What time is the Loftia Treasure Hunt?
Once an hour, at half past the hour in UTC. In most time zones that's half past on your clock too. The game announces the place 5 minutes before.
Loftia Treasure Hunt: Times, Places, Keys and Chests
The Loftia Treasure Hunt starts once an hour, at half past the hour in UTC, in one of three places: The Hills in Loftia City, the Grove in the Hanging Gardens or the Historical Quarter in the Gridfall. The game announces the place 5 minutes before it starts, and each hunt lasts 5 minutes.
Loftia Treasure Hunt: when, where and what you win
For the rest of our Loftia guides, start at the Loftia guide hub.
- What you do: harvest the sparkling spots in the hunt area. Each one gives Scrap Bits, a Chest Key or, rarely, a Golden Chest Key.
- Keys: 100 Scrap Bits make a Chest Key at your Project Station, and Cella's Key Shop sells all three.
- Chests: a treasure chest takes 3 Chest Keys and gives outfit fragments. A golden chest takes 1 Golden Chest Key and gives more.
- By region: each place's chests can also drop pieces for a different pet: alpaca in Loftia City, tortoise in the Hanging Gardens, duck in the Gridfall.
Loftia Treasure Hunt at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| When | Once an hour, at half past the hour (UTC). Source: Game files. |
| Where | The Hills (Loftia City), the Grove (Hanging Gardens) or the Historical Quarter (Gridfall), announced 5 minutes before. Source: Game files. |
| How long | 5 minutes. Source: Game files. |
| Joining | No sign-up. Be in the area when it starts. Source: Game files. |
| Keys | From the sparkling spots, from 100 Scrap Bits each, or from Cella's Key Shop. Source: Game files. |
| Chests | 3 Chest Keys for a treasure chest, 1 Golden Chest Key for a golden chest. Source: Game files. |
When the Loftia Treasure Hunt runs
Cella, who runs the event, puts it simply: "The Treasure Hunt happens once an hour, at the half hour, in Loftia City, the Hanging Gardens, or Gridfall."
The game files set the timing:
- How often: every 60 minutes.
- Start time: half past the hour, counted in UTC.
- Warning: an announcement 5 minutes before the start.
- Length: 5 minutes from start to finish.
In most time zones, half past the hour in UTC is also half past on your own clock, so 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and so on. In time zones with a half-hour offset, such as India, it falls on the hour instead.
If you miss the start, the next hunt is an hour later. There is no score or prize at the end, unlike Pebble's races: what you get is whatever you harvest and open during the 5 minutes.
Where the Treasure Hunt happens
Each hour the hunt runs in one of three places, and the game tells you which one in the announcement:
| District | Place | Announcement |
|---|---|---|
| Loftia City | The Hills | "The Treasure Hunt is about to start in The Hills in Loftia City in 5 minutes!" |
| Hanging Gardens | The Grove | "The Treasure Hunt is about to start in the Grove in the Hanging Gardens in 5 minutes!" |
| Gridfall | Historical Quarter | "The Treasure Hunt is about to start in the Historical Quarter in the Gridfall in 5 minutes!" |
In Cella's words, "The Treasure Hunt can move to a different location every hour, at the half hour." The game files list the three places but don't say how the game picks one each hour, so there is no schedule to plan ahead with: watch for the announcement. The other districts' places are described in our Gridfall places guide and our Hanging Gardens activities guide.
How to unlock and join a Treasure Hunt
Cella introduces the hunt in her side quest The Real Treasure, which opens near the end of the Loftia City story. Its description reads: "Join Cella's Treasure Hunt to collect keys, unlock hidden chests, and help Loftia's resident event designer put the event to the test." The quest asks you to find 3 Chest Keys (the quest calls them Regular Keys), report back, open a chest and report back again. Your reward is a Golden Chest Key, and Cella's Key Shop opens. The quest's place in the story is in our Loftia side quests list.
To join a hunt, go to the announced place before it starts. There is no sign-up and nobody to talk to first: be in the area when the 5 minutes begin. That makes it different from the Community Farms in the Hanging Gardens, where you sign up with Arlo before each round.
Which sparkling spots to harvest
The event's own description is "Harvest sparkling spots and try to find as many keys as you can!" The game adds: "While a Treasure Hunt is ongoing, special resource nodes in the area can drop Keys when harvested."
Each place has three kinds of shiny spot, and some need a tool:
| Place | Shiny spots | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| The Hills, Loftia City | Shiny Berry Bush, Shiny Portobello Mushroom, Shiny Washing Machine | By hand; Pruners; Hammer |
| The Grove, Hanging Gardens | Shiny Flax, Shiny Rattan Basket, Shiny Rusty Tools | Pruners; Hammer; Hammer |
| Historical Quarter, Gridfall | Shiny Sand Piles, Shiny Oven, Shiny Cardboard Waste | By hand; Hammer Lv.2; Pruners Lv.2 |
The Shiny Oven needs the level 2 hammer, which is covered in our Hammer Lv.2 guide.
Each harvest gives you one thing. The game's reward table weights the three outcomes 60 : 9 : 1:
- Scrap Bits (1 to 3), most of the time;
- a Chest Key, now and then;
- a Golden Chest Key, rarely.
So most of your keys come from turning Scrap Bits into Chest Keys, not from the spots themselves.
Loftia Scrap Bits, Chest Keys and Golden Chest Keys
Loftia Scrap Bits are, in the game's words, "Small bits of scrap — not enough for general crafting, but perfect to craft keys." That is their only use.
| Item | How you get it | Craft it from | Key Shop price | You can carry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Scrap Bits | Sparkling spots during a hunt | — | 10 Dew | 500 |
 Chest Key | Sparkling spots; crafting; Key Shop | 100 Scrap Bits at a Project Station Lv. 1 (5 energy) | 250 Dew | 50 |
 Golden Chest Key | Sparkling spots (rare); crafting; Key Shop; The Real Treasure | 10 Chest Keys and 25 Bloom at a Project Station Lv. 3 (10 energy) | 5,000 Dew | 50 |
The Chest Key is "A key used to open special chests around Loftia." The Golden Chest Key is "A key used to open golden chests around Loftia." Cella's Key Shop opens when you finish The Real Treasure; the game tells you "You can now purchase keys and scrap bits from Cella's Key Shop!" Buying 100 Scrap Bits costs 1,000 Dew, so if you are paying Dew, buying a Chest Key for 250 is the cheaper way.
Loftia chest locations and what each chest gives
Each of the three hunt places has its own set of treasure chests. Cella's rule of thumb: "Most chests need a few keys, while the special ones need a Golden Key."
| Chest | Opens with | What's inside |
|---|---|---|
| Treasure Chest (Hats, Shirts, Pants or Shoes) | 3 Chest Keys | 3 to 4 outfit fragments for that part of an outfit |
| Golden Treasure Chest | 1 Golden Chest Key | 4 to 5 outfit fragments from any part, sometimes a recipe |
The chest's name tells you what it holds. In Cella's words, "Chests are marked with the kind of reward inside, so you can go hunting for whichever one you're most excited about!" If you want shoes, look for the Shoes chest.
These Treasure Hunt chests don't give Bloom or Scrambled Coordinates. Those come from a different chest, the daily chest in the Player Neighborhoods, which is covered in our guide to other ways to get Scrambled Coordinates. Which outfit each fragment builds, and how many fragments a piece takes, is in our Loftia outfits list.
Pet pieces and recipes from each Treasure Hunt
The chests in each place can also drop pieces for one pet, 2 to 3 at a time. Golden chests are more likely to drop them than ordinary ones.
| Place | Pet pieces | Golden chest recipes |
|---|---|---|
 The Hills, Loftia City | Alpaca | 35 possible outfit recipes |
 The Grove, Hanging Gardens | Tortoise | 40 possible outfit recipes |
 Historical Quarter, Gridfall | Duck | 39 possible outfit recipes |
Pet pieces only start dropping after you finish Joanna's quest Notes From the Fauna, and they stop once you have rescued that pet. So if you are after the tortoise, go when the hunt is in the Hanging Gardens. How many pieces each pet needs is on our list of every Loftia pet.
A golden chest only rarely adds a recipe, picked from that place's own list of outfit recipes.
Treasure Hunt tips
- Turn your Scrap Bits into keys first. You can carry 500 Scrap Bits. Craft Chest Keys at your Project Station before you go, so you have room for the next batch.
- Bring the right tools. Pruners and a Hammer cover the Hills and the Grove. For the Gridfall, bring the Hammer Lv.2 and Pruners Lv.2 as well.
- Be there early. The announcement comes 5 minutes ahead, which is enough to travel if you go straight away.
- Carry spare keys. Cella's advice: "If you're looking for something specific, remember to check the chests marked with that type of item. And keep a few keys on you!"
- If you missed the announcement, players say the quickest way to find out is to ask in chat. Otherwise, wait for the next half hour.
Version notes and limits
The schedule on this page is the one set in the game files; the game's servers run it. The files list three places but not how one is chosen each hour, and they don't say how many chests appear in a round or whether chests can be opened outside a hunt. We'll recheck this page when a patch changes the Treasure Hunt schedule, its places, the key recipes or the chest rewards.
Loftia Treasure Hunt FAQ
Where is the Treasure Hunt right now?
In one of three places: The Hills in Loftia City, the Grove in the Hanging Gardens or the Historical Quarter in the Gridfall. The game announces which one 5 minutes before the start; it can change every hour.
How long does a Treasure Hunt last?
5 minutes.
Do I need to sign up for the Treasure Hunt?
No. Be in the announced area when it starts. Unlike the Community Farms, there's no sign-up.
How do I get Chest Keys?
Harvest sparkling spots during a hunt, craft one from 100 Scrap Bits at a Project Station Lv. 1, or buy one at Cella's Key Shop for 250 Dew. Most spots give Scrap Bits, so crafting is where most keys come from.
How many keys does a chest take?
A treasure chest takes 3 Chest Keys. A golden chest takes 1 Golden Chest Key.
What's in a Golden Treasure Chest?
4 to 5 outfit fragments, and sometimes an outfit recipe from that place's list. It's also more likely than an ordinary chest to drop pet pieces.
Where do I get tortoise pieces?
From Treasure Hunt chests in the Grove in the Hanging Gardens, after you've finished Notes From the Fauna. Loftia City's chests give alpaca pieces and the Gridfall's give duck pieces.
How often does the Treasure Hunt run?
Once an hour, never more often. Each hunt starts at half past the hour in UTC and runs for 5 minutes.
I missed the announcement. How do I find the hunt?
Check the three places, or ask in chat; players often post where it is. If it has already ended, the next one starts an hour later.
Sources and version history for this guide: Loftia sources and versions.
Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.