To the north is the Nordpfälzer Bergland and to the east the Otterberger Wald, which belongs to the Palatinate Forest.

The residential areas Falltal and Sambacher Ziegelhütte also belong to the Otterbach district.

The core town lies at the mouth of the Otterbach [de] stream into the Lauter.

After the Second World War, Otterbach became part of the newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate within the French occupation zone.

In the course of the first administrative reform in Rhineland-Palatinate, the previously independent municipality of Sambach was incorporated into Otterbach on 7 June 1969.

The squirrel is the heraldic animal of the abbey in neighbouring Otterberg, which had a mill in Sambach.