An unavailable letterbox is just that—a letterbox that is currently unavailable for finding. However, the owner of the box intends to replace it at some point in the near future. Any box listed as unavailable will automatically be changed to retired if it hasn’t been replaced within one year.

A letterbox with a status of unknown means that the owner of the box isn’t sure if the letterbox is available to find or not. They probably received reports about it possibly being missing but have yet to check on it themselves to confirm or deny the letterbox’s demise.

Previously known as a reserved box, these are boxes that people have started listing on Atlas Quest but have not officially launched for the world to find. Some people use the option as a to-do list of boxes they intend to plant with stamps they’ve already carved. Others create these temporary listings to generate a box ID that can be included with the box. In any case, you can see your unpublished boxes on the Unpublished Plants page of your logbook.

A letterbox hidden in a city or town instead of the traditional areas such as forests or parks. They usually require a little more creativity to hide since they tend to be in very public area and are frequently microboxes which make them easier to hide. You’ll want to be especially careful looking for urban boxes since you don’t want to draw attention to yourself or the letterbox, nor alarm anyone because you are acting suspiciously.