Geocache Code

[+Phil100]

For no other reason than idle curiosity, can the codes allocated to new geocaches give any information? I assume that the initial "GC" stands for geocache but do the following letters and numbers signify anything, or are they random? Perhaps I'm missing something very obvious!

Edited April 20, 2010 by Phil100

[+Cardinal Red]

For no other reason than idle curiosity, can the codes allocated to new geocaches give any information? I assume that the initial "GC" stands for geocache but do the following letters and numbers signify anything, or are they random? Perhaps I'm missing something very obvious!

 

Copied from Markwell's FAQ

 

How are Waypoint Names Generated and What Do They Mean?

Most of the time, the lower GC code number is, the earlier the cache was placed. However with the earliest geocaches there is not a direct correlation . Geocaches were first listed on other usenet groups and as they were entered into the system, they were not sequentially entered until sometime later in 2000 when users started submitting them directly.

 

For example, as of this writing (August 26 2009) GC30 - Mingo is the oldest existing cache. It was placed on May 11, 2000 and GC30 is #48 in the system. However, Beverly (GC28), the oldest cache in Illinois, was palced May 13, 2000, and is #40 in the database.

 

Each cache is assigned a number based on the order in which it is posted* - e.g. Beverly, one of the oldest caches, is number 40. Originally, the Geocaching.com database translated this number into a hexadecimal code (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F,10) with a "GC" tagged onto the front (GC28 for Beverly).

 

Somewhere around April of 2003, the database reached ID=65535 or GCFFFF - the maximum of four digit hexadecimal. The programmer's used the solution of changing to a base 31 code (0-9, A-Z with some characters left out). The waypoints were originally limited to six characters because most GPSRs only allow six characters per waypoint. In December of 2006, the database hit 512401 cache records, which meant that they had already had GCZZZZ, the maximum cache under the base 31 method. The programmer's solution was that next cache would be GC10000 (seven digits). That cache is a "memorial" to the rollover.

 

All that is pretty much fluff, as all you really need to know is that the GC***** waypoint is a unique code: another way of identifying the individual caches. It has absolutely nothing to do with the location.

[+Delta68]

Some GC codes appear to have been reserved and used for specific caches

Eg: GC1EZEC (One Easy EarthCache)

GC1XXXX (Czech Mega Event)

GC1ZZZZ (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...)

etc...

 

 

Mark

[+Munkeh]

Some GC codes appear to have been reserved and used for specific caches

Eg: GC1EZEC (One Easy EarthCache)

GC1XXXX (Czech Mega Event)

GC1ZZZZ (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...)

etc...

 

 

Mark

 

no someone has time on their hands to watch the codes go up and grab them

[+The Other Stu]

Some GC codes appear to have been reserved and used for specific caches

Eg: GC1EZEC (One Easy EarthCache)

GC1XXXX (Czech Mega Event)

GC1ZZZZ (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...)

etc...

 

 

Mark

 

no someone has time on their hands to watch the codes go up and grab them

 

Or people use the GC code to signify something possibly in a puzzle cache?

[+Delta68]

 

no someone has time on their hands to watch the codes go up and grab them

 

But it's not possible to see what codes have been issued... is it?

Unless someone just creates a whole load of listings hoping to catch the one required code

 

Also, GC1EZEC would have been create by geoaware...

 

 

Mark

[+riviouveur]

But it's not possible to see what codes have been issued... is it?

Yes - just create a listing, and every code up to that one has been issued.

Also, GC1EZEC would have been create by geoaware...

Or maybe the owner of the listing (or someone else) had it reserved for some time, and adopted it over to Geoaware to build the EC listing with. (Of course, for the last few months, you've been able to create your EC listings directly.)