--- title: Prerequisites description: Organizational structure, timeline, CTFtime registration, sponsorships, rules, and communication setup for your CTF. order: 1 --- Before building challenges or deploying infrastructure, decide who is responsible for each part of the event, set a schedule, and establish how participants will get information and support. ## Organizational structure A small team can run a strong event, but every important job needs a clear owner. - **Organizers** own the schedule, final decisions, sponsor relationships, merchandise, and prizes. - **Challenge authors** build challenges and playtest one another's work. - **Infrastructure leads** deploy the platform and challenges, monitor them during the event, and respond to security or capacity problems. For a long event, rotate this responsibility so someone with access is always available. - **Support team members** answer participant tickets and bring challenge or infrastructure problems to the right person. :::tip[Team size] Five to ten organizers can usually cover a 24 to 48 hour CTF with 20 to 30 challenges. People can hold more than one role, but plan shift coverage before assuming a small team is enough. ::: ### Timeline Start at least two or three months before the event. One workable schedule is: - **Three months out**, choose the date, outline the challenges, contact sponsors, and start the CTFtime registration. - **Two months out**, begin writing challenges. - **Two weeks out**, freeze new challenge ideas and focus on playtesting, revisions, platform setup, and infrastructure testing. - **One week out**, finalize every challenge, open registration, announce the event, and prepare Discord for participants. ## CTFtime [CTFtime](https://ctftime.org) is where most teams discover upcoming CTFs and track their results. Check its calendar before choosing a date, then list the event early enough for the registration to be approved. :::note[Regarding conflicts] Avoid overlapping major events, especially qualifiers for onsite finals and competitions with large prizes. ::: Listing a CTF takes three steps: 1. [Create a team](https://ctftime.org/team/new/). The same team can compete in and organize events. 2. [Register the event series](https://ctftime.org/event/mail/), such as "My CTF." The CTFtime team reviews this manually, so submit it well before the event. 3. [Add an edition](https://ctftime.org/event/new/) for the specific competition, such as "My CTF 2026." After the event, upload the final scoreboard so teams receive CTFtime ranking points. Competitors also vote on the event's [weight](https://ctftime.org/faq/#weight-vote), which can increase as the event establishes a history. :::note CTFtime also publishes [resources for event organizers](https://ctftime.org/for-organizers/). ::: ## Homepage The homepage is the first thing participants see. It should cover event timing, rules, prizes, sponsors, and anything else worth surfacing up front. ### Rules Publish the rules before registration opens. A reasonable starting point is: > - There is no team limit.\* > - Do not attack or interfere with other teams, the competition infrastructure, or other competitors. > - Do not share flags, solutions, or hints with other teams. > - Do not discuss challenges with other teams until the CTF is over. > - Do not attempt to brute-force flags or flag submission endpoints. > - Do not use automated tools or scanners against competition infrastructure. > - Each player may only be a member of one team. Do not register multiple accounts. > - Tiebreakers are resolved by the timestamp of the last solve that brought the team to their final score. > - Violating any of the above rules may result in disqualification at the discretion of the organizers. :::note \*Team size limits are difficult to enforce. rCTF gives each team one shared token, so the platform cannot count individual members. ::: ### Sponsorships and prizes Prizes are optional, though many events reward the top three teams or strong post-event writeups. Sponsors often cover those costs. When looking for sponsors: - Start two or three months ahead. Approval can take time. - Prepare a short proposal with the event audience, expected participation, sponsor benefits, and a few funding levels. - Begin with companies and organizations that already support security events or have worked with your team. Possible starting points include: - [OtterSec](https://osec.io/ctf) - [GCP credits for CTF infrastructure by Google](https://goo.gle/ctfsponsorship) - Sponsor lists from [upcoming](https://ctftime.org/event/list/upcoming) and [past](https://ctftime.org/event/list/past) CTFs Common sponsor benefits include: - Logo placement on the CTF homepage and merchandise, if applicable - Shoutouts on social media and announcement channels - A challenge written by the sponsor or built around one of its tools, when that fits the event - A talk or booth at an onsite event ## Communication ### Discord setup Most CTFs use Discord as the main communication channel for announcements, support, and post-event discussion. A typical Discord server configuration for a CTF includes the following channels: | Channel | Purpose | | --- | --- | | `#rules` | Discord and CTF-specific rules | | `#announcements` | Registration status, CTF start/end times, challenge updates, and feedback requests | | `#first-bloods` | Recognition of teams who achieved the first solve on a challenge | | `#support` | Support ticket creation for issues such as broken challenges (e.g., via [Tickets v2](https://tickets.bot/)) | | `#general` | General discussion | | `#looking-for-team` | Team formation for participants seeking teammates | | `#web`/`#rev`/`#pwn`/... | Category-specific discussion channels, if desired | Keep support in one place instead of answering direct messages. A ticket channel gives the team a shared record of platform problems, broken challenges, incorrect flags, and hint requests. ### Hints :::caution[No-hint policy] Do not give private hints to individual teams. Even a well-intended nudge can look unfair in a competition. ::: When a participant reports a challenge problem, confirm that the live service and reference solution still work. Do not reveal anything about the intended solution. If you need to publish a hint or clarification, follow the [hint policy](/meta/running-a-successful-ctf/during-ctf#hint-policy).