On January 29th, 2026, Version 3.0 of the V5RC Push Back Game Manual was released, and the following changes were made:
- Expanded the definition of Goalkeeping for clarity
A Robot status and/or Robot action. In Push Back, a Robot is Goalkeeping while it is reaching into any open portion of a Goal while not attempting to change the score of the Match through legal means (i.e., the Robot is not actively moving Blocks inside a Goal, and is not adding or removing Blocks to/from a Goal or a Control Zone). A Robot can be in possession of a Block and capable of scoring, but still be Goalkeeping based on its actions. See <SG10> for more information.
- Expanded <G4d> to clarify that unmodified Hero Bots are always legal for use
Clause D does not apply in situations where both/all teams are using the unmodified Hero Bot design, as allowed by clause C of this rule.
- Revised the Violation note of <GG9> for clarity
- Updated <SC6> and <VUG4> to match new starting position definition
- Neither Robot is partially or entirely within the vertical projection of its Alliance-colored Park Zone or contacting the Park Zone barrier.
- Revised the starting position in <SG1> from contacting the barrier to breaking the plane of the Alliance-colored Park Zone
- Updated <SG10> and added Violation notes for clarity and to address Goalkeeping stalemates and repeated Violations
Goalkeeping is allowed during the Autonomous Period.
In the event of a Goalkeeping stalemate (i.e., no Blocks are moving inside the Goal) involving two or more Goalkeeping Robots, both Robots would receive <SG10> Violations if they remain within the Goal without moving Blocks. In this case, a Robot should receive a Major Violation if their mechanism adds or removes Blocks to or from the Control Zone and/or Goal as they depart.
a. A Team with one or two <SG10> Violations in a Match should be considered Match Affecting if the Team responsible ties or wins the Match by 10 points or less.
b. For the purposes of this rule, the following guidelines should be used to escalate repeated Minor Violations to a Major Violation in Qualification and Elimination Matches:i. Three or more <SG10> Violations in a single Match.
ii. Three or more Matches with at least one <SG10> Violation (i.e., the third Match and all subsequent Matches with a Violation)."
- Updated <R6f> to specify that number/letter stickers are legal for use on license plates instead of or in addition to those in the V5RC License Plate Kit
- Added a bullet to <R8> to mandate that Team numbers be used as the brain name
- Updated <R17> to specify the V5RC Legal Parts List as the official list of legal parts
- Revised <R20> to reference the new V5RC Legal Parts List
- Updated <R24> to clarify that the prohibition on changing part colors in mainland China only applies to VEX parts
- Updated <T20> to clarify the number of skills attempts available to each Team at a league session
- Added a new sentence to <VURS2> to specify that each Robot must have a preload
Each Robot must have a Preload that meets the requirements of <SG1> and <SG5>.
- Revised the maximum voltage of additional battery packs in <VUR12cii> to provide allowance for tolerance
This additional battery pack must operate at a maximum of less than 13 volts.
- Expanded <VUR12g> to reflect legal non-electronic modifications to V5 sensors
It is legal to rotate the blocks of the V5 Optical Sensor and V5 Distance Sensor relative to their bases, and to manufacture custom back plates for these sensors.
- Added significant Q&As throughout the manual
- Minor typo / formatting fixes
The next manual update, Version 4.0 will occur on April 2, 2026.