Drone racing circuits vary in size. The Asia Drone Championship in 2018 was an outdoor course measuring about 60m x 100m.

Race circuits can also take place indoors. But whether outdoors or indoors, circuits typically consist of erected obstacles that the pilot has to fly through or around, or both.

Racers have to follow a specific predetermined sequence of the course in the fastest time possible. Race obstacles are fairly close to the ground and don't usually go above 10 meters but they come in all shapes, such as gates or arches, flagpoles, jacob's ladders (a column of square gates) and circular and square windows.

Due to the limitations of radio frequencies that the drones require for control and video transmission, only four to six pilots are able to race at the same time, with races typically lasting under two minutes.