NHRL Pro Tour Rules - 2026

Introduction and Notes

In order to make the NHRL Pro Tour the most competitive, entertaining, and professional sporting experience possible, NHRL has implemented a modified rule set for Pro Tour events. This document outlines those changes, with all other rules remaining unchanged from the base NHRL Open 2026 rule set.

Functionality at Weigh-In:

In addition to weighing-in before each fight, competitors must demonstrate drive and weapon functionality before being released from the pits to the arena area for a fight.

Drone Cams:

NHRL may use drone based camera systems within the arena during a match. If a drone becomes entangled with a robot, the match will be paused and staff with attempt to remove the drone if possible. Any damaged caused by drone entanglement will be treated as normal damage caused by arena debris. Competitors may request that a drone cam not be used during a match. Competitors are asked not to intentionally target the drone cam and concentrate on their matches, but they will not be penalized for incidental contact with or damage to the drone.

Cage-side Repairs:

All competitors are given 3 minutes for cage-side repairs. Cage-side repairs do not incur TKO points. A three minute timer will be started the moment a competitor starts to work on their robot beyond power cycling or weapon lock removal. The arena-side steward must be alerted and present during cage-side repairs.

Cage-side Robot Swaps:

In the first 90 seconds of cage-side repairs, a competitor may elect to switch a robot out for a spare. The competitor must immediately proceed to the pits (or send a team member to do so) and return with the spare robot. No repairs or work may be completed on the spare robot once the competitor elects to switch. The spare robot must be weigh in before being brought cage-side. To avoid unsafe rushing, there is no explicit time limit for travel to and from the pits for swapping robots, but it must be done as quickly as is safe.

Competitors may only swap robots in cases of unexpected malfunctions. Stewards will monitor cage-side swaps to ensure good faith, and to prevent swaps with the purpose of exchanging robots for more favorable configurations.

Forfeit Delays:

If a competitor is unable to repair a robot in time for an upcoming match, the pit-side steward will be alerted. The pit-side steward will communicate with other NHRL staff to see if extra time can be allotted depending on tournament scheduling constraints. NHRL staff will inform the pit-side steward of the maximum amount of flexibility available given tournament timing constraints. This amount of time may be zero, in which case the competitor must immediately forfeit. Otherwise, the pit-side steward will assess whether they believe there is a greater than 50% chance the competitor will be ready in the available time. If not, the competitor must immediately forfeit. If so, a timer will begin and the competitor will be granted the prescribed amount of time for their robot to finish repairs and arrive at the weigh in station ready to fight.

Robot Changes Between Events:

Within normal NHRL Open events, builders may upgrade and change their robot throughout the season, but require special approval when changing the Archetype of their robot as described in the Archetype section of the NHRL Open Rules. Additionally, a builder may only compete in the NHRL Pro World Championship with Archetypes setups that made it through safety inspection at a qualifying event earlier in the year.

Because of the limited number of Pro Tour events in 2026, and because of the priority placed on allowing builders to improve their robots, there is more flexibility for changes in robot design in the Pro Tour. Approval is still required for changes to Archetypes, but the primary focus for approval is ensuring that any changes actually make the robot more effective. Please contact NHRL to get approval on changes you may be considering for Pro Tour events.