shell, the roundness of the sphere, and the thickness of the fill; higher-quality balls are almost perfectly spherical, with a very thin shell to guarantee breaking upon impact, and a thick, brightly colored fill that is difficult to hide or wipe off during the game. The highest-grade paintballs incorporate cornstarch and metallic flake into the fill to leave a thick glittery "splat" that is very obvious against any background color, and hard to wipe off. Almost all paintballs in use today are biodegradable. All ingredients used in the making of a paintball are food-grade quality and are harmless to the participants and environment. Manufacturers and distributors have been making the effort to move away from the traditional oil-based paints and compressed CO₂ gas propellant, to a more friendly water-based formula and compressed air in an effort to become more "eco-friendly". Paintballs come in a variety of sizes, including of 0.50" (.50 Caliber) an 0.68" (.68 Caliber).

Mask or goggles: Masks are safety devices players are required to wear at all times on the field, to protect them from paintballs. The original equipment used by players were safety goggles of the type used in labs and wood shops; today's goggles are derived from skiing/snowboarding goggles, with an attached shell that completely covers the eyes, mouth, ears and nostrils of the wearer. Masks can also feature throat guards. Modern masks have evolved to be less bulky compared with older designs. Some players may remove the mouth and/or ear protection for aesthetic or comfort reasons, but this is neither recommended nor often allowed at commercial venues.

Additional equipment, commonly seen among frequent players, tournament participants, and professional players include:

Pods and pod packs: The most common addition to the above "mandatory" equipment, pods are plastic containers, usually with flip-open lids, that store paintballs in a ready-to-use manner. Pods are available in many sizes, including 10, 80, 100 and 140-round sizes, with the larger 140-round pods being most common among tournament players. Pods are carried by the player in pod packs or harnesses which facilitate easy access to the pods during play. There are several designs of pod packs, from belt loops allowing a recreational player to carry one or two extra pods, to harness designs generally designed for either tournament-style or scenario-style players.

Squeegee/swab - From time to time, a paintball will break inside the player's marker. When this happens it coats the inner surfaces of the marker with paint, especially the barrel, which considerably reduces accuracy. While speedball and tournament players generally have no time to clear this obstruction and instead simply "shoot through it", woodsball and scenario players generally carry a tool to allow them to clear the barrel following a break. There are several types of squeegee, most of which are advantageous in two of three areas and disadvantageous in the last: cleaning time, effectiveness, and storage space.

Paintball jerseys and pants: Originally derived from motocross and BMX attire, tournament players commonly wear special outer clothing with integrated padding that allows the player a free range of motion, and helps protect the player both from paintball hits and from incidental contact with rocks and hard ground. Certain designs of jersey and pant even advertise lower incidence of hits, due to increased "bounce-offs" and "breakaways". In indoor fields, where shooting generally happens at very close range, hard-shelled armor is sometimes worn to protect the player from bruising and welts from close-range hits.

Elbow and knee pads: Common among outdoor sports, players can choose to help protect knee, elbow and even hip joints from jarring impact with the use of pads. For paintball, these pads are generally soft foam worn inside a player's pants to prevent abrasion of the pad against the ground.

Gloves: Paintball impacts to the hands, knuckles and fingers can be extremely painful and temporarily debilitating. In addition, being an outdoor sport, players are often prone or crawling which can cause scrapes to the hands. Padded or armored gloves help reduce the potential for injury to the hands from these things.

Athletic protector: Also common in other sports involving potential impact of fast-moving objects, players generally take care to protect sensitive or vulnerable anatomical areas from painful hits and injury; men commonly wear an athletic supporter with a rigid cup similar to types used in football, lacrosse, hockey or baseball, while women often wear a pelvic protector and a padded or hard-shelled sports bra also commonly seen in the aforementioned sports.

Other paint marking equipment: Normally seen in scenario play only, and disallowed at most tournaments, other forms of paint-marking equipment are sold, such as paint-grenades (paint-filled balloons or lengths of surgical hose), "paint throwers" (designed to model the effect of flamethrowers, basically a large water cannon filled with paint), and markers (used for close range, usually a bright color, so as to see were a player got "cut" with the pen.).

Vehicles: Again normally only seen in scenario play, a variety of vehicles have been devised based on go-karts, ATVs, etc. to create "armored vehicles", within which players are protected from hits and can move around on the field. Such vehicles may employ a wide range of mounted paint-discharging weaponry.

Paintball is played with a potentially limitless variety of rules and variations, which are specified before the game begins. The most basic game rule is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being shot and marked with a paintball. A variety of different rules govern the legality of a hit, ranging from "anything counts" (hits cause elimination whether the paintball broke and left a mark or not) to the most common variation: the paintball must break and leave a mark the size of a US quarter or larger. Eliminated players are expected to leave the field of play; eliminations may also earn the opposing team points. Depending on the agreed upon game rules, the player may return to the field and continue playing, or is eliminated from the game completely.

Regulated games are overseen by referees or marshals, who patrol the course to ensure enforcement of the rules and the safety of the players. If a player is marked with paint, they will call them out, but competitors may also be expected to follow the honor code; a broken ball means elimination. Field operators may specify variations to this rule, such as requiring a tag to certain body locations only – such as the head and torso only. There are game rules that can be enforced depending on the venue, to ensure safety, balance the fairness of the game or eliminate cheating.