Fourteen teams participated in the 1984–85 Cypriot First Division.
The team with the most points at the end of the season crowned champions.
The last two teams were relegated to the 1985–86 Cypriot Second Division.
Ethnikos Achna and Ermis Aradippou were relegated from previous season and played in the 1984–85 Cypriot Second Division.
They were replaced by the first two teams of the 1983–84 Cypriot Second Division, Olympiakos Nicosia and Evagoras Paphos.