The Ancient Bucket is the most powerful bucket in Drain the Lake, and it cannot be bought with any currency. Instead, you earn it by collecting 10 badges and joining the IWTM10GTMPLS Roblox group. This guide covers everything you need to unlock and maximize this Legendary bucket.
Since its launch in June 2026, developer IWTM10GTMPLS has built Drain the Lake into a massive hit, drawing 29.9 million visits and a peak of 83,000 concurrent players across 12-player servers. The core gameplay loop—filling your bucket, draining water for tokens, upgrading your Skill Tree, and pushing deeper through checkpoints—revolves entirely around retrieving your phone from the bottom of the lake. The Ancient Bucket is the ultimate tool for this mission, drastically accelerating your token generation and gem extraction as you push toward the Abyss checkpoint and the game's ending.
Ancient Bucket Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Tier | S (Legendary) |
| Token Bonus | +10% Token earnings on every drain |
| Gem Digs | Digs up higher-tier gems from chests |
| Cost | 10 Badges + Group Join (no currency cost) |
| Source | Lobby (after meeting requirements) |
The +10% Token earnings bonus applies to every single drain cycle, making this bucket the most impactful upgrade in the entire game. Combined with Skill Tree multipliers, the Ancient Bucket accelerates progression dramatically. Additionally, the higher-tier gem digs passive ability ensures that any chests discovered while draining yield superior Gem rewards compared to standard buckets, providing a steady stream of secondary currency to purchase other buckets from the shop.
Top Bucket Comparison
To understand the Ancient Bucket's true value, compare it against the other top-tier options in the game:
| Bucket | Cost | Rarity | Token Bonus | Special Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient | 10 Badges + Group | Legendary | +10% | Higher-tier gem digs |
| Golden | 2000 Diamonds | Legendary | Increases Token earnings | Best for gem farming |
| Toxic | Unavailable (Special) | Epic | +10% | 10% chance instant drain when full |
| Magnet | 1200 Gems | Rare | None | Attracts nearby items |
| Metal | 500 Gems | Uncommon | None | Improved drain efficiency |
While the Golden Bucket excels at raw gem farming and the Toxic Bucket offers a unique instant-drain proc, the Ancient Bucket provides the most well-rounded utility for general progression and deep-depth token farming.
Requirements to Unlock
You must meet both of these requirements:
- Earn 10 Badges — Any 10 of the 30 available badges count
- Join the IWTM10GTMPLS Roblox Group — Join here
Common mistake: Players earn 10 badges but forget to join the group. Both requirements must be met simultaneously. Join the group immediately when you start playing to ensure you do not hit a roadblock later. There are 30 badges available in total, awarding roughly 830+ Gems combined across various rarity tiers, so working toward the Ancient Bucket also passively builds your Gem count for other shop purchases.
Easiest 10 Badges for Quick Unlock
Here are the 10 easiest badges to earn, listed in order of difficulty:
| # | Badge | How to Earn | Gems | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Drop | Drain your first bucket | 10 | Trivial |
| 2 | Plunge | Take a swim in the lake | 10 | Trivial |
| 3 | Shark Bait | Get caught by the shark | 10 | Easy |
| 4 | Water Works | Drain a massive volume of water | 10 | Easy |
| 5 | Tourist | Visit every checkpoint | 10 | Easy |
| 6 | Live Bait | Multiple shark encounters | 10 | Easy |
| 7 | Chew Toy | Another shark encounter | 10 | Easy |
| 8 | Lucky Find | Find a rare item while draining | 10 | Easy |
| 9 | Deep Dive | Reach a deep depth zone | 15 | Moderate |
| 10 | Slippery | Escape the shark at the last moment | 15 | Moderate |
These 10 badges award a total of 110 Gems and are achievable within 1-3 hours of gameplay. To trigger the shark encounters required for Shark Bait, Live Bait, Chew Toy, and Slippery, swim in the deeper zones of the lake where the shark patrols. Allow the shark to catch you for the basic encounter badges, and wait until the last second to swim away to secure the Slippery badge. For Deep Dive, reaching the Cavern checkpoint (which requires progressing past the Shipwreck) is sufficient.
Claiming the Ancient Bucket
Once you have 10 badges and have joined the IWTM10GTMPLS group:
- Return to the game lobby from your current server or rejoin
- Look for the Ancient Bucket pickup location near the badge display area
- Interact with it to claim your Legendary bucket
- The bucket is permanently added to your inventory
If the bucket does not appear, verify your group membership has registered (it may take a few minutes to sync) and double-check your badge count on your Roblox profile.
Why the Ancient Bucket is Worth It
The +10% Token earnings bonus might sound modest, but it compounds dramatically:
- Every drain cycle earns 10% more tokens
- More tokens per cycle means faster Skill Tree upgrades
- Faster upgrades mean even more tokens per cycle
- The higher-tier gem digs from chests provide additional Gems
Over the course of hours of gameplay, the Ancient Bucket can earn you tens of thousands of additional tokens compared to any other bucket. This is especially vital when pushing through the late-game depth scaling, where token multipliers surge. At the Surface, the multiplier is 1x, but by the Molten and Lost City checkpoints, multipliers range from 4-6x and 6-8x respectively. A 10% bonus on an 8x multiplier yields significantly more raw tokens per drain than the same bonus at the surface, making the Ancient Bucket your best asset for reaching the Abyss.
Ancient Bucket vs. Golden Bucket
Players often debate whether the premium Golden Bucket (2000 Diamonds) outclasses the Ancient Bucket. The answer depends on your current progression goals:
The Golden Bucket is the undisputed best choice for gem farming, as its passive increases Gem yields from standard drains and chests. If you are swimming in Tokens from your Skill Tree and need to farm Gems to buy the Wheel Spin for exclusive buckets like the Toilet Bucket or Use the Bucket, equip the Golden Bucket.
However, for raw Token generation and overall depth progression, the Ancient Bucket wins. Its +10% Token earnings bonus applies universally, and the higher-tier gem digs ensure you still find valuable Gems inside chests. Because Tokens are the primary currency used for the Skill Tree—and following the spend-immediately principle dictates you should never hoard Tokens—the Ancient Bucket's Token boost accelerates the core loop far more efficiently than the Golden Bucket.
Maximizing Token Gains with the Ancient Bucket
Equipping the Ancient Bucket is only half the battle; optimizing your Skill Tree is essential to leverage its +10% Token bonus. Follow the established upgrade priority to maximize efficiency:
- Fill Speed — Faster fill times mean more drains per hour, directly multiplying the effect of your +10% Token bonus.
- Capacity — Larger buckets mean more water per trip, scaling your token output per drain cycle.
- Token Multiplier — Directly amplifies the tokens earned, stacking multiplicatively with the Ancient Bucket's 10% bonus.
- Character/Movement Speed — Reduces travel time between the water and the drain point.
- Depth Unlock — Pushes you into higher multiplier zones (e.g., Mineshaft at 3-4x, Molten at 4-6x).
- Automation — Generates idle tokens while offline. Invest in this only after your active loop is fully upgraded.
Because deeper water yields higher token multipliers (up to 8-12x in the Abyss), the Ancient Bucket's 10% bonus scales exponentially. Reaching the Lost City or Abyss checkpoints while using this bucket creates a massive token surplus compared to using a Common or Plastic bucket.
Advanced Badge Hunting
While the 10 easiest badges listed above are enough to unlock the Ancient Bucket, completionists and advanced players may want to hunt the remaining 20 badges for the Gem rewards and prestige. The 30 badges in Drain the Lake are divided into four rarity tiers:
| Badge Rarity | Number of Badges | Gem Reward Range |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 8 | 10 Gems each |
| Rare | 10 | 10-20 Gems |
| Epic | 6 | 20-30 Gems |
| Legendary | 6 | 50-200 Gems |
Hunting Epic and Legendary badges yields significantly more Gems, which can be spent on the Wheel Spin or saved for the Magnet Bucket (1200 Gems). Notable advanced badges include:
- Find My Phone: Reach the Abyss checkpoint and pick up your phone. This also triggers the game's ending, which currently has a 62% win rate among players who reach this stage.
- Fully Trained: Fully upgrade every node in the Skill Tree. This requires massive Token investments and is typically an endgame achievement.
- Ocean's Worst Nightmare: An exceedingly rare badge that, as of July 2026, has only been earned by 56 players. The exact criteria are largely community-discovered and require extreme depth and luck.
- Bottomless Treasure: Another rare badge tied to finding exceptionally rare chests deep in the Molten or Abyss zones.
For the full detailed breakdown of all legendary buckets including the Ancient Bucket, see our Legendary Buckets Guide.
FAQ
Do I need specific badges, or can any 10 count? Any 10 badges from the 30 available count. Choose the easiest ones for the fastest unlock. You do not need to target Epic or Legendary badges if your only goal is obtaining the Ancient Bucket.
What if I was already in the group before earning 10 badges? That is fine—as long as you are in the group when you go to claim the bucket. The system checks both conditions at the time of claiming, not retroactively.
Can I lose the Ancient Bucket after unlocking it? No—once claimed, the Ancient Bucket is permanently added to your inventory. You can swap freely between it and other buckets like the Magnet or Golden Bucket depending on your current farming needs.
Does the Ancient Bucket's +10% Token bonus stack with the Toxic Bucket's +10% Token bonus? No. You can only equip one bucket at a time in Drain the Lake. The bonuses do not stack because they are mutually exclusive equipment effects. You must choose between the Ancient Bucket's higher-tier gem digs or the Toxic Bucket's 10% chance to instantly drain when full.
Are there any codes to get badges or the Ancient Bucket faster? As of July 2026, there are no verified codes for Drain the Lake. Codes are expected to be released via the official Discord or the IWTM10GTMPLS Roblox group after future updates, but these will likely provide Tokens or Gems rather than automatic badges.
Visit our badges guide for all 30 badge details, or check our tier list to see how the Ancient Bucket ranks.