Fortnite’s ultra-rare Pirate Coin hunt sparks paid carries, AFK tools

Fortnite players are sharing exploits, selling automated farming tools, and offering paid carries in a desperate hunt for the game’s ultra-rare Pirate Shop Access reward.

The Pirate Shop was added as part of Fortnite’s Treasure Hunters mini-season, giving lucky players two separate 14-day windows to claim eligible Item Shop cosmetics for free. Claimed items remain permanently on the player’s account, although real-money offers, gifting, and Battle Pass rewards are excluded.

Epic Games has not revealed the official drop rate. However, a widely repeated community estimate puts the chance of finding Pirate Shop Access at roughly 1 in 700,000 chests. That figure is not confirmed by Epic, but it has been enough to turn the reward into one of the most sought-after items in the game.

Players are now turning the hunt into an exploit race

Several clips show players attempting to bypass the normal chest hunt. One viral post from Xenoversfn was captioned, “NEW FORTNITE BROKEN STRAT TO GET THE PIRATE COIN. JUST USE THE SHOCKWAVE!” The post has received almost one million views.

https://twitter.com/Xenoversfn/status/2117447246409302065

Reports have described several methods for destroying or triggering chests inside locked vaults without using a key, including Explosive Cannon Balls, Luffy’s Gum-Gum Fruit, and Shockwave Grenades. The methods appear to let players roll the chest reward without opening the vault normally, although the Pirate Shop drop remains random.

The race has also created a small economy around the reward. Jokifv claimed to be carrying other players to Pirate Shop Access “for $,” while saying they had already helped three people.

https://twitter.com/jokifv/status/2117359411253350537

Meanwhile, cloudz44_ advertised a tool that allegedly makes finding the Pirate Token easier, telling users it would increase their chances “A LOT” and asking people to pay for access.

https://twitter.com/cloudz44_/status/2117609381533503693

A Japanese-language post from 4z5pk also advertised an automated Fortnite farming tool designed for players hunting Pirate Tokens. The post claimed it could run matches in random squads while users were at school or asleep, with a download link provided in the replies.

An account with Pirate Shop Access is listed for $10,000

The frenzy has now spilled onto eBay, where an account titled “Fortnite Pirate Shop Access Account OG season 2” is listed for $10,000 or best offer.

The seller claims the account contains more than 400 skins, including Black Knight, Omega with lights, Royal Bomber, Neo Versa, Cobalt Snowfoot, and Merry Mint Axe. The listing also describes the Pirate Shop Access as unused.

However, Epic’s rules explicitly prohibit buying and selling accounts. Its Community Rules also ban cheating, exploiting bugs and glitches, and promoting or advertising known exploits. Epic says violations can lead to warnings, suspensions, or permanent bans, with players potentially losing access to their games and virtual items.

The Pirate Shop reward itself is also tied to the account that finds it and cannot be transferred. That means the eBay listing is offering the entire account rather than a transferable Pirate Shop token.

Epic has not announced whether it plans to patch the reported methods or take action against the accounts promoting them. For now, Fortnite’s supposedly impossible treasure hunt has become a scramble involving exploits, automation, paid services, and a $10,000 account listing.