There are some common rules that you should follow when playing paintball. They come in different groups and we'll touch on each set to give you a good overview.

Common Safety Rules
The "big three" rules that you will encounter on almost any field will involve the following: players must wearing goggles and masks at all times when on or within a limited number of feet of the playing field. Second, any paintball marker used by a player may not shoot paintballs that travel faster than 300 feet per second (about 200 MPH), and third, barrel plugs must be in at all times when not in the playing area.

Common Tagging rules
The general rule of thumb is that if a player is marked anywhere on their body and that mark is bigger than a quarter, the player is considered to have been eliminated, unless you've all agreed prior to the game starting that only a particular body part getting marked will count or you are wearing a taped "X" on your jersey and only hitting the mark will get you out. In most cases, a player saying that they were hit even if the paintball didn't break will be enough to eliminate them from the game. Don't be a "wiper". That's a player that has been legitimately marked and has wiped off the paint to keep playing.

Common Rules of Surrender
Some fields will have a rule that if a player is within a 10-foot distance of an opponent who hasn't spotted the fact they've had someone sneak up on them; then the player must demand the opponent's surrender before they may open fire. If the opponent complies, they are simply eliminated. However, some opponents will turn and fire out of surprise. Shooting at distances this close is considered dangerous and should not be done.