Badge Quest
Do not seek out these events. They will find you. Badge Quest is a game, not an official alert source. Always follow official instructions from your local authorities and the alert itself. Not affiliated with FEMA, the National Weather Service or the FCC.

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BEACON badge: 8-bit pixel art for the AMBER Alert alert

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CORE BADGE

BEACON BADGE

ALERT
AMBER Alert
CODES
CAE · WEA Child Abduction
RARITY
★★★☆☆ RARE
UPGRADE
LIGHTHOUSE after 10 alerts

“You kept your eyes open for someone else's kid. Hero stuff.”

⚠ Do not seek out these events. They will find you.

Never travel toward a storm, fire, flood or any emergency to earn a badge. This page is general safety information, not an alert. If you get a real alert, follow the instructions in it and from local officials.

What this alert means

An AMBER Alert (Child Abduction Emergency, code CAE) is issued by law enforcement when a child has been abducted and is believed to be in danger, and the case meets the AMBER Alert criteria. The alert usually describes the child, the suspect and a vehicle with its license plate.

AMBER Alerts work because lots of people look at once. Rapid public alerts often help bring a child home safely.

What to do if you get one

  • Read the description: the child, the suspect, the vehicle and the plate number.
  • If you see the child, the suspect or the vehicle, call 911 right away and tell them where and when.
  • Do not approach or try to stop anyone yourself.
  • Do not call 911 just to ask about the alert. Share only the official alert, not rumors.

Summarized from the official guidance below. The alert itself and your local authorities always come first.

How the badge is earned

An AMBER Alert WEA sent to your home area.

It happens automatically. The Badge Quest server reads the public FEMA IPAWS and National Weather Service alert feeds and awards the badge when an alert's official target area covers the home area you set (ZIP code or location). There's nothing to log or claim, and it can't be faked.

How rare is it?

RARE ★★★☆☆: the RARE tier means 50 to 199 WEA messages a year nationally. ~189 WEA messages/yr nationally (2023-25 avg: 218 / 200 / 148).

WEA-flagged alert messages in FEMA's IPAWS archive (IPAWS archive filter: CAE). One message can cover a small area, so your personal odds are much lower.
YearBEACON messagesAll WEA messages
20232187,349
202420010,377
202514810,284
Avg / yr1899,337

NCMEC counted 185 AMBER Alerts in 2023 and 189 in 2024.

How rarity is calculated

Upgrade: LIGHTHOUSE

BEACON badgeLIGHTHOUSE, the upgraded BEACON badge: pixel art

LIGHTHOUSE

★★★★☆ EPIC

After 10 different qualifying alerts for your area, the game shows “Hold on... your BEACON badge is upgrading!” and then “Your BEACON badge was upgraded to a LIGHTHOUSE!”. Repeats of the same alert don't count twice.

“Ten AMBER Alerts read and remembered. A steady light for kids who need finding.”

Upgraded badges rank one rarity tier above their base badge (capped at LEGENDARY). That tier is a game rule, not a separate statistic.

Part of these combo badges

Official sources

Rarity data

Collect them all

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