All Confirmed Metal Detector Uses and Locations

Short answer

Prioritize the detector's two Ending C targets: scan the Timesville beach sand for the fish paper, then scan the Misery cinema/film tent for the projector remote. A documented optional chain also uses it to recover the broken phone after drawing the night constellation on the beach. Treat other beeps as optional until those mandatory items are safely collected.

When to do it: As soon as the detector is acquired from the Timesville shed/cave sequence, while all three Chapter I areas remain open.

What you need: The metal detector in hand, access to Timesville beach and Misery cinema, and enough remaining searches to secure the two Ending C-critical targets first.

Missable or risky: Yes. Players report exhausting the detector before completing the key routes. Collect the fish paper and cinema remote before experimenting with optional targets.

Confirmed details

Timesville beach: sweep the sand to reveal the fish paper. It provides the 18-fish silhouette checklist and later produces the key for the windowed safe secret.

Misery cinema: scan inside the room where the clown films played. The target is the projector controller used to reveal the checkerboard route map.

Broken phone route: at night, use the telescope on the beach and complete the relevant constellation so the phone spawns; the detector can then locate it. The phone triggers an optional secret boss and is not one of the three main Ending C secrets.

The camera can create a screenshot file in the Endacopia save folder and has an optional stalker/Chameleon-related use, but that behavior should not be confused with a mandatory detector target unless a visible beep confirms it in the current build.

This page separates documented requirements from route advice. Names, achievement conditions, platform details, and item counts are checked against the linked Steam records; navigation is cross-checked against recorded gameplay. If an update changes a room, prompt, or trigger, use the verification note below before assuming the save is broken.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1 — After picking up the detector, make a save and go directly to the Timesville beach. Sweep in short overlapping passes until the fish paper appears, then collect it and confirm it opens as a checklist.

Step 2 — Carry the detector to Misery and scan the cinema interior. Recover the projector remote and verify it is usable on the cinema screen before spending searches elsewhere.

Step 3 — For the optional broken phone, set Timesville to night, solve the beach telescope constellation, return with the detector, and scan the newly active area until the phone is found.

Step 4 — Record each confirmed pickup and stop sweeping once the required item appears. Repeatedly scanning an already-cleared room wastes time and can make an item-selection problem look like a missing target.

Step 5 — Preserve a late Chapter I backup after the fish paper and remote are secured so experimental optional searches cannot destroy the only Ending C route.

Common failures and softlock risks

The launch community describes many possible beeps, but only publishable reproducible targets are listed as confirmed here. This page does not invent a fixed total from unverified reports.

Do not spend every search before collecting the beach paper and cinema remote. Those two items gate full secrets rather than isolated Easter eggs.

If the detector disappears after a chapter change, restoring the pre-transition backup is safer than assuming the later area will return it.

Recovery rule: stop before crossing another chapter boundary. Confirm the current objective, cycle every usable inventory item, and retry the interaction from a clean room entry. If the trigger still fails, close the game before restoring a known-good save; copying or replacing live save files while the game is open can overwrite the recovery state.

Version and verification

The fish paper and projector remote were checked against the all-endings route; the broken-phone chain was cross-checked against launch player reports and the secret-boss video. The page deliberately labels only reproducible targets as confirmed.

Last verified: July 31, 2026, against the launch PC build, Steam achievement records, linked Steam Community guides, and recorded full-game footage. Endacopia can vary some puzzle clues between runs, so follow the clue in your own save when this page explains a method instead of a fixed answer.