How it works
This scoreboard countdown is a game clock and nothing else: large digits, a length you set, and a pause for every stoppage. It keeps no score. Tap a quarter, half or period length, or type your own minutes and seconds.
Read the full guide
Set the period length
The clock opens at 12:00. Tap a length from 5 to 45 minutes, or tap the time and type your own. Ready-made routines lists period lengths by sport and level of play; choose one and the clock takes its name and length.
Run it as a scoreboard countdown clock
Press Start the timer. At a whistle press the same button to pause, and again to go on. Full screen fills a laptop, a tablet or a television joined to one. + 1 min adds a minute. Paused, Reset returns to the full length.
At 0:00
The clock reads Time is up and counts up from there, so the table sees how long ago the period ended. The end sound is off until you switch it on.
- The clock runs straight through. Where the rules stop the clock at a dead ball, the timekeeper pauses it by hand.
- A league, a state association or a tournament can set its own period length. Read your rule book, then type that length.
- Set the device's screen timeout to its longest before the game: a screen that sleeps hides the clock.
Questions and answers
Is this a free scoreboard countdown?
Yes. It runs in the browser on a phone, a tablet or a laptop, with no sign-up, no download and no account.
Can the countdown be paused for a timeout?
Yes. The main button pauses the clock and starts it again from the same second, as often as the game stops. On a keyboard the space bar does the same.
How long is a quarter in basketball?
Ten minutes under international rules, twelve in the top North American men's professional game and eight in most US high school varsity games. US college men play two 20-minute halves. Each is in the ready-made list here, with its source.
Does the countdown show the score?
No. This page is the clock alone. For the score, use the scoreboard template linked under the clock: it prints blank or adds each period's points as you type.
Can the clock go on a television or a projector?
Open the page on a laptop joined to the screen and press Full screen. The digits are sized from the window, so they grow with the screen.