Since 2000, geocachers have explored millions of places, posted countless logs, and made friendships that span the globe. Now, in geocaching’s 25th year, we’re celebrating the people who make it all possible — the cache hiders.

Virtual Rewards 5.0 is our way of saying thank you, with 4,000 new opportunities for geocachers to place a one-of-a-kind Virtual Cache.

Unlike some prior Virtual Rewards, there’s no need to opt in or apply. Geocachers who meet the following criteria will automatically be eligible for selection on February 3, 2026.

How can I qualify for a chance to hide a Virtual Cache?

• You must have three non-Event geocaches published in 2025.
• You must have created your geocaching account before July 29, 2025.
• Prior Virtual Reward recipients are eligible to participate.
• Players who opted-in for Virtual Rewards 2.0 and 3.0, and/or who qualified for Virtual Rewards 4.0, but did not receive a Virtual Cache will have a higher likelihood of receiving a Virtual Reward 5.0.

How does the process work?

• On February 3, 2026, Geocaching HQ will randomly select up to 4,000 eligible geocachers, with geographic distribution, to receive one Virtual Cache.
• Recipients will have one year to create their Virtual Cache page and submit it for review (February 3, 2026–February 3, 2027). The caches must comply with Virtual Cache-specific guidelines.
• All geocaching community volunteers (reviewers, moderators, and translators) who qualify and do not already have a Virtual Reward will receive one as thanks for giving their time to support the geocaching community.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why do I have to hide geocaches to qualify?
Adding new caches to the map is essential to the health of the game. New geocaches give experienced players more to find and help new players discover what geocaching is all about. Our goal is to recognize some of the hiders who are adding new caches to the gameboard.

When do I need to hide geocaches to qualify?
To qualify, hide three non-Event geocaches that are published between January 1, 2025, and 11:59pm UTC on December 31, 2025. The publish date of a geocache is not the same as the placed date. You can find the date that your geocache was published by viewing your published caches, selecting a cache, and scrolling to the bottom of the page to view the Publish log on the cache. It is generally the first log.

Does this mean Virtuals are back permanently?
No. We hope to see 4,000 new Virtual Caches in 2026, but Virtuals will remain a legacy cache type.

Are Virtual Rewards distributed evenly among countries?
No. We use an algorithm to help distribute Virtuals, favoring countries that do not have many Virtuals.

Can a Virtual Reward recipient give their reward to someone else?
As of April 2021, Virtual Reward recipients may adopt out their active published or unpublished Virtual Cache.

How do I find out when new Virtual Rewards are published?
Premium members can set up Instant notifications to receive an email when new Virtual Rewards are published. All members can use filters to search for Virtual Caches worldwide.

Will there be more Virtual Rewards in the future?
We may consider a similar set of Virtuals in the future. As with prior Virtual Rewards, we would likely make changes to the criteria and selection process.

Combined with previous Virtual Reward launches, are there too many Virtual Caches now?
There are approximately 17,500 Virtual Caches worldwide, representing only .53% of active caches. Even with the addition of 4,000 Virtual Caches to the map, it will still be a rare cache type!

Why not make Virtual Caches available for everyone to hide?
Because today’s active Virtual Caches are rare and generally well-liked, people often forget the problems that led to the Virtual becoming a legacy cache type in 2005.

The Virtual Cache type was initially created to place a cache where physical caches were not permitted or high-traffic areas made a physical cache impractical. While the intent of this cache type was positive, it created significant problems for geocaching community volunteer reviewers and often led to poor cache quality. Some players used Virtual Caches as a shortcut to create basic caches that did not require maintenance. Guidelines were eventually updated to require Virtuals to have special qualities to set them apart from other caches. However, the subjectivity introduced to the review process became difficult for both reviewers and cachers. The decision was finally made for the Virtual to become a legacy cache type to avoid these issues.

Virtual Rewards releases have helped to minimize the previous problems with Virtuals, while delivering more opportunities for the community to enjoy this beloved cache type. Most importantly, it’s a fun way to celebrate the contributions of cache owners around the world!