diff --git a/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/DefaultTeam.java b/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/DefaultTeam.java
index 6e55e41..6c5c27d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/DefaultTeam.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/DefaultTeam.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public void setCapacity(int capacity) {
      */
     @Override
     public boolean canJoin() {
-        return capacity == DEFAULT_CAPACITY || players.size() != capacity;
+        return capacity == DEFAULT_CAPACITY || players.size() < capacity;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/distribution/Splitter.java b/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/distribution/Splitter.java
index 241983c..f63d0f8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/distribution/Splitter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/distribution/Splitter.java
@@ -37,8 +37,12 @@ public class Splitter {
      * @param evenTeams   if teams should be forced to be even
      * @param lowVariance if low variance is preferred
      * @return optimal desired teams constellation
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code evenTeams} is set without {@code lowVariance} and the players don't fit into the teams
      */
     public DistributionTeam[] compute(DistributionTeam[] ts, DistributionPlayer[] ps, List<Integer> is, int teamSize, boolean evenTeams, boolean lowVariance) {
+        if (evenTeams && !lowVariance) {
+            validateCapacity(ts, ps, is, teamSize);
+        }
         //initialize
         this.ps = ps;
         this.evenTeams = evenTeams;
@@ -54,6 +58,31 @@ public DistributionTeam[] compute(DistributionTeam[] ts, DistributionPlayer[] ps
         return this.ts;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Checks if all players fit into the teams without exceeding the team size.
+     *
+     * @param ts       outline for teams
+     * @param ps       players
+     * @param is       used player array indices
+     * @param teamSize size of each team
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if a team already exceeds the team size or not all players fit into the teams
+     */
+    private void validateCapacity(DistributionTeam[] ts, DistributionPlayer[] ps, List<Integer> is, int teamSize) {
+        int assignedPlayers = 0;
+        for (DistributionTeam team : ts) {
+            if (team.length() > teamSize) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("The team " + team.name().asString() + " already exceeds the team size of " + teamSize);
+            }
+            assignedPlayers += team.length();
+        }
+
+        int totalPlayers = assignedPlayers + ps.length - is.size();
+        int capacity = ts.length * teamSize;
+        if (totalPlayers > capacity) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unable to distribute " + totalPlayers + " players into " + ts.length + " teams with a size of " + teamSize);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * @param i  current position in players array
      * @param ts team array in development
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/TeamTest.java b/src/test/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/TeamTest.java
index 1d023be..7f0277f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/TeamTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/TeamTest.java
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 package net.theevilreaper.xerus.api.team;
 
 import net.kyori.adventure.key.Key;
+import net.minestom.server.entity.Player;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrowsExactly;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
@@ -44,4 +47,19 @@ void testTeamEquality() {
         assertEquals(team1, team2);
         assertEquals(team1.hashCode(), team2.hashCode());
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void testCanJoinWhenOverCapacity() {
+        Team team = Team.of(Key.key("xerus", "test"), 5);
+        for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+            team.getPlayers().add(Mockito.mock(Player.class));
+        }
+        assertTrue(team.canJoin());
+
+        team.setCapacity(3);
+        assertFalse(team.canJoin());
+
+        team.setCapacity(2);
+        assertFalse(team.canJoin());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/distribution/SplitterTest.java b/src/test/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/distribution/SplitterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6de8ae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/net/theevilreaper/xerus/api/team/distribution/SplitterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package net.theevilreaper.xerus.api.team.distribution;
+
+import net.kyori.adventure.key.Key;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.UUID;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+
+class SplitterTest {
+
+    private static DistributionTeam[] createTeams(int amount) {
+        DistributionTeam[] teams = new DistributionTeam[amount];
+        for (int i = 0; i < amount; i++) {
+            teams[i] = new DistributionTeam(Key.key("xerus", "team" + i));
+        }
+        return teams;
+    }
+
+    private static DistributionPlayer[] createPlayers(int amount) {
+        DistributionPlayer[] players = new DistributionPlayer[amount];
+        for (int i = 0; i < amount; i++) {
+            players[i] = new DistributionPlayer(UUID.randomUUID(), 100 + i);
+        }
+        return players;
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testTooManyPlayersForEvenTeams() {
+        DistributionTeam[] teams = createTeams(2);
+        DistributionPlayer[] players = createPlayers(5);
+        Splitter splitter = new Splitter();
+
+        assertThrowsExactly(
+                IllegalArgumentException.class,
+                () -> splitter.compute(teams, players, new ArrayList<>(), 2, true, false)
+        );
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testTooManyPlayersWithExistingTeamMembers() {
+        DistributionTeam[] teams = createTeams(2);
+        teams[0].add(new DistributionPlayer(UUID.randomUUID(), 100));
+        DistributionPlayer[] players = createPlayers(4);
+        Splitter splitter = new Splitter();
+
+        assertThrowsExactly(
+                IllegalArgumentException.class,
+                () -> splitter.compute(teams, players, new ArrayList<>(), 2, true, false)
+        );
+    }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @ValueSource(booleans = {true, false})
+    void testPlayersFitIntoEvenTeams(boolean lowVariance) {
+        DistributionTeam[] teams = createTeams(2);
+        DistributionPlayer[] players = createPlayers(4);
+
+        DistributionTeam[] result = new Splitter().compute(teams, players, new ArrayList<>(), 2, true, lowVariance);
+
+        assertNotNull(result);
+        for (DistributionTeam team : result) {
+            assertEquals(2, team.length());
+        }
+    }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @ValueSource(booleans = {true, false})
+    void testUnevenTeamsIgnoreTeamSize(boolean lowVariance) {
+        DistributionTeam[] teams = createTeams(2);
+        DistributionPlayer[] players = createPlayers(5);
+
+        DistributionTeam[] result = new Splitter().compute(teams, players, new ArrayList<>(), 2, false, lowVariance);
+
+        assertNotNull(result);
+        assertEquals(5, result[0].length() + result[1].length());
+    }
+}