---
title: Geolocation
description: Show the country and city of an IP address in the log. It uses a database on your own site.
url: "https://docs.prefixwp.com/docs/pastmark/pastmark-pro/geolocation/"
updated: "2026-11-10"
category: Pastmark Pro
---

# Geolocation

Geolocation shows the **country and city** next to the IP address of an event. This is a feature of **Pastmark Pro**. It is off by default.

Go to `User Activity → Settings → Geolocation`.

## Turn it on

1. Click **Turn on geolocation**.
2. Pastmark Pro downloads a free database from db-ip.com. It is about **60 MB** to download and about **130 MB** on your disk. This takes a short time.
3. When it is ready, you see the date and the size of the database. Reload the Activity Logs page to see the locations.

[![The Geolocation tab with the text Database 2026-11, 121 MB, updated November 10, 2026 and the button Turn off and delete the database](http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/pastmark-pro-geo-ready.webp)](http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/pastmark-pro-geo-ready.webp)
The Geolocation tab when the database is ready.

The database is the **DB-IP City Lite** database. Pastmark Pro saves it in `wp-content/uploads/pastmark-pro/geo/`. The folder is protected from direct access. Once a month, a scheduled task gets a new version.

Pastmark Pro checks every download before it replaces the old file. If a download fails, the old database stays and you see an error.

## Privacy

- All lookups happen **on your own site**. No visitor IP address is sent to any service.
- The only request to the outside is the download of the database from db-ip.com.

## Where you see locations

| Place | What you see |
| --- | --- |
| Table view | The **Location** column: a flag and the country code, for example **US**. |
| Timeline view | A flag, the city and the code, for example **London, GB**. |
| Details of an event | A **Location** box with the city and the country, for example **Amsterdam, The Netherlands**. |

[![The Location box in the details of an event: Amsterdam, The Netherlands](http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/pastmark-pro-detail-location.webp)](http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/pastmark-pro-detail-location.webp)
The Location box in the details.

- An IP address from a private network, for example your own computer, shows **Local network**.
- When you use **Anonymize IP Addresses**, Pastmark can show only the **country**.

## Locations are not saved in the log

Pastmark Pro looks up the place **when you view** the log. It does not save the place in the event. So:

- Old events show locations too.
- When you turn geolocation off, the locations disappear everywhere.
- Pastmark Pro keeps the answer for each IP address for 7 days to be fast.

Columns: the **Location** column is also in the **Columns** menu of the table. Read [View your activity log](/docs/pastmark/activity-log/view-your-activity-log/).

## Turn it off

Click **Turn off and delete the database**. Pastmark Pro deletes the database file and the saved answers. When you uninstall Pastmark Pro, it also removes the setting, the scheduled task and the folder.

## If the download fails

Click **Try again**. The error tells you the reason. This is a common one:

[![The Geolocation tab with the error: The uploads folder is not writable, so the database cannot be stored](http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/pastmark-pro-geo-error.webp)](http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/pastmark-pro-geo-error.webp)
The uploads folder is not writable.

On some hosts, the web server cannot write to `wp-content/uploads`. Ask your host to fix the permissions of that folder. Then click **Try again**.

## How exact is it

The country is reliable. The city is only a good guess. The free database is not as exact as a paid one.

The database is from DB-IP.com under the license CC BY 4.0. The credit line is at the bottom of the Geolocation tab: **IP geolocation data by DB-IP.com (CC BY 4.0)**.

## Next steps

- [The login-location map](/docs/pastmark/pastmark-pro/login-location-map/)
- [New-login alerts](/docs/pastmark/pastmark-pro/new-login-alerts/)