Interaction Flags Explained
Simply teleporting your avatar to a set of coordinates located in Tokyo, Japan while physically sitting in New York will not automatically trigger an account strike or cause an instant flee. The game server only calculates your speed displacement relative to your last recorded server interaction.
An interaction flag is hard-logged whenever you perform any of the following specific tasks:
- Catching a wild Pokémon or dropping a berry on the encounter screen
- Spinning a PokéStop or Gym photo disc
- Dropping a defender into an open Gym or attacking a gym defender
- Initiating a Team GO Rocket grunt battle
If your account logs an interaction in New York, and then registers a second interaction in Tokyo 5 minutes later, the server instantly converts your catch success rate to a flat 0% (everything flees on the first ball) and stops PokéStops from dropping items.
The Distance-to-Time Conversion Chart
To safely interact with a newly discovered coordinate across the world, you must let your account "cool down" to simulate realistic travel times. The conversion rate scales logarithmically up to a strict maximum cap of 120 minutes:
Distance Traveled --> Mandatory Cooldown Time
------------------ -----------------------
Under 1 Kilometer --> 1 Minute
5 Kilometers --> 2 Minutes
10 Kilometers --> 7 Minutes
100 Kilometers --> 35 Minutes
1500+ Kilometers --> 120 Minutes (Max Server Cap)