How many unique geocache lists are there? What about unique combinations of all lists?

[+CheekyBrit]

Ladies and gentlemen, for your curiosity:

Ever wondered how many unique geocaching lists there can be? Well currently as of June 2025, premium members can have 100 lists, each of which can hold 1000 geocaches. There are roughly 3.5 million geocaches (active and disabled) to pick from. We can figure the number with binomial coefficients ( C(n, k)= n!/[k!( n-k)!] ) where you have N elements and choose K of them. There’s a calculator at https://www.hackmath.net/en/calculator/n-choose-k to try it yourself.

 

For each list there are 6.463438E+3963 (6.46 x10^3963) unique possibilities, or 25200792626416956858255823121107665329846160896603043630869813590238196620361205924289581462549171272045904945091883513986931026158668842398018029271654165033611385986094865035620788128623107431876476407114479437874035598845492185900548315298104994736753942145192228153199775430217706215244756716671460028176281569098104192900173575490904317895740320983023990458806577505691502990677817368264885137169004112381885415088789317443792620319242874214568709456027152176757375508637725012615424772034357292930243574301420902617321158999222638120653744771391155204652539214449596246429912103754197969381853959500786979576472782401707007218613718904020456976577169716490897651901677256892544093804195578472330919329792276744480099050241242045590573682341291018970171507105362411102615347492100039819320258899459873781215993193560495538337125493741919264764511643929790465931679798354511109988784384723690420240620837015657587817697643459806125806000015410836461048684459506377261604816425788183012096895533194090464804991853714620196618383084705289252339024036896026910715031633423350830582976928650677674937668852907698356246334410461059300969779569168451455981988015163488425896622471085088898709523231766645877609555502860037493915668588330265861576010333562514339649307802278468131792000050909969431549226227054924107201884635274628381042147167265602611465482173184330494032052497168197135380078971096806999813203671112839794509707690261915536100387477845140259475490587616262075298086572079569623217839134277767601080984969741190055024138688961930760734971999044427545143812123631697726071401773140948681182424683214804133518154125046591943615415800118748960238796234467710493360346714587035339787319688567812438880515547988882771386122235259270130105937808238511247150061044722906572877924461990682262885230207527418764818144215566985025361588151997412169258022684436947201018711529242527317271729525220571925055506380564301761154254317144887769690751508448495276383071208901163236164356918630949137990171661919951078060215129759470376974774214253234403833289331612480795468529062029506292877368983876517942119979598320368691344292065197444628874793289965892879760574072493878454054220265857828330488204658545723378092910173091760894510032016735655865358946148212810996378896468381470834083489902950969770057876714021793208664592670310278527298240938685692121677036342926346563712733890861197492419229103245176347866272971842509635101389429684725203079146793070256133079520407106629499433858271176117023769706408688624376921557435905001312527058827084009963085429982102597638443630602547122124084587072657144718969745936349536664989895857791624790145747965635816954291250225502592319018598282415296692885017152857202050440229768630744741827843193661155010116595603132164084223228261117188224028465440329269962598769688109234485530030443502306561791141120385891019974357130368549761870803625165496519701088997072327620157962773635289668061676764087479375535251589876410296219207994156247541684250181177310070254797946066559874026187176815962725409390664785148035683688898799346332768792623347297535143382183634118057304896289214369518633997365576555678336161896826469753078179755077548661984056168848444741986201205777220212108183192566469498014906452511325973031932392222580644457236840572253299440135429546162956938102224145699131019136321419201970351670352733260084351208586252015422441217067851727532811330276782737621429618954508044247004557014170716040086291791476658553389078469276179359307789281877622168093312116786835404139163573411741850264295733484942087460515731375039238214066511365614830257162141070881697428027230815511273645242604983553287073916198595769255769837222970078130154383734305913960274546459096757555943316942827515637817012291397889926203809387853725284283717726715329271019984989295918002153665267193056216583230151667559206161375473560962831393538077644286636168151287010901829798240246098503416154628788999184664618666978710082964988716585608784000 unique lists.

 

But you can include the GC code for archived caches too, opening the options you can pick from up to roughly 8.5 million caches as of June 2025. So picking 1000 caches for a list could give 6.148 x10^4361 unique lists. You can include the lists that have only 999 caches added, 998, 997, or even fewer caches. It has little impact and all added together, each list can be made up of 8,500,000 caches in about 6.15 x10^4361 unique ways. 

 

What about how many ways you can spend ALL your lists as a user? With 100 lists at your disposal, you have ‘that number’ to the power of 100 different ways to uniquely design your 100 lists, or about  7.7x10^463178 ways.

 

What about all the unique ways the roughly 60,000 premium members can design their combined 6,000,000 lists? That’s roughly 3.6x10^3145543697160000 unique ways. That is a number with over 3 quadrillion digits. Not too shabby.

My math might be wrong. Hopefully that scratched the curiosity itch in your mind today.

-CheekyBrit

[+Viajero Perdido]

The internet has never yet been full.  This would be enough.  Think of the consequences!

 

If bits are ever discovered to have mass - that of an electron? - this would be enough to put the planet into a serious wobble orbit around the Groundspeak data center.  It would be quite a ride - hang on!

 

Personally I have only one list (I think, =Ignore), so I'm doing my part for planetary stability.  (Now mental-, let's not go there...)

[+Bear and Ragged]

16 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

The internet has never yet been full.  This would be enough.  Think of the consequences!

 

If bits are ever discovered to have mass - that of an electron? - this would be enough to put the planet into a serious wobble orbit around the Groundspeak data center.  It would be quite a ride - hang on!

 

Personally I have only one list (I think, =Ignore), so I'm doing my part for planetary stability.  (Now mental-, let's not go there...)

 

Is the Ignore list counted in the 100 lists for a Premium Member, or another list? 

Edited June 9 by Bear and Ragged

[+hzoi]

On 6/8/2025 at 6:53 PM, CheekyBrit said:

Ever wondered how many unique geocaching lists there can be?

 

Nope.