The Hunt: Roblox 20 is a multi-year anniversary event, and the S01 badge sits at the very front of the secret progression series that tracks each year you clear. If you have ever opened your badge list and noticed an "S01" entry sitting next to the standard year trophies, that string is the secret tier marker for the 2006 slot. This guide breaks down what the S01 badge is, how it differs from the regular 2006 Crossroads item badge, and the exact route players use to claim it inside the hub.
What the S01 Badge Actually Is
The S01 badge is the first in a parallel 20-step hidden progression series that runs alongside the main event timeline. The badge API snapshot from 2026-09-18 lists 72 total badges inside the event universe, and the secret series alone covers 20 entries, S01 through S20, one for each chronological year slot from 2006 through 2025. Every S-tier badge is awarded through the hub itself rather than inside a featured game, which is why most players miss them on their first sweep.
Why It Is Called a Secret Badge
The S01 badge is hidden from the default badge panel until you have stepped into the 2006 year gate at least once. The community refers to the entire S01-S20 line as "secret badges" or "hidden badges" because the game does not flag them with a quest marker, a quest log entry, or a popup. They surface only after a hub interaction registers, which makes them the most common missable category in the anniversary run. According to community reports, the S01 marker in particular triggers the moment you cross the 2006 Crossroads portal and re-enter the hub for the first time.
How S01 Fits Into the S01-S20 Series
The S20 badge is the closing marker, awarded only after Year Infinity resolves and the meter fills past the final tick. That makes S01 and S20 the bookends of the secret series: S01 marks the start, S20 marks the end. Players who skip the hub interaction at any year gate leave a gap in their S-tier list, and there is no in-game way to re-trigger the marker after the hub cools down. The table below shows where S01 sits relative to the other tiers you can earn in the same window.
| Badge Tier | Count | Trigger Location | Visibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Item Badges (year trophies) | 20 | Featured game (2006-2025) | Visible from start |
| Secret S01-S20 markers | 20 | Hub portal return | Hidden until first hub touch |
| I Joined In account-age badges | 23 | Profile-based (2004-2026) | Visible from start |
| Crown rewards (Obsidian/Gossamer/Aureate) | 3 | Completion thresholds | Visible after first crown unlock |
| Misc/event badges | 6 | Mixed | Visible from start |
How to Unlock the S01 Badge Step by Step
The S01 unlock is short once you know the sequence, but it depends on a hub interaction that the game does not advertise. Below is the path most players use to trigger the marker on their first or second attempt.
Step 1: Enter the Event Hub and Walk to 2006
Launch The Hunt: Roblox 20 from the official game page and step into the central hub room. The hub is the only place where year portals spawn, and the 2006 Crossroads portal is the first gate in the chronological corridor. Walk straight ahead, ignore the side NPCs that hand out cosmetic hints, and face the 2006 marker directly. According to community walkthroughs, the portal glows brighter once you have completed a featured game from the modern era, so new players sometimes need to clear a later year first before the corridor opens cleanly.
Step 2: Cross Into the Crossroads 2006 Lobby
Step through the portal into the Crossroads 2006 lobby. You do not need to play the game; the marker only requires that the hub registers a portal crossing. This matches the verified event fact that the chronological year unlock flow is gated by portal entry, not by gameplay completion. A 30-second visit is enough, although most players spend a few minutes to confirm the lobby layout.
Step 3: Return to the Hub
Use the in-lobby return pad or walk back through the portal to the main hub. The hub will register your return, and the S01 marker attaches to your profile within a few seconds. Open your badge panel and sort by recently earned; the S01 entry should appear at the top. If it does not, give the server 60 seconds to sync, then re-open the panel.
| Step | Action | Time Needed | Where It Happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enter hub and reach 2006 portal | 1-2 min | Event hub |
| 2 | Cross into 2006 Crossroads lobby | 30 sec-2 min | Crossroads lobby |
| 3 | Return to hub | 30 sec | Hub |
| 4 | Check badge panel for S01 | 1 min | Profile |
Step 4: Verify the Marker and Continue the S-Series
Confirm the S01 entry before moving on. Players who continue without checking often discover at the end of the event that the entire S-series is missing from their profile, because a single early desync can cascade through the rest of the line. Once S01 is confirmed, the same hub-return pattern repeats for each subsequent year, eventually leading to the S20 badge after Year Infinity resolves.
S01 Versus Other Badge Families in the Event
The anniversary event uses four distinct badge families, and the S01 sits inside a category that is easy to confuse with the others. The biggest mix-up is between the S01 secret marker and the standard 2006 item badge you earn inside Crossroads, so it helps to compare them directly.
| Attribute | S01 Secret Badge | 2006 Item Badge | I Joined In 2006 Badge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Hub portal return | Play Crossroads | Profile join year |
| Visibility | Hidden | Visible | Visible |
| Series | S01-S20 | Year 1-20 (item) | 2004-2026 |
| Missable | Yes | No (after 2006) | No (account-based) |
| Related reward | Counts toward S20 | Counts toward crown | Counts toward crown |
The I Joined In 2006 badge belongs to the account-age family and is awarded purely from your account creation date. If you are hunting the full badge set, the S01, the 2006 item badge, and the I Joined In 2006 badge are three independent unlocks, and skipping any one of them will leave a visible gap in your trophy list. A broader look at the full badge catalog is available in the complete badges guide if you want to plan the entire run.
Common Reasons the S01 Badge Does Not Show Up
Even players who follow the path above sometimes see an empty S01 slot, and the cause usually traces back to a hub sync issue. The anniversary servers process portal events in batches, so the marker can take up to five minutes to land on your profile after the hub-return step. During high-traffic windows, that delay stretches further, which is why the badge tracker is a good fallback when the panel looks empty.
Desync After a Fast Hub Swap
Returning to the hub within a few seconds of crossing into 2006 sometimes registers as a no-op because the server has not finished writing the portal-crossing event. The simplest fix is to re-enter the lobby, stay for at least one full minute, then return through the same portal. This gives the server time to commit the event and award the marker on the second return.
Roblox Plus Subscriber Window Interference
Roblox Plus subscribers get early hub access during the 9 AM to 2 PM PDT window, and the S01 marker can land during that exclusive window before the badge panel is fully populated for the rest of the player base. If you are a non-subscriber, the badge will appear once the server merges your profile state with the public snapshot. This is a common reason players on free accounts see a delay of several hours after the unlock. A closer look at the subscriber perk structure is covered in the Roblox Plus perks detail.
Cache and Profile Re-Render Issues
The badge panel re-renders from a cached profile object, and a stale cache can hide a freshly earned S01 even when the server has committed the marker. A full client restart, or a hard refresh of the profile page, forces a re-render and usually pulls the entry into view. Players running the event on mobile should also clear the Roblox app cache, because mobile clients hold the badge list longer than the PC client.
| Cause | Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Hub desync | S01 absent after step 3 | Re-enter 2006 lobby, wait 60 sec, return |
| Plus subscriber window | Delayed unlock for free players | Wait for server merge, no action needed |
| Cache issue | Panel shows old list | Restart client, hard refresh profile page |
| Missed hub return | S01 absent through whole event | Replay the 2006 portal crossing this session |
S01 and the Road to the S20 Badge
The S01 badge is the first of 20 secret markers, and every subsequent marker follows the same hub-return pattern. Building a clean S-series run means treating each year gate as a two-step action: cross into the featured game, then return through the hub portal before queuing the next year. Skipping the return step is the most common way players end the event with a partial S-series, and the gap cannot be patched after the hub cools down on day 11.
Why the S20 Badge Matters More Than S01
S20 is awarded after Year Infinity resolves, and it is the only marker in the series that requires the full 20-year sweep. Players who collect S01 through S19 but skip a single hub return will see the entire chain stall, because the server treats the S-series as a continuous state rather than independent entries. The S01 badge is therefore not just a single trophy; it is the first lock in a 20-trophy chain that culminates in S20.
Pairing the S-Series With the I Joined In Family
The I Joined In badges are profile-based and run from 2004 through 2026, which means the I Joined In 2004, I Joined In 2006, and other account-age markers are independent of the S-series. A veteran player who joined the platform in 2006 can earn the I Joined In 2006 badge without any in-game action, while a newer player can still complete the entire S-series through hub interactions. The two families complement each other and are often the difference between a partial badge wall and a full one, as outlined in the account-age badge explainer.
| Year Slot | Secret Marker | Year Item Badge | I Joined In Badge |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | S01 | Year 1 (Crossroads) | 2004-2006 family |
| 2015 | S10 | Year 10 (varies) | 2015 entry |
| 2025 | S20 | Year 20 (Grow a Garden) | 2025 entry |
| Year Infinity | S20 final | Crown tier | 2026 entry (if eligible) |
According to the Roblox Hunt Showdown badge walkthrough, the "20 s01" badge is awarded for eliminating twenty opponents during the inaugural season of the game's competitive event. In the context of the 2026 anniversary event, the S01 marker is the first entry in the hidden 20-step secret progression series tied to the 2006 Crossroads portal; it registers in the badge panel only after a player crosses the first year gate and returns to the hub, making it the most commonly missed marker in the entire S-series run.
Practical Planning for the Full S-Series
Players who want every S-tier marker should pair each year clear with an immediate hub return, then check the badge panel before moving on. The full sweep takes most players between 6 and 8 hours when they stay focused, and the only way to fall behind is to chain multiple year clears without a hub return between them. The S01 marker is the easiest to miss because it happens on the very first gate, so treat it as the template for the rest of the run.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the S01 badge in The Hunt: Roblox 20?
The S01 badge is the first entry in a 20-step secret progression series that runs from 2006 to 2025. It is awarded inside the event hub the first time you cross into the 2006 Crossroads portal and return. The marker is hidden from the default badge panel until that hub interaction registers, which is why most players discover it on their second visit to the hub.
How is the S01 badge different from the 2006 item badge?
The 2006 item badge is awarded after you play the Crossroads featured game and is visible from the start of the event. The S01 secret badge is awarded by the hub itself when you return through the 2006 portal, and it stays hidden until that moment. Both badges can be earned on the same run, but they count as two separate entries in your trophy list.
Can I earn the S01 badge after the event ends?
No. The S01 marker is tied to the live event window, and the server stops processing new portal-return events after the closing date. Players who miss the hub return during the active event cannot patch the gap later, which is why the S-series is widely considered the most missable category in the anniversary run.
Does the S01 badge count toward the S20 unlock?
Yes. S01 through S20 form a single continuous chain, and skipping the S01 hub return can stall the rest of the series. The S20 badge in particular only awards after the full chain resolves through Year Infinity, so the S01 marker is the first lock in that 20-step sequence.
Where do I find the rest of the S-series after S01?
Every subsequent year gate follows the same pattern: cross into the featured game, return to the hub, and the next S-tier marker attaches to your profile. The full list of S-tier markers and their order is documented in the VCS badge and progression explainer, which covers the larger badge-tier system inside the event.