Gem Hours is the weekend Power Hour in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3, built around the newly released Gem Sprites. During each window, seasonal loot drops at Mythic rarity, every Sprite variant spawns more often, and Gem Sprites in particular become far easier to track down. It runs on Saturday, August 8, 2026, across two separate two-hour blocks.
Quick answer: Jump into Battle Royale or Zero Build on August 8 between 2 PM and 4 PM ET or between 9 PM and 11 PM ET. During those hours all seasonal weapons drop as Mythics, you spawn with a Self-Revive Device, and Gem Sprite rates are boosted.
Release time: Saturday, August 8, 2026, 2:00 PM ET (6:00 PM UTC)
Gem Hours start times by region
The event repeats twice on August 8. The first round runs 2 PM to 4 PM ET, and the second runs 9 PM to 11 PM ET, giving you four total hours of boosted rates. In UTC that maps to 6 PM to 8 PM and then 1 AM to 3 AM. Because the ET windows push late into the evening, some regions see the second round land after midnight or on August 9.
| Region | First round | Second round |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (PT) | 11 AM–1 PM, Aug 8 | 6 PM–8 PM, Aug 8 |
| Chicago (CT) | 1 PM–3 PM, Aug 8 | 8 PM–10 PM, Aug 8 |
| New York (ET) | 2 PM–4 PM, Aug 8 | 9 PM–11 PM, Aug 8 |
| Brasília (BRT) | 3 PM–5 PM, Aug 8 | 10 PM–12 AM, Aug 8–9 |
| London (BST) | 7 PM–9 PM, Aug 8 | 2 AM–4 AM, Aug 9 |
| Paris (CEST) | 8 PM–10 PM, Aug 8 | 3 AM–5 AM, Aug 9 |
| Johannesburg (SAST) | 8 PM–10 PM, Aug 8 | 3 AM–5 AM, Aug 9 |
| Dubai (GST) | 10 PM–12 AM, Aug 8–9 | 5 AM–7 AM, Aug 9 |
| Seoul (KST) | 3 AM–5 AM, Aug 9 | 10 AM–12 PM, Aug 9 |
| Tokyo (JST) | 3 AM–5 AM, Aug 9 | 10 AM–12 PM, Aug 9 |
| Sydney (AEST) | 4 AM–6 AM, Aug 9 | 11 AM–1 PM, Aug 9 |
What changes during Gem Hours
Four modifiers are active for the length of each window. They affect your starting inventory, the loot pool, Sprite spawn rates, and Chest contents.
| Modifier | Effect |
|---|---|
| Free Self-Revive | Everyone starts each match with a Self-Revive Device. |
| Mythic loot pool | All seasonal weapons and items drop at Mythic rarity. |
| Boosted Sprite rates | Gem Sprite drop rates are increased, and every other Sprite variant appears more often too. |
| Mythic Goldfish | The Mythic Goldfish has a chance to drop from Chests and can be thrown to knock opponents. |
The Sprite boost is the reason to log in. Rates are lifted across the board, not just for Gem variants, so this is also a strong window for chasing other scarce pulls while you hunt the new set.
Which Gem Sprites to target
There are nine Gem Sprites in total, and every one of them reduces fall damage by 30% while carried. Some wander fixed environments, while the rarest ones only appear inside Chests. Prioritize the chest-locked variants during Gem Hours, since that is where the boosted rates help the most. Gem Zero Point sits at the bottom of the drop table at roughly 0.00001%, with Gem Grim next at about 0.00099%.
| Gem Sprite | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Gem Water | Rivers and beaches |
| Gem Earth | Forests and wooded regions |
| Gem Aura | High and mountainous areas |
| Gem Duck | Inside the Business Mogul’s Vault |
| Gem Demon | Rare Sprite Chest drop |
| Gem Punk | Rare Sprite Chest drop, inside Vaults |
| Gem Grim | Rare Sprite Chest drop |
| Gem Zero Point | Rare Sprite Chest and Relic Chest drop |
| Gem Llama | Relic Chests inside Renegade Vaults |
Gem Water, Gem Earth, and Gem Aura are the most reliable because you can plan a landing route around their environments. The four rare chest variants can take several matches, so build a repeatable path that hits multiple Sprite Chest spawns rather than opening one and moving on.
How to lock in a Sprite you find
Tip: A Lucky Locator or a leveled Peeky Peely Sprite helps surface nearby rare Sprites during the hunt. Getting Peeky Peely to level 5 widens its detection range.
Why not appearing right away is normal
Even with boosted rates, a Gem Sprite is not guaranteed on every spawn. All existing Sprite types remain in the pool, so a spawn may still hand you an older variant. The chest-locked Gems are rare drops, so several matches may pass before one appears. Make sure you have started a fresh match inside a Gem Hours window, and return to the lobby or restart the game if the boosted pool does not seem active.
With the season running through August 19 and the “Unstable” live event landing on August 15, these four hours on August 8 are one of the cleaner chances to close out the Gem collection before the meta shifts. Pick one variant per match, plan your route around its source, and extract the moment you have it.
