Controls, progression & unlocks
Drain the Lake Wiki
Learn how to scoop and pour water, earn Tokens, unlock Buckets, buy upgrades, and reach deeper checkpoints.
Buckets, Skills, Badges & Wheel
Choose a Bucket, Plan Skills, Track Badges, or Check Wheel Odds
Choose a Bucket
Filter and compare all 10 Buckets.
Compare Buckets →Plan Upgrades
Compare Skill costs and find the lowest-cost route to a target.
Plan Skill upgrades →Track Badges
Mark completed Badges and count progress toward Ancient Bucket.
Track Badges →Check Wheel Odds
Calculate Initial Spin and Physical Roll probabilities separately.
Calculate Wheel odds →The core loop
Bucket → Water → Drain → Tokens → Skill Tree
Players in the same Lake party reduce one shared water level. Upgrade the part of the loop slowing you down, then continue deeper toward Checkpoints, the Phone, and other completion goals.
Controls & progression
How to Scoop, Progress, Unlock Buckets, and Finish
Scoop and pour water, buy upgrades, unlock special Buckets, complete Badges, and find the Phone.
Getting started: scoop, pour, and collect Tokens
How do I scoop water?
Equip a Bucket, move within about 14 studs of the lake surface, and use the Scoop control shown by the game. Keep holding it until the Bucket is full.
Which controls do I use on PC, mobile, or controller?
On PC, aim at the water and hold the left mouse button. On Xbox or another controller, hold RT / R2. On mobile, hold the blue Fill button while aiming at the water. To pour on any platform, stand beside a Drain and use the Interact prompt shown on screen.
What do I do when the Bucket is full?
Return to a fixed Drain machine and Pour. The base flow still requires collecting Token payouts manually; Magnet Bucket or Direct Deposit can provide auto-collection.
What are Tokens and Diamonds used for?
Tokens come from payouts after Pour and fund the Skill Tree. Diamonds buy some Buckets and may come from Badges, the Wheel, Chests, endings, or Mail.
How do I return to the surface underwater?
On PC, press F to return to the surface; mobile players can use the matching on-screen button. Gills provides an unlimited swim meter.
Progression: difficulty, Skill Tree, and deeper areas
The party lowers one shared lake level, exposing deeper Checkpoints over the run.
How do Easy, Medium, and Hard differ?
Easy, Medium, and Hard list drain-per-use values of 50 / 40 / 30 and Skill cost multipliers of ×1 / ×1.25 / ×1.5. Medium unlocks after Easy, and Hard unlocks after Medium. Actual finish time still depends on the party and upgrades.
How many required Skill Tree nodes are there?
Fully Trained counts 61 core upgrades. The category entries and two optional Bucket Perks are separate, so they are not included in that required total.
Which depth areas are confirmed?
The game has seven Checkpoints, with named areas including Shipwreck, Cavern, Mineshaft, Molten, Lost City, and Abyss. Use each Checkpoint unlock as the marker for your next depth goal.
Unlocks: Ancient, Toilet, Toxic, Dragon, and Shark
How do I get Ancient Bucket?
Join Group 617312490 and complete 10 Achievements, then use the in-game Claim option.
Where do Toilet Bucket and Toxic Bucket come from?
Both are Wheel rewards, with listed per-roll chances of 4% and 1%. Respin can change the final odds for Initial Spins, so use the calculator rather than mixing Initial Spins with Physical Rolls.
What are the current Dragon Bucket and Shark Bucket states?
Dragon is a Robux-only Bucket; check its in-game listing for the price. Shark is retired and has no current unlock route.
Completion: Badges and the Phone Ending
The game has 29 official Badges. Eighteen list Stars and Diamond rewards.
Which Badges list Stars and Diamond rewards?
Use the Rewards filter to show the 18 Badges with Stars and Diamond amounts.
What is the Phone Ending goal?
Keep draining the shared lake, unlock deeper Checkpoints, and find the Phone to reach the main ending objective.