Project-GC Q&A - Recent questions and answers in Miscellaneous

Karma - what does it really mean

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 17:14:49 +0000

I was perusing my stats as you do and spotted the karma figure again and pondered over the figure and what it really means and does it reflect an imbalance.
I was told some time ago that to be a good cacher you have to have a high karma value. That simply means you have to have many more cachers log finds on your caches than you have finds of your own
Well - my karma figure is only 0.47 and I am not too bothered by that - I have just under 100 caches out there all in a rural area (so not a tremendous footfall compared to places like capital cities) - all have FPs and the FP count I have on mine gives the FP index figure of 23.9% of premium logs meaning nearly 1 in 4 PM cachers give an FP on one or other of my caches - I am quite chuffed with that - as a CO that is my karma figure.
So going back to the imbalance I mentioned - I took a look at two other cachers specifically because of what they have out there, to show what I mean
1) CO 'A' who has over 3000 caches owned - has a karma figure of 6.69 - over 14 times my figure - well no wonder, with that many caches he is potentially going to get 30 times the number of find logs than I have - though his FP index is only 4.3%
2) CO 'B' who has just over 100 caches but a few of these (around 6) are in a big city - these 6 between them account for half the find logs he has got - unsurprising in the big city they will attract the far greater footfall particularly from foreign visitors. His Karma is 8.11 and because of where they are they attract FPs and his index is 25.3%

So not belittleing the effort put into any of this - for the cacher who places fewer caches in a rural area the footfall will be much lower and as an active finder this will mean the karma will always be low - pushing out so many caches will always push the number of finders up and the CO could be just as active if not more in finding caches but the balance with the karma is so different. Seems to suggest to push your karma up you should either pump out a load of caches (which to be honest will also mean poor quality) to get the 'find of your caches' rate up more - or you just don't go out finding any caches which will slowly push the karma up as cachers find your caches.
Equally the cacher who puts out caches in a rural location will get so much less footfall than even a single cache in a big city and despite the appreciation through FPs for those rural caches - the karma balance is still weighed towards the COs caches in big cities simply because of the footfall.

So what is that figure really for, and what do folk strive for if at the end of the day it doesn't really matter that you have a very low score yet your contribution is really appreciated. I guess what I am saying is that karma figure is not really required as it can muddy the waters when other folk look at them (and they do) and then compare them

Answered: Where can I find the counties map under the state map.

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:57:18 +0000

Either use the dedicated tool (map counties): https://project-gc.com/Tools/MapCounties

Or if you're looking at your profile stats: Scroll down to the United States-map, click on the region you want to see a county level map for.

Answered: Hidden Date Calendar

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:05:52 +0000

https://project-gc.com/Challenges//16969

I always seem to miss the ‘Back to top’ button here.

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:33:19 +0000

I actually always find myself missing the ‘Back to top’ button here.

It’s not a big deal in itself, but once you’ve scrolled right to the bottom, a button like that would be really handy, if not essential.

Greetings from Cologne

ThLiers

Answered: Adoption - Owner

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:34:36 +0000

There's no tool that shows that if that's what you're asking. As most people have usually logged the cache before adopting it the "Find Bad Logs"-tool is usually a pretty good indicator for adopted caches. It still requires manual research to see if they were adopted and in what direction tho.

Answered: "Thank's for the cache" in other languages

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:25:47 +0000

Danke für den Cache= German

Answered: Pourquoi un écart de PF entre mon compte et project-gc.com ?

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Dans statistiques / stats placeurs

Le plus de points favoris reçus.

Je suis à 6013. ? Bizarre.

Answered: 81 grid no longer complete?

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:28:29 +0000

Here you can see which caches have changed their D/T rating: https://project-gc.com/Tools/DTHistory

Answered: What's with SARCRZY?

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:37:54 +0000

User has opted out of third party sharing of data, there's nothing unusual about that.

Answered: Tabs have moved around

Fri, 15 May 2026 21:08:57 +0000

No, this was an intentional decision. Essentially, we believe it provides a more coherent ordering:

First, an overview of your finds (Finds, Milestones)
This is followed by Maps, followed by specific tabs that go into detail (FTF, Events, Challenges)
This is followed by Lab Caches, another "specific tab".
Finally, we follow up with statistics on Hides.
Souvenirs is pushed to the end as we plan to re-do the entire tab sometime soon.
BadgeGen is pushed to the end as it is a "Project-GC"-specific tab. It's also in some sense another "summary"/conclusion.

Answered: Why is it that caches in Northern Ireland don't count as UK?

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 21:10:30 +0000

Project-GC mirrors the countries of Geocaching.com and since they've chosen to have the whole island of Ireland as one country Project-GC has to do the same. You can read about Geocaching.com's reasoning here: http://https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=92&pgid=98

Answered: what happened to the "degrees from home" statistic?

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:35:51 +0000

It looks like there's a bug, where if you have your "Home Location-Based Module Privacy" setting set to "Friends only", that doesn't include yourself. This has been fixed in code, and will be released to the site shortly.

Answered: County boundary processing rules per country – seeking documentation

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:07:27 +0000

This will not be possible as this data differs between different countries and is updated when needed.

1) Depends on the data available, different for different countries.

2) Depends on the data available, different for different countreis.

3) No. The regions were counstructed to match the regions available on geocaching.com, they are a montrosity and I hate them.

4) I don't understand this question. But my guess is: if they are countries on Geocaching.com then no, if they aren't then yes.

5) No. This was based on manual research over a period of ~three months and have since been updated multiple times. What you're asking for do not exist and is not possible to create or keep updated. Even if you manage to match it exactly today it might differ tomorrow or next week and it will be guaranteed to not match next year.

Answered: Ich brauche den GC-Code des ältesten Caches der Grösse Sonstige im Kanton Solothurn. Ist archiviert

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 02:24:52 +0000

That would likely be:

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCRMR8_holzbrucke-3-oensingen-so

Answered: Profile does not exist

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 02:22:13 +0000

This happens if the user has entirely opted-out of third-party data-sharing. To us, their "profile does not exist".

This error message will be improved in the next release of Profile stats.

Answered: archived caches in an area

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 12:39:44 +0000

Playing around with the map compare function - as suggested by Optimist on the Run

Putting my ID in the first box and nothing in the second player box

Then

when I select the 'Found by one player' option in the 'show' box - it shows just caches (active and archived) I have found and no other

and when I select 'Found by both players' - nothing appears, anywhere !

when I select the 'geocaches found by no player' (which seems very specific ) in the show box - resulting in nothing that I didn't know about in the area in question (but does populate with caches further afield (and they are ones I haven't found) - so presumably that means there is nothing more to be listed in that small area I am looking at and I have therefore identified everything that has been placed in that location, ever.

Nice

Answered: region anomaly

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:54:07 +0000

The region on Geocaching.com is selected by the user. The region on Project-GC is calculated based on the coordinates. The most common reason that they differ is because the user have selected the wrong region on Geocaching.com, sometimes they differ because Project-GCs data is incorrect. Considering that the UK is a horrible country when it comes to data it could go either way there tbh.

Answered: lists of extremes - not able to complete

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:30:22 +0000

Since you haven't logged the cache (as you own it), it's not included as a completed extreme. If you absolutely want to achieve that extreme, I guess your options are to adopt the cache to someone else and then log it, or just wait for someone else to place an even extremer cache.

Answered: How often du you update the souvenir order?

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 17:35:03 +0000

This is a manual process that is done by a volunteer when they happen to find out that there is a new souvenir that needs to be categorized and when they have the time to fix that. It's usually done within a week but sometimes takes longer when the responsible volunteer for example is traveling.

Custom lists

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 19:51:02 +0000

Hi

I am trying to set up a custom list to place in the milestones tab
I have gone through the process of naming, selecting the tab (milestones) and selecting bookmark list for the type - selecting which bookmark I want as the source (having put my ID in that section too)
I then clicked on submit and then save

Nothing - all that appears is a heading banner (with what I named ) but no cache list - shows '0'
I am aware of others do the same list and advising that their list populated straight away
I also waited a day once submitted and saved to see if waiting would help - but still no
I did consider the bookmark list status as a possible barrier so have tried this with the bookmark list set at private, shareable and public and it didn't work with any of these

I also tried by using the GC code list (copy paste comma seperated list into the box) but this came up with an error message every time -
Internal server error (6998be7ee19c07.70822645)

Though the last bit changed each time I tried that.

Though the bookmark list would be the better way to go as having to update the GC list would be more faff

I am not sure what I am doing wrong here - if anything

Please help

*Edit* - having tried several times to get this working, the day after I wrote this post I tried again and this time it worked - possibly a brief glitch, but now sorted

Answered: How often does elevation data change?

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 03:38:48 +0000

Depending on your viewpoint, you could say that this is an ongoing update or a one-time update.

In more detail, Project-GC sources its elevation data from https://www.gpxz.io/. Due to recent updates to the quality and accuracy of the elevation data, we have opted to re-calculate the elevations of every geocache. We are processing geocaches based on their latitude, starting at the south pole and working towards the north pole. We expect the process to take, at the very least, another three months to complete. So, in that sense, it is both ongoing and one-time.

Answered: Where can I find a list of the oldest geocache for each country - list used by PGC for checkers

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 16:37:40 +0000

In Profile stats, all four are considered tied for "oldest" and finding any of the four will suffice.

Challenge checkers should behave the same, but some may be programmed to only accept the geocache with the "smallest" GC code.

Answered: Why are GC19GK9 and GC3TMG7 not counted as deepest caches in our statistics although listed at project-gc?

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:47:46 +0000

If you are refering to why they are not showing up in your profile stats -- well this you can influence. As Hügh stated there are on the GS BAN list. If you want to include them open the profile stats --> got to Settings and scroll down to Appearance and Preferences --> tick or untick the Use Geocaching HQ's official ignore list to either include or exclude them from your stats.

Right now I assume you want to include them and the list is ticked in your settings.

Answered: Why has NZL 3 regions and not anymore 2 as it was before?

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 14:54:27 +0000

Broadly, the reason is that Geocaching.com considers the Chatham Islands to be a region of New Zealand. You can see this by editing a geocache listing that you own, setting the country to "New Zealand", and then noting the options that show up under "State or Province":

Answered: Is there a quick and easy way how to find out, how many find logs a cache of mine had on a specific day?

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:02:30 +0000

1) Create a virtual GPS, choose a name,
2) add the cache (Gcrehx) you want to see by using '+' sign on bottom of screen.

3) In menu 'Statistic' choose 'LogPerDate' and in filter(player) select 'European' as country, leave others param blank
4) In filter(geocache) select you virtual GPS name and leave other param blank
5) you obtain a graphic with peak at this date, hover of this peak to see figure
6) I see 709 when you select country 'European', you may have to choose each continent as this param is required

Answered: Has there been any change to the regions of Andorra?

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 09:19:13 +0000

There hasn't been any change like that to the regions of Andorra that I'm aware of. However the checker also allows for San Marino (1 region, 9 counties) as a fulfilled challenge here. I believe that the checker has some bug related to counties and you would have to contact the scriptwriter (sumbloke) about that.

Answered: Challenge checker for GCBCDV4 disabled

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 10:45:59 +0000

The CO need to add the attribute for challenge cache to the listing, otherwise the checker will just become disabled again by the automatic cleaning job.

Answered: challengecheckers werken plots niet meer

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 09:56:30 +0000

Van PGC Facebook:

UPDATE - Over challenge checkers en privacyinstellingen

Eerder vanavond kregen we van Geocaching HQ de opdracht om de wijziging van dinsdagochtend (CET) in Project-GC Challenge Checkers terug te draaien. Hierdoor is het nu weer mogelijk om Challenge Checkers uit te voeren, ongeacht de privacyinstelling 'Geocaches gevonden'.

Bedankt iedereen voor jullie geduld terwijl we samen met Geocaching HQ door de complexe situatie heen werkten. De afgelopen week waren er uitdagende gesprekken, zowel met de Lackeys in Seattle als met leden van onze community. We zijn blij dat we nu weer op één lijn zitten met Geocaching HQ.

Answered: Why do my Calendar Looper stats appear to be incorrect?

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:03:12 +0000

As with all the top lists on Project-GC, the top calendar loopers page does not consider labs, only normal caches.

Answered: Is this challenge possible: "You need a caching-karma of at least 5.00"

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:31:41 +0000

Challenges are not allowed to require people to own caches, so no.

Answered: Why is project gc putting porn ads on their pages.?

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 13:55:28 +0000

If you see such ad, do report it.

All ads on Project-GC is served by Google. They do not have porn ads, or should not have. Any partner they have can probably put new images in and they are most likely only reviewed by automated services. You should not see such ads on Project-GC.

The alternative is if they are coming from elsewhere (evil intent extensions to the web browser, virus, etc).

Project-GC can however do nothing about it. Reporting them is the only way. Every Google ad should have a link for that, probably in one of the corners.

Answered: My most finds in a day

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:14:38 +0000

This not-a-checker shows all your caching days ordered by number of finds: https://project-gc.com/Challenges//23086

Answered: ProjectGC county polygons

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:10:13 +0000

Project-GC uses osm-boundaries as the source, but the UK is sort of a special case as it's built with many special rules and unions of different kinds etc for regions and the counties. All is based in the database 2021-04-12 (requires premium membership on OSMB to access, but it's free to get that right now) and polygons of admin level six tho. If you need more info, or is asking about the actual data and not interested in re-building them yourself, I would suggest reaching out to support (orange button on top of pages at main site) instead.

Should Locationless caches count for a countries most found/favorited?

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 23:26:02 +0000

Looking over the section of the stats where it lists the countries/states/counties you've been in and if you've found the most found, favorited, highest/lowest etc... the "Where's 25" location less cache keeps popping up for the US. Below this section it states that location less caches are ignored in some instances. Shouldn't this be one of them?

Answered: Seven cache types in seven countries

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 12:26:07 +0000

At present, there is not a function built-in to Project-GC that will produce this information. The only way is to manually run names through a Challenge Checker such as https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCA3A8D/73902.

Answered: Challenge GC5K5VD absent from the Challenge Tab

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 09:10:36 +0000

The reason it doesn't show up automatically is that it doesn't have the challenge attribute. The attribute was created after this challenge was published but many challenges had it added retroactively. Not this one, apparently.

I've added this challenge to the Project-GC challenge exception system which should make it appear as a challenge in a while, once it's been looked at by a few people.

Answered: caches that used to be 'Not Chosen' size

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:14:47 +0000

There's a way to do it for the caches you've found, but not for any caches. The way to do it would be to use the size history tool.

Answered: Why no depth?

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 17:25:05 +0000

I would have said that it's because this cache is part of an official list of caches excluded from statistics (here's the link to the list: https://www.geocaching.com/plan/lists/BMAFMJR, and the associated PGC wiki article: https://project-gc.com/w/Antipode_cache), but it's weird that it appears on other finders' profiles...

Answered: Extremes by area: counties removed?

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 05:20:22 +0000

pleu, thanks for the answer.

Now I found it, you have to click twice on the triangle at the country.

Answered: top finders location not accurate

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 19:47:22 +0000

Project-GC uses heuristics to figure out where people live by looking at your recent logs. If you have just moved, live close to a border or just generally just travel a lot this may fail and assign you to a different area than where you really live. Perhaps this is what's happening here?

Answered: How can I find a cacher that I've found 7cache types from?

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 06:49:08 +0000

If you post the GC code of the challenge it's easy to check if there's a checker for this.

If you are planning a new challenge, then I can say that this idea is not allowed by the currect challenge guidelines and thus won't be published.

Answered: If I complete a 369 day streak and it is also my first 369 days of caching, will that be a unique accomplishment?

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 10:01:31 +0000

No. I know of multiple people that started streaking in their first day of geocaching.

Answered: View other users profile

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 09:14:11 +0000

upper left corner. home. search. on that page Profile name then Project-GC stats.

Answered: Souvenir Categorization for SEMAG 2025 Block Party

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 14:29:48 +0000

No, it has been categorized to unique event which is where it should be.

Answered: Hallo in die Runde , wie muß ein FTF geschrieben werden um in der Statistik aufzutauchen.

Sat, 31 May 2025 01:24:15 +0000

You can find this at https://project-gc.com/w/First_to_Find

When you log the "Found it", include one of the tags {*FTF*}, {FTF} or [FTF] in your log. This will be picked up by the software and credited to your FTF finds.

Answered: I tried map compare but it didn’t work.

Sun, 25 May 2025 21:14:21 +0000

I found out my mistake.

Souvenir Categorization 2025

Mon, 12 May 2025 14:09:03 +0000

Talking about categorization on project-gc profile page. Why is "Blue Switch Day 2025 Finder" in Uncategorized Souvenirs, while "Blue Switch Day 2024" is in Specific-day Souvenirs? The same goes for "GeoGuessr Challenge" (2024) being in Other Souvenirs, while this year's "GeoGuessr 2025" is in Uncategorized Souvenirs. Will they be categorized over time, or is this the final state?

Ad Labs being counted in the Busy Cacher in Badgegen

Sun, 11 May 2025 11:56:01 +0000

Am I right in thinking that Ad Lab finds are being counted in the Busy Cacher badge in bagdegen ? and if so why ?
I was under the impression that Ad Labs are not counted in a number of these stats and busy Cacher used to reflect going out and finding proper caches and the 400 in a day for the diamond was there to reward those who go out and do the big power trails.
However sitting in a car park and doing a bunch of multi choice questions to get 1600+ smilies is not the same - but it appears this has been what has happened with this badge

Edit - further thought to this :- if ALs can be included why not have a seperate badge for ALs - "Busy Ad Labber" that way the 'busy cacher 'badge can be left to proper caches and those who want to do mass ALs can get this other AL badge

Hvor mange favorit point fikGC13Y2Y ( lego Giraffen )

Sat, 10 May 2025 09:54:59 +0000

Hvor mange Favorit point fik GC 13Y2Y ( Lego Giraffen )

Show logged Lab Caches

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 09:55:53 +0000