Frequently Asked Questions
You come across a mysterious signpost across the river outside of Ark City. It was constructed sometime ago by the Egg Cave team residing in their Ark City offices; Ark residents are commonly refer to it when they have a basic question about how Ark works.
Site-Related Questions
What is Ark?
Ark is Egg Cave's mysterious, fantasy world full of mysterious awesomeness. The Egg Cave is located on the island of Ark; it's full of fantastic creatures that will blow your mind!
What is "ECT"?
"ECT" stands for Egg Cave Time. It's based off Eastern Time in the United States.
Who owns Egg Cave? When was it created?
Egg Cave was created by a guy named Ian. He likes making websites, fun stuff, communities, and the like. Everything on Egg Cave was coded from scratch by him. Ian works regularly with Egg Cave's artist, Sara, who makes pretty images. ;) The site was officially launched on July 20, 2009.
What are the little white and blue guys next to usernames? How accurate are user statuses (online or offline)?
White user icons indicate that a user is offline. Blue user icons indicate that a user is online. User statuses are based on activity within the past 15 minutes. They are updated every minute.
What's coming soon to Egg Cave?
We have lots and lots of plans for Egg Cave! Rest assured that our site is updated frequently with new and fun things for you to do!
Egg/Creature Questions
What are eggs? What can I do with my eggs?
Eggs are small creatures that you can adopt from eggcave.com and put them on your website, forum signature, or profile on another website to gain views, clicks, and feeds. From there, you can watch it hatch, level up, and evolve into more powerful kinds of creatures.
How do I know when my creature will evolve?
The original indigenous tribes of Ark were funky smart: they were able to mathmatically calculate some of the points at which creatures would evolve into more powerful ones (the equation is different for each species). They also recorded other pertinent facts too. The information known has been compiled at The Archives.
Why do creatures only need an increase in ONE TYPE of stat (views, clicks, feeds) to evolve?
The stat that must increase for evolution is determined by the general personality and characteristics of each species. Some species particularly enjoy building physical strength and endurance, thus the evolution stat would be FEEDS. Other species are more social and like large groups so their evolution stat is VIEWS. Lastly, some species have a strong desire to feel worthy and significant and like being CLICKED.
That's the general rule of thumb, although it varies slightly from species to species.
How do I get the code for my creatures? What do I do with the code for my creatures?
Your individual creature codes can be found at Your Cove and then by clicking "Get Code" in the respective row. Read the instructions on that page to determine which code is appropriate for you. This code can be put on your website, forum signature, or profile on another website to gain views, clicks, and feeds! Remember to feed your creatures daily, otherwise you risk them dying!
To copy and paste your code, first click ONCE in the appropriate text box on the "Get Code" page, then press CTRL and A at the same time. This highlights everything. Then, press CTRL and C to copy the code to your computer's clipboard. Finally, put your cursor in the text box on the destination website and press CTRL and V to paste the code. Viola!
Can my creature die? What causes it to die?
Yes, creatures can die if they are not fed! If your creature's happiness is under 10, every day it'll have a 1 in 30 chance of dying. Be sure to feed your creatures daily; if you'll be away, tell your friends to feed them!
How come my views are not updating even though 5 million people have viewed my creature?
Views are updated once every day (at 3 am ECT). They are NOT updated in real time. However, clicks and feeds are updated in real time.
When are things around Egg Cave updated?
Egg Cave has a series of scheduled jobs that update stats and ensure that our site is running efficiently. Here's the schedule:
- 1st of every month, 3:00 am ECT: Leaderboards reset
- 3:00 am ECT: Views updated, clicks and feeds reset for the day
- 3:20 am ECT: Evolutions occur based on your newly updated stats
- 3:30 am ECT: Eggs with less than 10 happiness have a chance of dying
I refreshed on my creature 5 million times but it only increased my views by a small amount! It should read "5,000,000 views" for my egg!
All views are calculated as unique views. This means that we update your views based on the number of different people that view your creature per day and add that number to your current view total. Your views are NOT calculated on the number of times you refresh, but by how many different people view and load your creature! The more places you put your creatures on the web, the faster they'll evolve!
How come I get the message "Sorry you've already fed this egg today!" when I haven't?
This happens when there are multiple accounts per household (perhaps your brother, sister, mom, or dad has an Egg Cave account, or you share a computer with somebody who also plays Egg Cave). We calculated feeds off the number of unique IP addresses; that is, the number of different IPs that feed a creature. Households share the same IP. Thus, you will get that message. THIS IS NOT A GLITCH. Please do not report this.
How many eggs can I steal from the Egg Cave?
You can attempt to steal an egg from the Egg Cave ten times a day. The maximum amount of creatures a user can have at any given time is 100.
Trade Center Questions
What is the Trade Center? Where is it located?
The Trade Center is where Ark citizens can trade their creatures. It is located in the northeast part of Ark City, behind the Town Hall and Adoption Center.
How many creatures can I trade at a time? How many can I offer?
You can trade as many creatures as you'd like. However, each trade lot can only contain 5 creatures. Also, each offer can only contain 5 creatures.
Not all of my creatures are being shown on the "Create New Trade" page!
That is because that creature is either in one of your other lots or you've offered it on another lot. Each creature can only be in one lot at a time.
What's up with this "exceeding 100 creatures" message? What does it mean?
Each user on Egg Cave can only have 100 creatures at any given time. This rule has been in place since of the beginning of the site (it's nothing new).
If you're offering on a lot and receive this message, you need to change how many creatures you're offering. If you have 100 creatures and lot you're offering on a lot that contains 5 creatures, you need to offer 5 creatures to stay within the bounds of the "100 Creatures Rule." If you had 100 creature and offered only 4 creatures on a 5-creature lot, in the case that your offer would be accepted, the resulting amount of creatures you would own would be 101!
If you're trying to accept an offer and receive this message, you simply cannot accept offer because of the number of creatures you currently own. To solve this, you need to contact the "buyer" asking him or her to adjust their offer. Egg Cave does not support the abandonment of creatures to maintain this rule.
Do Travels transfer with creatures that are traded?
Yes.
What happens if the creature I am trading currently has services booked at Tim's Food Shoppe?
The services will continue and be transferred to the new owner of your creature.
Can creatures die if they are being traded?
Yes. If they die, they will simply be removed from your trade lot or offer automatically. It is important to feed all of your creatures daily!
Do my creatures' views increased when they are viewed in the Trade Center?
No.
How long can my trade be up?
Thirty days. If you do not accept any offers within 30 days, your trade will be automatically closed.
Town Hall Questions
What is the Town Hall? Where is it located?
The Town Hall allows you to legally rename your creatures. It is located in the east district of Ark City.
If I rename my creature, will its old name be available for other Ark citizens to use?
Yes.
HELP! I've waited 30 days and it doesn't say I have 10 name changes available! It only says I have x name changes available! What's wrong?! I should have 10!
Renames do not reset on the 1st of every month. Renames become available 30 days after you renamed your creature.
Let's say the rename limit per 30 days was 3. You do a total of three name changes, one each per these three dates: January 15, January 29, and February 2. The earliest you would be able to initiate another rename would be January 15. On that date, only 1 rename would be available. Why? Because it hasn't been 30 days since January 29 and February 2. It wouldn't be until March 2 that all 3 renames would be available.
Don't think "months" with renames; think "30 days."
Travel-related Questions
What are those cool backgrounds certain creatures have?
They are called Travels. You can purchase a Travel for any one of your creatures at the Travel Agency.
Not that many Travels are available in the shop!
That's ok. The Travel Agency restocks at multiple, random times throughout the hour.
I'd like to remove a Travel from my creature.
You can do that! Go to the Travel Agency and select the creatures you want to "Bring Home."
If I "bring home" a creature, will I get the Travel back, so I can use it on another one of my creatures?
No.
