LonelyCache Knowledge Book

Section 3.3
Scoring Details

Computing a Geocache's Score

Following is the actual formulas used to compute a cache's score here on LonelyCache.

Total Cache Points (tCPs): Total points available for this cache.
tCPs = 100 × (Days old) ÷ 365.25
Current Cache Points (cCPs): Points awarded to each finder.
When not yet found: cCPs = tCPs
When found: cCPs = tCPs ÷ (Number of finders)
Next find Cache Points (nfCPs): Points awarded after the next find.
nfCPs = tCPs ÷ (Number of finders + 1)
Achilles Points (aPts): Points lost from the next find. Achilles points are only shown on caches when at least five.
aPts = cCPs − nfCPs

A cache's age (days old) is the difference, in days, between the current date and the date the cache was published. If there is no published date for the cache, then the cache's placed date is used instead.

Scoring System Summary

  • Geocaches will receive points based on age.
  • A cache will accrue 100 points for each year it is old.
  • A cache's score will be its total points divided by the number of finders. If there are no finders, the cache's score will be it's total points.
  • The number of finders for a geocache may not be the same as shown on Geocaching.com. The number of finds may vary because:
    • Find logs by the geocache owner will not be included.
    • When duplicate finds are logged by a geocacher, only the first log will be included.

Some oddities may occur because of the way finds are counted here at LonelyCache. Here are a few I can think of:

  • If a cache owner logged a find, and then later, transferred ownership to another, then his/her find log will not be in the database until it is retrieved from Geocaching.com. This will eventually happen but it may be several months.
  • If a cache has only been found once and then adopted by that finder, then the cache will appear to never have been found and the new cache owner will not receive any points for the cache until it is found by someone else.
  • All duplicate find logs will be deleted except the earliest find log entered in Geocaching.com. This is done by the log's ID, not by the log date. This means it is possible, though not likely, that the log for the earliest find may be deleted.

All geocachers that have found a cache will have that geocache's score added to their point totals for the appropriate leader boards. Geocache owners will also have their geocaches' scores added to their point totals for the appropriate leader boards. Geocache owners will not receive points for one of his/her geocaches unless that cache has at least one finder.

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Statistics last updated Sunday, 09 February 2025 04:26:48 Eastern Standard Time
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