Goblin Cleanup Hot Springs Key Location: Where Both Pool Keys Hide

Why the Goblin Cleanup Hot Springs Key Location Stalls So Many Runs

The Goblin Cleanup hot springs key location is the one step that quietly ruins otherwise clean solo runs. The room gets spotless, the furniture is placed, and then you stand in an empty bathhouse with two locked doors and no idea what the game still wants from you. The answer is almost insulting in its simplicity: the keys are sitting in the water.

This guide breaks down the exact sequence that works, where the Goblin Cleanup hot springs key location fits into it, and the nearby secrets worth grabbing while you're already in the area. Everything below comes from two community write-ups: Coconut's Steam guide and ninewiki's secret-area compilation.

Where the Goblin Cleanup Hot Springs Key Location Actually Is

Short answer: both keys are in the outdoor hot pools, and you pull them out near the end of the level.

Coconut's guide describes the finish plainly — once the interior work is done, you go back outside, put the remaining objects in place around the hot springs, then take the two keys out of the hot pools, unlock the doors, and hang each key next to its door. That's it. No fake wall, no hidden button, no obscure prop interaction.

What confuses people is the timing. The guide's route clears the building before handling the doors, which means you can finish what feels like the whole job and still be two keys short. If you're retracing chests and artifacts, stop — you're looking in the wrong place.

One honest limitation: the guide says "the hot pools" without naming which pool holds which key. If a pool looks empty, check its neighbor rather than assuming the run is bugged.

The Full Hot Springs Order That Works

Coconut's route is written for a timed 45-minute run, and the order matters more than the individual steps. Steps below are paraphrased from that guide.

Source: Coconut's "Hot springs 45 minute guide" on Steam Community, posted September 21, 2025 and last updated October 12, 2025.

The step-7 checkpoint is the useful diagnostic. If the game still expects more than two gold chest artifacts once the interior is clean, something inside was missed — and no amount of pool-dipping will fix it.

Secrets Around the Hot Springs Worth Detouring For

Ninewiki's secret-area guide, published June 15, 2026, lists two hidden routes in the Hot Springs map. Neither is required for the keys, but both are easy to pass by.

• Snowy Forest — "Save Passage" achievement route. Take the archway behind the Ice Golems, continue to where red and blue flags cross, then head toward the next archway with the blue flags. At the two lion statues, go offroad at the marked spot and follow the path upward, staying on top of the hill until you're behind the wall.
• Outdoor Hot Springs — fake wall. The wall in the archway just to the left of the actual Indoor Pool entrance can be walked straight through.

The second one is the practical find for anyone still hunting the Goblin Cleanup hot springs key location. It sits right beside the entrance you're already using, so it costs a few seconds to check and saves you a return trip if it turns out to be relevant to your run.

Player Experience, Timing, and Version Notes

Coconut reports finishing the whole route in 32 of the 45 available minutes, solo, while writing the guide at the same time. Treat that as one player's run rather than a benchmark — it does suggest the route has slack in it, not that 32 minutes is the expected pace.

Community snapshots are worth dating properly. As of November 9, 2026, the Steam guide page recorded 1,046 unique visitors and 6 favorites, with no rating threshold met yet — so it's a useful route document rather than a heavily vetted one. The page also displays Steam's automated "incompatible" banner, so read the comments before committing to it in a patch newer than the guide's October 12, 2025 update.

On builds: ninewiki notes that the public v0.55.25 build, the Dungeon Daddy Update, had an ice-slime bug affecting lava traversal in The Forge. That's a different map and doesn't touch the pools, but it's a reminder that version-specific behavior can shift between patches. Check the Goblin Cleanup store page on Steam for current build information.

One terminology footnote from the guide's comments, courtesy of a player: the "benches with backs" are the pews. Small thing, but it saves a confused scan of the object list.

FAQ

Where is the Goblin Cleanup hot springs key location?

Both keys are in the outdoor hot pools. According to Coconut's Steam guide, you take the two keys out of the hot pools, use them to unlock the doors, and hang each key beside its door.

Do I need to carry an item into the hot springs building?

No. The guide explicitly says to walk inside the building immediately, with nothing in hand. Everything that doesn't fit on the entrance side of the icy water pool gets thrown over the pool into the office.

How long does a hot springs run take?

Coconut reports a 32-minute finish out of a 45-minute window, solo, while taking notes for the guide. That's player experience, not a guaranteed pace — expect your first attempt to run longer.

Are there secrets near the Goblin Cleanup hot springs key location?

Yes. Ninewiki documents a fake wall in the archway to the left of the Indoor Pool entrance and a longer offroad route in the Snowy Forest tied to the "Save Passage" achievement. Neither is required to finish the level.