Trainers, a number of you reached out via e-mail / Twitter, asking if it was possible that a running Raid or a pending Raid Egg can block EX Pass distribution at an EX eligible (and successfully) triggered gym. The short answer is yes it can and yes it will, but there’s a bit more to it.
Reddit has named this phenomena “clock blocking”, but we’d rather refrain from using that naming convention.
Problem definition: EX Passes blocked by a raid / raid egg
Here’s a breakdown of the problem our readers have described:
- They have successfully and reliably triggered EX Raids at a particular gym before
- They believe that the gym has been successfully triggered for the upcoming EX pass distribution wave
- A raid egg or a raid is active at the time when the EX pass distribution happens
- Nobody gets an EX pass during that distribution, as the gym was “blocked” by the raid
We can (unfortunately) confirm that this is correct and that it has happened to us multiple times in the past two months. We are also sorry to report that there is no real workaround for this issue.
P.S. Active gyms that are alone in a level 13 cell are selected in EVERY WAVE they can be, unless they have an ongoing raid (thanks comment section!)
Workarounds
There are no direct workarounds for this issue – if it happens, no one will get EX Passes at that gym (or anywhere else in that distribution cycle). Additionally, your “triggering” efforts reset, which means you have to re-trigger that gym in the following week.
As the comment section pointed out, if you’re selected at the blocked gym, you are not eligible for any other EX Gym. Sorry?
The chance to be blocked is relatively low, as this only happens if a raid spawns during EX distribution windows and some regions are not affected by this problem, as EX Passes are distributed outside raid timeframe.
