Why Can't I Assign Officials?

Updated Since 12/2/2025

If an official does not appear as available or cannot be assigned to a game, it is likely due to a conflict with their ranking, eligibility, or profile settings. This article explains how to identify the specific error code preventing the assignment and provides solutions for the most common availability issues.

Sections

Steps for Troubleshooting
Check the Official’s Rank
Check the Official’s Eligibility
Check if the Official has Blocks/Conflicts
Check if the Official’s Travel Limits
Check if the Official is Inactive/Not Ready
Double Check Your Scope
Double Check Game Counts

Steps for Troubleshooting

Follow these steps to determine why an official is not showing as ready to be assigned.

1. Navigate to the Schedule tab.

2. Open the slot on the game in question.

3. Click Assign on the game in question.

4. Click Issue Summary.

5. Find the official in question, then click on their Issues code located next to the official's name.

6. Refer to the message that appears below it to determine exactly why the official is not available for assigning. The number identifies how many issues the assignment has, and the letters identify what the issue is. Some examples include game conflict, travel limit, date block, or rank. You can also refer to the Issue Legend located on the left side.

Note: Some issues might be overridable. If the Assign options on the far right side (pending/published and Assign) are grayed out and you cannot click Assign, the issue needs to be resolved before the official can be assigned.

Check the Official’s Rank

The most common reason why assigners cannot assign officials is that each official needs to be ranked for each position. For example, baseball might have a position as Home Plate, First Base, and Third Base. Each official needs to be ranked for these three positions separately.

To learn how to rank of officials, click on the article below:
How to Rank Officials

The official's rank for each position must also be within the set rank range (100-999) that has been set for each position (this is done under Resources > Sports > Levels > Positions). 

For example, if you’re assigning an official for a position ranked between 100 to 400, you need to make sure the official is ranked somewhere within that range in order to assign them to that position.

If an official is not ranked for that sport/position, they will not show up even if you check under Issue Summary.

Check the Official's Eligibility

This is important if you are using eligibility in your Arbiter account. If your eligibility is set to provide an eligible status for a certain time frame (for example, October 2025 to October 2026), then your officials need to be added to that eligibility to show up for game assigning and the date range of that eligibility period needs to be up-to-date.

Check if the Official has Blocks/Conflicts

A common reason why officials might not show as available to assign is due to a blocked date or a game conflict. If the official has set a block for the date of a particular game, or if the official is already accepted on a game that conflicts with the game you are trying to assign them to, then the official will not show as available to assign, although some blocks can be overridden when assigning.

Check if the Official has Travel Limits

Sometimes, officials will not show up as available to assign because of an issue with travel limits.

• No leave city: If you check an official's error code and it states “No leave city”, this means the official needs to enter their postal code under their travel limits. The official must have the “set travel limits” permission to be able to do this. Otherwise, you as the assigner will need to update this.
• Exceeds travel limit: If you check an official's assigning error code and it states the official will exceed their travel limit, this means that the travel distance to the game exceeds the distance the official is willing to travel from their postal code.

Check if the Official is Inactive/Not Ready

If an official is not marked as active, they cannot be assigned to games. If an official is marked as Not Ready to be Assigned, they will not show as available for assigning. To mark an official as active and ready to be assigned, follow the steps below:

Check if the Official is Marked Active

1. Click People.

2. Click the edit pencil next to the official in question.

3. On the official's profile screen, click on My Organization.

4. Click the drop-down arrow and select Active.

5. Click Save.

Check if the Official is Marked as Ready

1. Click People.

2. On the official in question, click on the 3 dots located on the right hand side.

3. On the drop down menu, click Mark as Ready.

Double Check your Scope

If you know for a fact the official in question is ranked for the proper sport and position, but you still do not see them when you go to assign, it is possible that you are not scoped to see that official yet.

As a primary admin, you can adjust this scope under People > Group Admins > Utilities > Scope.

If you are a sub-admin, you will either need to contact your primary admin to adjust your scope for this official or you can adjust your own official's scope with the new permission called “Set scope for officials” for sub-admins (note this is a permission only given by the primary admin). If you have been given this permission, go to People > Group Admins > Utilities > Scope.

Double Check Game Counts

There may be instances where you cannot assign an official because they have reached a maximum number of games. There are a few different settings under the official's profile and under the level settings for game limits that the assigner can place, as described below. 

Level Settings

1. Click Resources.
2. Click the levels on the far right side next to the sport.
3. Click the edit pencil next to the level in question.
4. There are several settings here for game counts under the Assigning Related section such as Max Games, Days/Game (Days Per Game), Days/HTeam (Days Per Home Team), Days/VTeam (Days Per Visiting Team), Days/Partner (Days Per Partner), and Max Games/Team/Year (Max Games Per Team Per Year).

Profile Settings

1. Click People.

2. Click on the 3 dots.

3. Select Assigning Settings.

4. Edit the Assigning Setting, then click Save.

Related to

• Assigner