Buying a paintball gun and some paintballs is not the only thing needed to play the game safely and correctly. There are thousands of paintball accessories that are both vital to play and fun to play with.

The first paintball accessory that a player needs is a mask. The low end of paintball masks usually have a single lens and harder plastic, while the higher end masks are more ornate, feature a double lens, and are sleeker and more comfortable. The number of lens layers is important, because double lenses almost totally prevent fogging, which is almost unavoidable on hot, sticky summer days. There are some other safety accessories for protection like a chest protector or knee and elbow pads. Using these are not necessary but they do help some players feel more comfortable playing the game.

Usually, the second paintball accessory that a player will buy after a mask is a new barrel for their gun. The standard length is 12 inches, but they come in sizes from 8 to 18 inches and the threads vary by gun type. While it is technically true that a longer barrel is more accurate, it means that more air is needed to take each shot, minimizing the efficiency of a gun's air supply. A lot of players emphasize getting higher end balls that are more consistent in size and then matching the bore of a barrel to that paint. Correctly fitting and consistently sized paintballs will mean greater accuracy.

Air accessories are common upgrades to guns, and this refers to any part of the gun that deals with the air flow from the air tank. There are things like regulators and air chambers that double as front grips and help regulate the pressure in a gun so that each shot has a more consistent burst of air behind it. Bolts and pneumatics can be switched out on certain guns, and sometimes those improve shot consistency, and other times they are purely for looks.

Once a player starts to get serious about paintball, they will go through more than a standard 200 ball hopper in a game. This means that they will need a system to carry extra ammunition. Tubes are the most common way to do this, and there are many lines of packs that hold tubes that are sized right to empty quickly and comfortably in to a standard hopper opening. Tube packs come in all shapes and sizes so usually the best purchase for a player depends on the amount of extra ammo needed.