Santa's Cottage in Pet Simulator 99’s Christmas event is locked behind a simple but time‑consuming task: hitting 15 hidden targets scattered around the Christmas world with the Snowball Launcher. Finishing this challenge grants Santa's Key, which opens the Secret Cottage and its exclusive rewards, including a chance at the Huge Candycane Kitsune.
How the Santa Key challenge works in Pet Simulator 99
Santa's Cottage is a secret building in the Christmas world. To get inside, you need Santa's Key, which is awarded after you hit 15 round red‑and‑white targets using the Snowball Launcher.
The loop is straightforward:
- You pick up the Snowball Launcher from its spot behind the Secret Santa board.
- You search the Christmas world for 15 targets that look like classic dartboards with concentric red and white circles.
- You shoot each target with a snowball. After all 15 have been hit, Santa's Key is granted, and you can use it on the Secret Cottage door behind the Secret Santa board.
That cottage ties directly into the broader Christmas update for Pet Simulator 99, which layers this target hunt on top of activities like the Grinch Chest Raid, Grinch Cove, the Gargantuan Present, Elf on a Shelf, the Snowman Boss, and the Advent Calendar. Many of the targets sit next to or behind these event features, so it helps to already know your way around the Christmas world.
Preparing to hunt targets
Step 1: Go to the Christmas world and walk to the Secret Santa board. Behind this board is a small area where you can pick up the Snowball Launcher. You need this specific launcher to interact with targets.
Step 2: Once you have the Snowball Launcher equipped, stay in the Christmas world. Every target needed for Santa's Key sits in this holiday area, often in sight of key landmarks like the Advent Calendar, portals, or the Grinch Raid arena.
All 15 target locations in the Christmas world
The list below follows a logical loop through the Christmas world, grouping locations where it makes sense so you can clear multiple targets without backtracking. You do not need to hit them in this exact order, but treating it as a route makes the hunt faster.
Target 1: Behind the Secret Santa board (Snowball Launcher area)
The first target is practically a tutorial.
Step 1: Stand behind the Secret Santa board, where the Snowball Launcher is located. On the wall in front of this launcher area, you will see the round red‑and‑white target.
Step 2: Fire the Snowball Launcher directly at this target to register your first hit.
Targets 2 and 3: Path to the ??? portal above Grinch Raid
Two targets sit along the mountain path that climbs above the Grinch Raid arena toward the mysterious ??? portal.
Step 1: Head to the Grinch Raid area and find the path that climbs up the mountain behind it toward the ??? portal at the top.
Step 2: As you move up this path, watch the walls around you. One target is placed along the route before you reach the top.
Step 3: Continue all the way up to the ??? portal itself. The second target in this pair is located right next to that portal.
Target 4: Left wall of the Secret Cottage
Santa's Cottage itself hides a target on its exterior.
Step 1: From the Secret Santa board, look for the nearby Secret Cottage. This is the building that Santa's Key eventually unlocks.
Step 2: Walk to the left side of that cottage. A target is attached to the left wall of the building.
Target 5: Ice wall left of the Advent Calendar
The Advent Calendar plaza hides several targets around it; the first is in clear view if you check the right angle.
Step 1: Go to the Advent Calendar building in the Christmas world.
Step 2: Stand facing the front of the calendar and then move to its left side. On a nearby ice wall to the left of the building, you’ll spot a target.
Targets 6 and 7: Directly behind the Advent Calendar
Two more targets sit behind and further behind the Advent Calendar building, one on a regular wall and one on another ice wall.
Step 1: Walk behind the Advent Calendar building. On the brown rear wall, you will see a large target.
Step 2: From that position, keep moving further behind the building into the area behind it. Look for another ice wall in this back section; the next target sits on that ice surface.
Target 8: Wooden plank behind an ice wall near the Gift Box area
This one uses the same visual trick again: a target partly hidden behind ice, near the area with large gift boxes.
Step 1: Locate the Gift Box area in the Christmas world, where oversized wrapped presents are clustered.
Step 2: Next to this space is another ice wall. Behind that wall, a small wooden plank sticks out, and the target is fixed to that plank. Line up a shot with the Snowball Launcher so the snowball hits the target through the gap.
Target 9: Distant wall left of the player Christmas trees
Player Christmas trees form another important landmark for one of the more distant shots.
Step 1: From behind the Advent Calendar, look for the area that displays the Christmas Trees of all players on the server, including your own tree.
Step 2: Stand near the row of these trees and look behind them to spot a couple of regular trees further back. From that reference point, walk to the left side. On a far wall to the left, you’ll see a target that may be small from a distance but is still reachable with the Snowball Launcher.
Target 10: Portals area near the Christmas tree and levers
Several portals sit together in one section of the map, and the next target is tucked onto a side wall in that area.
Step 1: Travel to the area with the Easy, Medium & Hard portals.
Step 2: Behind these portals there is a Christmas tree. Move into this space and look to the right‑hand wall, where a cluster of levers is mounted. The target is positioned on this right wall next to the levers.
Target 11: Back wall behind the Lucky Gingerbread machine
The Lucky Gingerbread crafting point sits in the same building that uses Santa's Key. A target is mounted behind it.
Step 1: Go to the building that contains the Lucky Gingerbread Machine. This is the same structure where you later insert Santa's Key.
Step 2: Move to the rear of this area and look at the back wall directly behind the Lucky Gingerbread crafting point. Another target is visible there.
Target 12: Below the Grinch Raid arena in the trees
One target hides in a lower, more secluded patch of trees beneath the Grinch Raid arena.
Step 1: Return to the Grinch Raid Arena, but instead of climbing up, find the way down into the small lower area beneath it.
Step 2: In this lower section you will see a cluster of trees. Walk through them toward the far end of the area; a target is placed at the end, framed by the trees.
Target 13: Ledge behind the Santa's Key building
This one is easy to miss if you never explore the side path behind the Santa's Key building.
Step 1: Go back to the building where you insert Santa's Key (the same one with the Lucky Gingerbread Machine).
Step 2: On the right side of this building there is a path that climbs upward. Follow this path to reach a ledge behind the structure. A target sits on this raised ledge facing outward.
Target 14: Behind the central tall Christmas tree
The middle of the map features a very tall Christmas tree used as a Gingerbread grinding spot. The next target hides in its shadow.
Step 1: Move to the center of the map, where a tall Christmas tree dominates the area. This is the spot where players typically farm Gingerbread currency with their pets.
Step 2: Walk behind this tall tree. On the back side, partially hidden by branches and decorations, you’ll find another target.
Target 15: Snow block in front of the portals
The final target brings you back to the portals section and hides in a snow block near the same Easy, Medium & Hard portals you visited earlier.
Step 1: Return once more to the area with the Easy, Medium & Hard portals.
Step 2: In front of these portals there is a Snow Block. Move behind or around this block to reveal the last target attached to the back of the snow.
What Santa's Key unlocks in Pet Simulator 99
Once all 15 targets have been successfully hit with the Snowball Launcher, Santa's Key is automatically awarded. This key is used on the door of the Secret Cottage located behind the Secret Santa board.
Inside Santa's Cottage, you can access event‑specific rewards such as Eggs and Chests tied to the Christmas update. The Christmas patch notes for Pet Simulator 99 highlight Santa's Cottage as one of the limited‑time paths to the Huge Candycane Kitsune, making the target hunt a direct route to one of the event’s headline Huge pets.
The Secret Cottage sits alongside other Christmas systems like the Gargantuan Present, Secret Santa raffles, Grinch Cove lockpicks, the Grinch Chest Raid, Hidden Presents, and the Elf on a Shelf hunt described in the official Christmas update. Taken together, they turn the holiday world into a dense loop of puzzles, grinds, and one‑off secrets, with the Santa Key challenge acting as one of the more compact, completionist‑friendly tasks.
Finishing the 15‑target route once is enough to secure Santa's Key and experience Santa's Cottage, but the surrounding Christmas activities continue to reward time spent in the event world even after the cottage door finally swings open.
