How to see S2 cells on Google maps

I know this is an old thread but I need to ask…is there a subreddit where ingress players help pogo players with submission? I DO NOT UNDERSTAND INGRESS. I downloaded it and was completely lost. I am disabled and have to play pogo from bed. I live above a store, the pizza shop across the street has art that should be a stop and there is a current stop here that should be a gym (it’s a large building that is a senior center, daycare AND big brothers big sisters location. Years ago I saw a map of S2 cells that had my location blacklisted. No new submissions allowed. But someone said I could do it in ingress so I tried but just didn’t understand it.

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This page describes how pokestops and gyms are created and what we know about the algorithms that rule them.
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How do you find S2 cells Pokemon go?
What are S2 cells map?
How do S2 cells work?

Can someone please help, I need a gym at this location so I can play like everyone else (I don’t want to cheat or spoof). If you can’t nominate in ingress in my area, I get it, but if you have a thread or resource of people willing to help who are in Philly, that would help so much! Thank you in advance

This page describes how pokestops and gyms are created and what we know about the algorithms that rule them.

Ingress is another Augmented Reality game by the same company that created Pokemon GO. The two games share most connections to real world. They are called Portals in Ingress and Pokestops or Gyms in Pokemon GO.

Ingress players that reached level 10 can submit new portals. Ingress players that reached level 12 can review and approve or reject these submissions.

Most new portals are converted to Pokemon GO and become either pokestops or gyms. The algorithms that decide which portals are converted to Pokemon GO and which become Gyms are based on a mathematical concept called S2 cells.

S2 cells is a way to split a sphere into squarish sections of approximately the same size. It was invented by Google to make some algorithms in Google Maps run faster.

S2 cells come in different sizes called "levels". S2 cell of level N contains four S2 cells of level N+1.

Here is how Level S2 cells look in Maynard. Blue cells are level 14, red cells are level 17.

This Reddit thread describes what is known about S2 cells in Pokemon GO. Here is a summary.

Only one PokeStop or one Gym in a level 17 cell. There can be multiple Ingress portal in a L17 cell, but only one Point of Interest in Pokemon GO.
Gyms are decided in level 14 cells. Each level 14 cell contains 64 level 17 cells, so up to 64 PoI in Pokemon GO. A number of these PoIs become gyms.
- 1 PoI is always a pokestop
- 2-5 PoIs - 1 gym
- 6-19 - 2 gyms
- 20-34 - 3 gyms
EX raids are controlled by level 13 cells. Only one gym in each level 13 cell can host an EX raid in any given week.
Level 20 cells are used to decide whether or not a gym that is on the boundary of a park is eligible for EX raids.

PogoMap.info allows you to turn on display of S2 cells of levels used in Pokemon GO.

s2.sidewalklabls.com lets you highlight S2 cells of any level. This site also shows the unique codes of the cells displayed.

Pokemon GO uses OpenStreetMap to decide nests and EX gyms. OpenStreetMap allows anyone to add features and tags to the map.

Niantic does not use the "live" map, instead it takes a snapshot of the map at a certain date. If you want to add a feature that attracts Pokemon, be prepared to wait till Niantic updates their maps (and please don't add features that don't exist IRL).

Note that Niantic uses different snapshots for nests and for EX raids.

This website can conveniently color EX eligible areas - overpass-turbo.eu/s/vq5. Unfortunately it doesn't show gyms or S2 cells. The query in the left frame of the overpass-turbo site shows OSM tags that are believed to be eligible for EX raids.

//Tags that are confirmed to classify gyms as 'parks' for EX Raids

way[leisure=park];

way[landuse=recreation_ground];

way[leisure=recreation_ground];

way[leisure=pitch];

way[leisure=garden];

way[leisure=golf_course];

way[leisure=playground];

way[landuse=meadow];

way[landuse=grass];

way[landuse=greenfield];

way[natural=scrub];

way[natural=heath];

way[natural=grassland];

way[landuse=farmyard];

way[landuse=vineyard];

way[landuse=farmland];

way[landuse=orchard];

//Tags that have been linked to nests but not yet proven to work for EX Raids

way[natural=plateau];

way[natural=moor];

Pokemon GO research has taken a great leap forward due to recent developments related to a somewhat obscure mapping system.

S2 cells are a system of geographic markers used to map the Earth's surface. Reddit user u/Calmarius has a great layman explanation for how they work:

Imagine you have a glass Earth globe. Put it into a cube shaped box it exactly fits into. Put a light in the middle of the Earth globe, so the map of the surface will be projected onto the inner walls of the cube.
Now the cube contains the entire map of Earth projected onto flat surfaces.
The 6 faces of the cube represents the level 0 cells. And can be numbered from 1 to 6.
Cut the faces into 4 pieces in their midlines, now you have 4 level 1 cells. These cells can be numbered from 1 to 4.
Cut a level 1 cell into 4 pieces into their midline and you get level 2 cells, and so on.

Here's a visual representation of what level 2 S2 cells look like:

And below here is what level 12 S2 cells look like, which happen to be related to EX Raids.

It has been discovered that these S2 cells are the basis of many systems implemented by Niantic. Overlaying S2 cells with various Pokemon GO data(spawn points, Pokestops, gyms) show patterns that help players understand why certain things about the game are the way they are.

Here are the S2 levels that correspond with certain PoGO mechanics:

If you take the time to read the sources above, the data reveals the patterns used by the developers to construct the PoGO experience. To understand how this can be useful, we can look at one of the most recent applications for it: predicting EX Raid locations.

EX Raid spawns have been very difficult to predict and a point of frustration for many players. However, with what we know now, steps can be taken in order to narrow down which Gyms should be targeted for the highest chance at an EX Raid Pass.

According to the post authored by u/Tntnnbltn, it's been discovered that non-sponsored EX Raids happen in a park(a space associated with park-related tags in OpenStreetMaps)100% of the time.It can also be stated that an EX Raid will only happen once within any level 12 S2 cell at a given time. Furthermore, during previous research, u/Tntnnbltn also discovered parks are drawn by Niantic through the use of level 20 S2 cells.

Pokemon GO expert Trainer Tips has a very instructional video on how to see this data for yourself:

Here's some help to try out S2 cell mapping:

Overlaying S2 cells onto GoogleMaps
Overlaying "park" conditions onto OpenStreetMap to determine EX Raid-eligible areas
PokemonGoMap.info can show you what parks have gyms in them to compare with links above
- Remember: Only 1 EX Raid can happen per level 12 S2 cell, and they happen in parks 100% of the time(non-sponsored)
Those more technically savvy can merge the two maps using geojson.io (You can follow u/Tntnnbltn's guide in section 4.2)

The full implications of this corroboration between Pokemon GO mechanics and S2 cells have not been discovered yet. However, you can be sure that dedicated PoGO players are hard at work discovering exactly what can be learned from this, and how we can use it to better play the game.

Latest Content

How do you find S2 cells Pokemon go?

Level 17 cells are used to determine whether an Ingress portal will be imported into Pokemon GO. Level 20 cells are used to generate Pokémon spawns. Pokémon always spawn in the center of Level 20 cells. ... Here are how S2 cells influence Pokemon GO:.

What are S2 cells map?

S2 cells are developer-friendly geographical markers used to map the Earth' surface. S2 cells were invented at Google and are extensively used on Google Maps to perform quick geographical indexes and queries. The name “S2” is derived from the mathematical notation for the unit sphere, S².

How do S2 cells work?

S2 cells is a way to split a sphere into squarish sections of approximately the same size. It was invented by Google to make some algorithms in Google Maps run faster. S2 cells come in different sizes called "levels". S2 cell of level N contains four S2 cells of level N+1.