What timezone does GeoCaching.com run under?

[greenman2288]

Hello,

 

If a cache is released at midnight, say tomorrow, 12/4/13 for example. Obviously timezones differ from place to place, so does anyone know what timezone the official site runs off of?

 

Currently for me it's 3:37 pm, trying to figure out if a midnight released cache is +2, -3, etc.

[+Beach_hut]

It's based on Seattle time, so 3 hours behind you (are you East Coast?) and 8 behind me in the UK. When you look back at your post, does it say 12:37pm for you, like it does for me?

 

Although as I understand it, when a cache owner and reviewer agree to schedule publication of a cache at a specific time, that's based on the local time zone where the cache is?

 

Edit for a bit more detail: sometimes caches are published at a specific time as decided by the cache owner in agreement with the reviewer, but mostly the cache is published immediately by the reviewer when he/she reviews it.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Beach_hut

[+Isonzo Karst]

Currently for me it's 3:37 pm, trying to figure out if a midnight released cache is +2, -3, etc.

 

You're in Michigan. Your cache reviewers are also in Michigan, ie if they're reading and publishing caches at midnight, their midnight is the same as your midnight.

[greenman2288]

Ok, so it would indeed be midnight for me after all.

 

I thought it was updated daily or something via a continental geocaching server.. But thank you so much for the speedy replies!

[+Harry Dolphin]

Actually, Ground Speak seems to run on a fictitious time zone one hour west of Pacific Time. Or, maybe it doesn't recognize Daylight Savings Time?

[+wmpastor]

Actually, Ground Speak seems to run on a fictitious time zone one hour west of Pacific Time. Or, maybe it doesn't recognize Daylight Savings Time?

I hadn't thought about it, but maybe they stay with standard time. Daylight saving time is common worldwide, but not universal. The start and end dates vary from time to time & place to place. Near the equator it serves no purpose.

[Keystone]

Actually, Ground Speak seems to run on a fictitious time zone one hour west of Pacific Time. Or, maybe it doesn't recognize Daylight Savings Time?

The server clocks moved back an hour last month. I'm guessing you are referring to the Groundspeak Forums. Adjusting for Daylight Saving Time is a user setting in the IPB forum software.

[greenman2288]

So, could we get a concrete answer from an administrator or a reviewer?

[+Ambrosia]

[+Ambrosia]

Sorry, not trying to be rude. Keystone is a reviewer and a moderator. What he posted is accurate.

[Keystone]

So, could we get a concrete answer from an administrator or a reviewer?

Isonzo Karst is also a reviewer. On days beginning with "T" she posts under her player account. Her answers are accurate only on days ending in "Y."

[+fizzymagic]

I find the timezone issue one of the most frustrating. I mean, it's not exactly rocket science to go from coordinates to a time zone, is it? Yet Field Notes do not correct for the time zone of the cache, which means they often indicate the wrong day for finds, unless you live on the Pacific coast.

 

I have written my own program to fix the field notes, which gave me an opportunity to test what the site would and would not accept in terms of TZs in the field notes lines. Turns out that it will ONLY accept times with the TZ set to Z (=UTC); anything else and it barfs.

 

The long-term refusal to fix this simple problem makes me think that Web-based interaction with the site is not a very high priority.