Chinese Official Mahjong Scoring Rules

The Chinese Official Scoring is the standardized ruleset that is maintained by World Mahjong Association and is used in the World Mahjong Championship. It provides a large array of different scoring rules that gives players flexibility in gameplay to emphasize skill and strategy.

There are no required Pungs or Chows in order for a hand to be considered valid. Instead, any combination of 4 triples and a pair can be considered winning, if it scores at least 8 points. There are also a set of specialty hands that do not form 4 triples and a pair and are still valid.

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Transferring Points

If a player wins, all players must automatically give 8 points to the winner. Additional points equal to the value of the winning hand must be given by:

The player who discarded the winning tile if the winner won off their discard.
All players if the winner won by self-draw.

e.g. Player 1 wins a hand worth 12 points by a discard from Player 2.
- Player 1 gains 8×3 + 12 = 36 points
- Player 2 loses 8 + 12 = 20 points
- Player 3 loses 8 points
- Player 4 loses 8 points
e.g. Player 1 wins a hand worth 12 points by self-draw.
- Player 1 gains 8×3 + 12×3 = 60 points
- Player 2 loses 8 + 12 = 20 points
- Player 3 loses 8 + 12 = 20 points
- Player 4 loses 8 + 12 = 20 points

General Scoring Principles

When scoring, we follow 5 main principles:

The Non-Repeat Principle: When a scoring rule is implied or included by another, it is not scored.
- e.g. If you have a hand of All Even Pungs, you receive the points for All Even Pungs but not the points for having All Pungs.
The Non-Separation Principle: Once pieces are arranged into groups to apply a scoring rule, it cannot be re-arranged into different groups to apply different scoring rules.
- e.g. If you have 3 copies of Bamboo 1,2,3, it arranged into 3 Chows of Bamboo 1,2,3, or a Pung of Bamboo 1, a Pung of Bamboo 2 and a Pung of Bamboo 3. However, you must pick one arrangement or another. You cannot have both the points for having a Pure Triple Chow and the points for having Pure Shifted Pungs.
The Non-Identical Principle: One triple cannot be used to score the same scoring rule twice.
- e.g. If you have a Chow of Circle 1,2,3, Chow of Circle 4,5,6 and two Chows of Circle 7,8,9, you can only receive the points for having a Pure Straight once. You cannot use the second Chow of Circle 7,8,9 to make a second Pure Straight with the same 1,2,3 and 4,5,6 Chows.
The Freedom to Choose: This is related to principle 2, which is that a player gets to choose how groups are formed to maximize their points.
- When playing on PlayMahjong.io, the winning player automatically gets the maximum possible scoring for their hand.
Exclusionary Rule: Players can use groups multiple times to receive points from different scoring rules. However, each set can only be used twice.
- e.g. If you have Mixed Shifted Chows with a duplicate Chow, you receive the 6 points for the Mixed Shifted Chows along with another point for having a Pure Double Chow.
- Rules such as All Honors, All Pungs, All Chows, etc. do not use any groups as they limit the possible groups instead. (e.g. All Honors is a hand with no suits. All Pungs is a hand with no Chows.)
- This a controversial "principle" as it is extremely confusing and unintuitive. The limitation of using each group a certain number of times only applies in niche situations with Chows that change the number of points by 1 or 2. Some other sources online quote a different interpretation of the exclusionary rule that prevents used groups from being combined with other used groups, even if they have both only been used once. This would mean that the order in which you declare scoring rules affects the final scoring. Since this is extremely confusing and doesn't affect gameplay in 99.99% of cases, we will use the above interpretation. TLDR: This principle is confusing and barely affects scoring.

Scoring Rules (Fan)

Each scoring rule gives points depending on how challenging it is to get a hand that satisfies that rule. Points from flowers do not contribute to the requirement of 8 points.

1 Point Rules

Pure Double Chow - Two identical Chows in the same suit.
Mixed Double Chow - Two Chows of the same numbers in different suits.
Short Straight - Two Chows that form a 6-tile straight.
Two Terminal Chows - A Chow of 1,2,3 and a Chow of 7,8,9 in the same suit.
Pung of Terminals or Honors - A Pung or Kong of 1's, 9's, or Winds that are not your Seat Wind or Prevalent Wind.
Melded Kong - A Melded Kong.
One Voided Suit - The hand has no tiles from a specific suit.
No Honor Tiles - The hand has no Honor tiles.
Self Drawn - The player wins by drawing the winning tile.
Flowers - Each flower gives 1 point. These do not contribute to the requirement of 8 points.

Rules 11-13 only apply if the player can only win off of a single type of tile. For instance, only winning off of Bamboo 1.

Edge Wait - Winning on a 3 to form a Chow of 1,2,3 or a 7 to form a Chow of 7,8,9.
Closed Wait - Winning on the middle tile of a Chow. For instance a 3 to form a Chow of
2,3,4.
Pair Wait - Winning on a tile to form a Pair.

2 Point Rules

Dragon Pung - A Pung or Kong of Dragons.
Prevalent Wind - A Pung or Kong of the prevalent Wind.
Seat Wind - A Pung or Kong of the player's seat Wind.
Concealed Hand - The hand has no melded sets and is won by discard.
All Chows - The hand has four Chows and no Honors.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
Tile Hog - The player uses all 4 copies of a tile without using them as a Kong.
Double Pung - Two Pungs (or Kongs) of the same number but in different suits.
Two Concealed Pungs - Two concealed Pungs or Kongs.
Concealed Kong - A concealed Kong.
All Simples - The hand is composed of only Simples (tiles that aren't Honors or 1's and 9's).
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles

4 Point Rules

Outside Hand - Each group (triples and pair) includes a Terminal (1 or 9) or Honor tile.
Fully Concealed Hand - The hand has four concealed groups and is won by self-draw.
Two Melded Kongs - Two Kongs. Note that this can combine with Concealed Kong for a total of 6 points.
Does not combine with:
1. Melded Kong
Last of its Kind - Winning on the publicly last tile of its kind. This tile must be the last tile based on the visible discards and melds.

6 Point Rules

All Pungs - Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair.
Half Flush - The hand is composed entirely of honors and a single suit.
Does not combine with:
1. One Voided Suit
Mixed Shifted Chows - Three chows in the 3 different suits, shifted up by 1.
All Types - The player's hand contains a Bamboo tile, a Character tile, a Circle tile, a Dragon tile and a Wind tile.
Melded Hand - Four melded groups and is won by discard.
Does not combine with:
1. Pair Wait
Two Dragon Pungs - Two Pungs or Kongs of Dragons
Does not combine with:
1. Dragon Pung

8 Point Rules

Mixed Straight - A Chow of 1,2,3, a Chow of 4,5,6 and a Chow of 7,8,9 in three different suits.
Reversible Tiles - The hand is composed of only Reversible (1,2,3,4,5,8,9 Circle; 2,4,5,6,8,9 Bamboo; White Dragon) tiles.
Does not combine with:
1. One Voided Suit
Mixed Triple Chow - Three Chows of the same numbers in the 3 different suits.
Does not combine with:
1. Mixed Double Chow
Mixed Shifted Pungs - Three Pungs or Kongs in the three different suits, shifted up by one.
Two Concealed Kongs - Two concealed Kongs.
Does not combine with:
1. Two Concealed Pungs
2. Concealed Kong
Last Tile Draw - Winning by draw on the last tile of the wall.
Does not combine with:
1. Self Drawn
Last Tile Claim - Winning by discard after the last tile of the wall is drawn.
Out with Replacement Tile - Winning on the replacement tile from declaring a Kong.
Does not combine with:
1. Self Drawn
Robbing the Kong - Winning off the tile that another player attempts to use to promote a Pung to a Kong.
Does not combine with:
1. Last of its Kind
Chicken Hand - Winning with a hand that would otherwise be worth 0 points other than flowers.

12 Point Rules

Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles - The hand is entirely composed of single (unpaired) honors and single tiles from different knitted sequences. If this rule is satisfied, the player can win without the standard 4 triples and a pair.
- Knitted sequences are singles of 1,4,7 in one suit, 2,5,8 in a second suit and 3,6,9 in the third suit.
Does not combine with:
1. Concealed Hand
2. All Types
Knitted Straight - Winning with a hand that has 1,4,7 in one suit, 2,5,8 in a second suit and 3,6,9 in the third suit. This knitted straight is considered to be 3 Chows for the requirement of 4 triples and a pair.
Upper Four - The hand is composed of only suit tiles with numerical values of 6 or greater.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
Lower Four - The hand is composed of only suit tiles with numerical values of 4 or less.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
Big Three Winds - Three Pungs or Kongs of Winds.
Does not combine with:
1. Pung of Terminals or Honors (Unless you have an additional non-wind Pung)

16 Point Rules

Pure Straight - A Chow of 1,2,3, Chow of 4,5,6 and Chow of 7,8,9 in the same suit.
Does not combine with:
1. Short Straight (Unless you have another copy of one of the Chows)
2. Two Terminal Chows (Unless you have another copy of Chow 1,2,3 or Chow 7,8,9)
Three-Suited Terminal Chows - A Chow of 1,2,3 and Chow of 7,8,9 in one suit, a Chow of 1,2,3 and Chow of 7,8,9 in another suit, and a Pair of 5's in the last suit.
Does not combine with:
1. Mixed Double Chow
2. Two Terminal Chows
3. No Honor Tiles
4. All Chows
Pure Shifted Chows - Three Chows in a suit, each shifted up by one or two but not a combination of both.
All Fives - Each group (triples and pair) has a 5.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
2. All Simples
Triple Pung - Three pungs (or Kongs) of the same number but in the three different suits.
Does not combine with:
1. Double Pung
Three Concealed Pungs - Three concealed Pungs or Kongs.
Does not combine with:
1. Two Concealed Pungs

24 Point Rules

Seven Pairs - Seven pairs. If this rule is satisfied, the player can win without the standard 4 triples and a pair.
Does not combine with:
1. Pair Wait
2. Concealed Hand
Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles - The hand is composed of one of each honor and single tiles from different knitted sequences. If this rule is satisfied, the player can win without the standard 4 triples and a pair.
Does not combine with:
1. Concealed Hand
2. All Types
3. Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles
All Even Pungs - Four Pungs or Kongs and a pair of even suit tiles.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
2. All Simples
3. All Pungs
Full Flush - The hand is composed entirely of a single suit.
Does not combine with:
1. One Voided Suit
2. No Honor Tiles
3. Half Flush
Pure Triple Chow - Three identical Chows in the same suit.
Does not combine with:
1. Pure Double Chow
Pure Shifted Pungs - Three Pungs or Kongs in the same suit, shifted up by one.
Upper Tiles - The hand is composed of only suit tiles with numerical values of 7 or greater.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
2. Upper Four
Middle Tiles - The hand is composed of only suit tiles with numerical values of 4, 5, 6.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
2. All Simples
Lower Tiles - The hand is composed of only suit tiles with numerical values of 3 or less.
Does not combine with:
1. No Honor Tiles
2. Lower Four

32 Point Rules

Four Shifted Chows - Four Chows in a suit, each shifted up by one or two but not a combination of both.
Does not combine with:
1. Short Straight
2. Pure Shifted Chows
Three Kongs - Three Kongs (either melded or concealed).
Does not combine with:
1. Melded Kong
2. Two Melded Kongs
All Terminals and Honors - The hand is composed entirely of Terminal (1 or 9) and Honor tiles.
Does not combine with:
1. Pung of Terminals or Honors
2. Outside Hand
3. All Pungs

48 Point Rules

Quadruple Chow - Four identical Chows in the same suit.
Does not combine with:
1. Pure Double Chow
2. Tile Hog
3. Pure Triple Chow
Four Pure Shifted Pungs - Four Pungs or Kongs in the same suit, shifted up by one.
Does not combine with:
1. All Pungs
2. Pure Shifted Pung

64 Point Rules

All Terminals - The hand is composed entirely of Terminal (1 or 9) tiles.
Does not combine with:
1. Pung of Terminals or Honors
2. No Honor Tiles
3. Outside Hand
4. All Pungs
5. All Terminals and Honors
All Honors - The hand is composed entirely of Honor tiles.
Does not combine with:
1. Pung of Terminals or Honors
2. One Voided Suit
3. Outside Hand
4. All Pungs
5. All Terminals and Honors
Little Four Winds - Three Pungs or Kongs of Winds and a pair of the last Wind.
Does not combine with:
1. Pung of Terminals or Honors
2. Big Three Winds
Little Three Dragons - Two Pungs or Kongs of Dragons and a pair of the last Dragon.
Does not combine with:
1. Dragon Pung
2. Two Dragon Pungs
Four Concealed Pungs - Four concealed Pungs or Kongs
Does not combine with:
1. Concealed Hand
2. Two Concealed Pungs
3. All Pungs
4. Three Concealed Pungs
Pure Terminal Chows - Two Chows of 1,2,3, two Chows of 7,8,9 and a pair of 5's in one suit.
Does not combine with:
1. Pure Double Chow
2. Two Terminal Chows
3. One Voided Suit
4. All Chows
5. Half Flush
6. Full Flush

88 Point Rules

Big Four Winds - Four Pungs or Kongs of Winds.
Does not combine with:
1. Pung of Terminals or Honors
2. Prevalent Wind
3. Seat Wind
4. All Pungs
5. Big Three Winds
Big Three Dragons - Three Pungs or Kongs of Dragons.
Does not combine with:
1. Dragon Pung
2. Two Dragon Pungs
All Green - The hand is composed entirely of green tiles (2,3,4,6,8 Bamboo; Green Dragon).
Nine Gates - The hand is concealed and has 1,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,9,9 in one suit and a 14th tile in the suit.
Does not combine with:
1. Pung of Terminals or Honors
2. One Voided Suit
3. Concealed Hand
4. Half Flush
5. Full Flush
Four Kongs - Four Kongs (either melded or concealed).
Does not combine with:
1. Melded Kong
2. Pair Wait
3. Two Melded Kongs
4. All Pungs
5. Three Kongs
Seven Shifted Pairs - Seven pairs in one suit, shifted up by one.
Does not combine with:
1. One Voided Suit
2. No Honor Tiles
3. Pair Wait
4. Concealed Hand
5. Half Flush
6. Seven Pairs
7. Full Flush
Thirteen Orphans - One of each Honor and Terminal (1 or 9) tile, and a second copy of any Honor or Terminal tile.
Does not combine with:
1. Concealed Hand
2. Outside Hand
3. All Types
4. All Terminals and Honors