Skyrim talk:Containers/Archive 1

This is an archive of past Skyrim talk:Containers discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page, except for maintenance such as updating links.

Using Helgen as a Base

I found that you can use Helgen, the town Alduin attacks in the tutorial, as a base. It's available as fast travel immediately, and the three chests in the garrison Hadvar leads you into don't appear to respawn after sleeping for 73 hours in another cell, so I guess they are safe.

The wardrobe and bedside table in the ruined inn in the town area proper (the one you had to jump into from the tower when Rolof prompted you) don't respawn either, and you can actually use the bed there, getting the Rested bonus, so this may even count as free housing.

I haven't seen Alduin or other scalies show up there besides the prologue so far, so I guess it's safe from dragons?

Just... I hope you didn't misplace the Helgen key you get in the prologue, or it's going to suck to be you :p Also, the town feels very creepy, totaled and burnt corpses everywhere. GenocideHeart 06:26, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

The cell reset is now 30 in-game days, so more research is needed. For what it's worth, I've been using the ruined inn as an early home/shelter and it seems okay for the moment. There's a skeleton that can be used for storage under the bridge in Ivarstead. It's quest-related, so I imagine that particular container doesn't respawn. --78.149.229.112 01:56, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

That means I should probably not dally and buy the house in Whiterun ASAP. For now, I'm using this place as storage, but I'm not risking my stuff. Clearing Bleak Falls next... 89.189.38.226 10:15, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Whoops, just to edit: Cleared cell respawn is 30 days. Regular cells are 10 days. --78.149.229.112 20:40, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

Can someone explain the difference between 'cleared cells' and 'regular cells' ? Also, how does a non-PC player know what constitutes a cell? I could not find a page explaining cells, cell resets, etc.

A container within an area that can be "cleared" such as a bandit cave. You can tell because there will be (cleared) next to the location name on the map. It takes 30 days for the chests in such areas to respawn. -Anonymous Visitor — Unsigned comment by 99.8.105.174 (talk) at 12:55 on 23 November 2011

(←) Helgen Keep self-tested and confirmed as Safe Storage on 360:

General Notes about Helgen Keep: It's important to distinguish between Helgen and Helgen Keep when discussing this. Helgen is an exterior cell and resets after 10 days of inactivity. The 7 or so assorted Bandits who inhabit Helgen will respawn. Helgen Keep, however, is a separate and different cell from Helgen. Once the Bandits who inhabit the Keep's interior are slain, they are perma-corpses and do not respawn. Similarly, any bodies remaining from the Unbound mission are perma-corpses as well, as are the bodies of the Frostbite Spiders in the spider cavern of the Keep. In the final chamber of the Keep, where the player encounters his first Bear during Unbound, the Bear is gone and is replaced by a live Frostbite Spider. After this spider is slain, it too becomes a perma-corpse.

Testing Method: I have tested every container object in Helgen Keep and can confirm that every container is Safe. I tested by completely stripping Helgen Keep of every clutter object, and placing 1 Iron Arrow and 1 Leather Strip inside every possible container object. After waiting 31 in-game days in another cell, (Dawnstar), I re-entered Helgen Keep and checked every container. None of the containers reset or lost the inventory I placed in them, and no clutter items respawned within the Keep. As far as resetting/respawning goes, Helgen Keep is 100% inert. After the first test, I moved some of the grab-able container items and placed them in different areas of the Keep to see if they would stay where they were dropped. Again, waited 31 in-game days in another cell, and re-entered Helgen Keep. Bodies and Skeletons will remain where they are dropped, and their inventory contents remain Safe. (Exploring Helgen Keep does not place a Cleared notation on the game Map, indicating that the Helgen exterior cell is on a 10 day reset schedule. I can confirm this. However, just to be extra cautious and safe, I used a 30+ day testing cycle for the Helgen Keep interior zone.)

Types of Containers available in Helgen Keep: Your exact body count may differ, depending on which side you chose during the Unbound tutorial mission, and perhaps how you played through it. Also, there might be some small variability in the number or type of Bandits that inhabit Helgen Keep after Unbound is completed, possibly related to your character's level when you revisit Helgen Keep for the first time. (All container names are as they appear on-screen in the game I tested.)

Conventional Containers:

• chest: 3

Although I can't confirm this, I believe that one of these chests, (a large ornate Boss-style chest) is not present during Unbound, but becomes available after the Bandits move into Helgen.

• warden's chest
• cupboard
• barrel
• large sack: 3
• sack: 3
• knapsack

Humanoid Perma-Corpse Containers:

• Gunjar
• Mage
• Stormcloak Soldier: 12
• Bandit Chief
• Bandit Outlaw
• Bandit: 6
• skeleton: 5

Spider-related Containers:

• Frostbite Spider: 6

5 of these Spiders are corpses from the Unbound tutorial. The 6th one replaces the Bear in the final cavern, and although it is a living beast when you first encounter it, it becomes a perma-corpse when slain.

• egg sac: 7
• web sac: 2
• dessicated corpse

On the game I tested, this amounts to 56 Safe Storage Containers.

Movement and Placement of Containers:

The safety and location of player-placed containers was tested and confirmed by a 30+ day Wait period outside of Helgen Keep (in Dawnstar) after having moved containers from their scripted or as-found locations.

Certain containers can be grabbed and moved to different locations within the Keep:

• Bodies/Corpses move very easily. They will stay where you dropped them after you exit and re-enter Helgen Keep, and their contents remain Safe. The caged Stormcloak or Imperial in the prisoner/torture area obviously can't be moved.
• Skeltons seem to be very heavy, and can't be lifted off the ground the way corpses can. Consequently, they can only be dragged while in grab mode, and steep slopes, rocks and stairs are obstacles to dragging that cause the grab function to disengage. (If somebody wants to try shouting Skeletons uphill, go ahead.) Any moved Skeletons will remain where they are placed, and their inventory items remain Safe. There are 2 caged Skeletons that cannot be moved.
• Frostbite Spider appendages can be toyed with while in grab mode, but the bodies themselves seem rooted to the floor, rendering Frostbite Spider corpses unmovable.
• Web Sacs and the Dessicated Corpse are easily movable, but they seem to be scripted to appear at specific locations in the spider cavern. Once moved to a different location, they will relocate to the spider cavern when you re-enter Helgen Keep. In spite of being force-relocated by the game, their contents will remain Safe. There is an issue here, though. After one of these forced relocations during testing, the Dessicated Corpse disappeared from my game. Whether it dropped below a textured surface and is unreachable, or if it actually vanished is unknown to me. For this reason, I'd advise against moving the Web Sacs and the Dessicated Corpse from the spider cavern if you're going to use them as Safe Storage.Evil-i 15:38, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

NPC Inventory Resetting

After a period of time(not entirely sure how long) NPCs 'refresh' their inventory. They re-equip their standard items despite what they have in their inventory and despite any console commands(equipitem <id> 1).

For example:

Senna, my character's wife wears the normal priest robe. I wanted to have her wear a different robe. I used the console and did Additem <id> 1 and then equipitem <id> 1. This adds 1 of the item I want to her inventory and then forces her to equip it. It worked for a while but then it reset like it always did to me in Oblivion. I am still hoping there is some way around this. There -HAS- to be a console command or something to turn off a container's or npc's inventory resetting. I'm rather new with the console and PC version so if anyone else is wiser, some assistance or atleast closure to break my dreams would be nice.

Note: The Housecarls that guard your homes, I gave one full ebony armor and after a short while he was wearing his normal armor again. He still had the ebony in his inventory but the sword didnt reset. So it appears that only armor/clothes reset while weapons do not.

Again, please help! — Unsigned comment by Necrosin (talk • contribs) at 11:55 on 15 November 2011

I have seen that, but it seems to be random. Lydia, the housecarl from Whiterun, has been following my orc around for a while now. The one time I saw that reset I simply opened the trade gear window, took the armor back and gave it to her again; she promptly equipped the better gear. I have seen her switch between gear depending upon the situation; I have her carrying both a 30% resist frost necklace and a 10% block necklace, and she'll use the frost necklace against dragons or mages but the block necklace against normal enemies. She also seems to use equipped potions. I've seen her pick up staves from fallen mages and use that in preference to a shield, but she doesn't seem to pick up her weapon if she gets disarmed by a high-level draugr shout. Odd. --Quillan^Talk 17:59, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

In a period of just a few hours, my follower (Marcurio) changed back to his old rubbish (even after I removed it from his inventory) at least a dozen times. He does so generally after fast travelling, or entering a different zone. It's driving me nuts, tbh. 122.150.241.127 10:59, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Just a guess here, but I imagine that the game respawns an NPCs inventory to some default state in order to combat the "Perfect Touch" Pickpocket perk that lets you steal equipped items. Otherwise you could steal clothes from everyone in Skyrim, and they would run around naked. Forever. --Dorsal Axe 14:42, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Looks like weapons reset too. At least arrows. After using the guards in Solitude to dupe ebony arrows for a while I returned to switch up to duping the daedric ones I found. Upon my return they were both shooting steel. (Xbox 360) 70.24.94.254 21:37, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Safe containers in Falkreath?

Are there any safe containers in Falkreath or the Falkreath Hold's central area in general? GenocideHeart 16:19, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

The inn in Helgen has a safe wardrobe and end table. --Dorsal Axe 19:59, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

What is the basis for people posting that containers are safe?

The only containers that Bethesda is on record as saying are safe are containers that are containers in a house you have bought from a Steward of a keep or been awarded by a Jarl of a keep (and this article qualifies that - why?). Someone incorrectly posted that the barrels outside of the War Maiden in Whiterun are safe (which can be easily disproved). What we do know about containers that are not safe is that they reset with new items inside them after a given period of time. It's also been speculated that the timers for resetting start over if the area of the container is visited. If people have not tested containers by not revisiting the area they are in for set periods of time such as 5, 10, 15, and 20 days they should not be posting that they are safe. --DagmarH 05:14, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

From what I understand, people have figured out that places respawn/reset on predictable schedules. If you leave an area (cell) and stay away for 10 days, it resets. However, "clearable" locations only reset if you stay away after 30 days. However, I don't know how reliable this is, because there is conflicting information scattered within the wiki, and there is NOT a Skyrim page just about respawning (but there is for Oblivion). Also, merchants will restock in 3 days, but I don't think you have to leave the area. How do you know where one cell ends and another begins? I have no idea. Surely it can't be loading screens, because all of outdoor Skyrim would be one giant cell.

I do agree that people should at least explain their methods in the discussion page (see Skyrim talk:Anise's Cabin ) so we know if they are just idiots tampering with the wiki, or someone who actually tried to test the information. --Amsuko 08:30, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

I can confirm that merchants restock every two days, and not three. This is confirmed on the Skyrim:Merchants page. I would agree that a respawning thread is needed. I tried doing [some research of my own], but my thread has been driven to the bottom of the heap and is no longer generating responses. Also, should we have a separate TOC item for each container? Seems to me that this talk page could use some consolidation and each location given it's own paragraph (but not necessarily a TOC entry.)Schm0 13:55, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

I also think there should be a page just for safe containers. Then, discussions about safety tests could be held there, without cluttering up the general containers talk page. In the Oblivion wiki area, there is a page for Safe Containers 'under' the Containers page. Would it even be appropriate to "pre-create" sections on the talk page for each location (so far)? Then (hopefully) people with comments/questions about that area would put their posts there? Otherwise, this is what happens: A person posts about -locationX-, but names their section "Yo, I got a question". Someone else posts about -locationX- in a new section. Meanwhile a person with a question about -locationZ- posts under "Yo, I got a question." It just gets worse from there. However, attempting to organize talk pages is probably anti-wiki format or something :) If I changed this section to say "Determining a "Safe" Container & Should "Safe Containers" and "Respawning" get their own pages?" I'd probably get reprimanded. --Amsuko 02:10, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

Anise's Cabin - Free shack with safe storage?

I think it's important to suggest easy, safe storage areas, and/or "free" houses. It seems this may be a great suggestion, if someone can confirm (via console?) the mentioned items won't respawn. The Discussion Page has someone's notes about which containers are safe: Skyrim talk:Anise's Cabin --Amsuko 08:33, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Update: I tested it out for myself, but had different results than reported by another user. Everything but the barrel was safe, which adds to 10 safe containers, a bed, alchemy table, and enchanting table. I added my notes to the page. --Amsuko 20:59, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Safe Containers: Bromjunaar Santuary

The wiki page, Bromjunaar Sanctuary, indicates the containers here do not respawn. If we could get more verification, this might be a great place to suggest for safe storage. Note that you do need to find the Wooden Mask, which teleports you to the location. --Amsuko 20:55, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Sleeping Giant Inn Chest

The initially empty chest in the basement of the Sleeping Giant Inn is wiped during the course of the main quest Diplomatic Immunity so as to hold your unequipped gear. — Unsigned comment by 99.47.234.92 (talk) at 15:37 on 31 December 2011

I removed it from the list. I have not confirmed this unsigned comment, but due to the abundance of people claiming safe containers (without checking), it's better to leave it off, unless someone has more proof it is safe.--Amsuko 21:05, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

this chest doesnt respawn iv put in over 140 hours and its safe. — Unsigned comment by 86.3.219.219 (talk) at 03:04 on 4 January 2012

Safe Container: High Rothgar Supply Chest

Is empty to begin with and never resets; have used on multiple characters some for over a hundred hours of play time. Extremely convenient for stashing loot when you're using the Greybeards to gather all the words of power.

(note: this chest is associated with the miscellaneous quest "Klemmik's Supplies" but the chest does not reset before or after.) — Unsigned comment by 172.129.2.92 (talk) at 07:25 on 1 January 2012

Testing for Safe Containers

It would help if non-player housing containers listed as safe could be verified and that verification captured here. (Of course that will be much easier when they release the creation set!) Some containers have come and gone, and sometimes the area descriptions have been inaccurate or incomplete enough to be unsure about the veracity of the report. Here's how I test containers, which I just did with the Alchemist's Shack:

(0) Save game before testing since the test modifies game settings via the console. (1) Put an item in each container that isn't typically found in that kind of container and loot every free-standing object. (2) Fast travel away from the area. (3) Use the console to speed up time; i.e., "set timescale 70000". (4) Wait at least 10 days for outside areas and 30 days for areas marked as cleared on the map. (5) Set timescale back to normal; i.e., "set timescale 20". (6) Fast-travel back to the area. (7) Note the containers whose contents have changed and free-standing items that respawned. (8) Reload pre-test game.

A few quick notes: It's probably OK to just empty the containers rather than put test items in them, but I seem to recall in Oblivion construction set had a setting for containers to have a chance of being empty on respawn; that would make the empty test non-conclusive. Upping timescale is much faster than trying to Wait it out one day at a time; I let 15 and 45 days pass to be safe, and I base my math off the date displayed when pausing the game to avoid counting errors.

When I ran my test for the Alchemist's Shack, only the end table is a safe container. The two barrels and alchemist's satchel respawned after 13 days as did every loose item except the Alchemist's Journal--even the books and butterfly jar respawned. — Unsigned comment by Camenecium (talk • contribs) at 20:23 on 9 January 2012

-- Tried your test with the Atronach Forge, and the items remained for 3 years. Now i wont need to carry things around anymore. Ill just store everything in the forge container. :) — Unsigned comment by 177.18.78.99 (talk) at 16:48 on 2 February 2012

"Almost Always?"

Under safe containers, the page currently says "Containers in purchased or rewarded homes are almost always 'safe'." Almost always? If there's an almost, the exceptions should be listed explicitly. I don't want to find out that some barrel I've been using inside my house is the exception and lose all my junk. If all containers in purchasable houses are safe, it shouldn't say "almost". — Unsigned comment by 67.239.158.14 (talk) at 19:59 on 10 January 2012

If those are junk, why on oblivion would you care if you lose them? --Joshua.yathin.yu 15:45, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Related to "purchased or rewarded", I tested a spousal home as follows under xbox: Orc character married Ghorbash of Dushnikh Yal and consented to live in his home. Within longhouse, stored personal items in the common bed area within (emptied) dresser and in chest that still contained kettle and cast iron pot. Fast traveled to Whiterun, waited 31 24-hour periods beside smelter. Fast returned to the stronghold. Outside juniper and in-mine orichalcum veins were observed to have respawned. Dresser and chest items, including kettle and cast iron pot, were unchanged since time of storage.

Secondary note on the longhouse-stored items: All items of value 30 and above were redlined on storage but not noted as stolen. Character had never stolen anything; red items included personally smithed items and personally mined ore. A test item withdrawn, dropped, picked up and replaced into chest was not noted stolen at any time, but was listed in red again on storage. -DSH 1/22/2012 — Unsigned comment by 76.114.194.201 (talk) at 17:12 on 22 January 2012

The latter probably is due to the fact that friends (i.e. people whose disposition towards you is high enough) allow you to take minor items from their place but not too valuable ones. So if you open a chest of a friends, small items (ingredients, septims - seems to calculate on single piece value, which is 1 septim per septim) will appear in white, meaning "takeable", while you're not allowed to take their Daedric Sword of Infinite Health, which would be stealing and thus marked in red. Since the items you place in there yourself are apparently tagged as owned by you, it shows the warning but does not flag as stolen. --Ulkomaalainen 18:36, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

(←) Proudspire Manor - "Upon buying the living room furniture, the barrel in the living room and the barrel on the stairs to the second floor will be replaced by furniture, making their contents - including anything stored by the player - inaccessible." --Razorsoup 13:47, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Respawn Rate

According to some, I forgot the source:

• The respawn rate which a cell resets is set to 10 days for the player not being in a cell.
• It'd be 30 days for clearable indoor dungeons for the player not visiting it.
• For clearable exterior areas, it will reset with the cell.
• A cell is a hold. If you spend 10 days in Winterhold, everything even as close as in Hjaalmarch will be reset as well.

If you guys are testing, please note. --Joshua.yathin.yu 15:32, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Weapon Plaques and Racks

"Shield / Weapon Plaques are decorative wall mounted containers that will remove and display equipped items when activated."
"Weapon Racks can be activated to automatically remove equipped weapons from the player for storage and display."
Can they really be "activated" for automatic storage and display? I've only ever been able to activate mannequins and book shelves. --Enodoc 17:40, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

Really? That is one of the main reasons for buying a house: To have somewhere to display all the weapons and equipment you have collected. There is aglitch where all of the weapon plaques and racks don't work in Hjerim so maybe you have experienced a similar glitch? RIM 17:43, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

Maybe. I know there's a bug in the bookshelves, but even with that bug, the "Activate" button still appears. So since no "Activate" button appears for the racks and plaques I assumed they didn't work like that at all. --Enodoc 20:37, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

It appears that it was a bug, and that it will be fixed soon. From the Update 1.4 Changelog: Fixed issue where weapon racks and plaques would not work correctly in player's house if player immediately visits their house before purchasing any furnishing. I always went to look in the house first, so that's where the problem came from. --Enodoc 21:40, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, good to hear they're fixing it.RIM 11:37, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

I 'broke' a weapon rack by trying to put the skull of corruption on it. Was lying on the floor when I re-entered. Can't use plaque now. l)474(4V57 — Unsigned comment by 50.98.138.38 (talk) at 19:03 on 29 January 2012

Glitched Weapon Plaques

Would it be worth noting that weapon plaques that are non-interactive after buying a house can be fixed with an impact from something like an arrow, or should that go on the houses page(s)? (Can't remember where I read that little tidbit, but I've confirmed it as far as a single weapon plaque in Solitude on X-Box 360) 70.26.143.254 21:10, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

If it can be confirmed it would be an extremely useful note.RIM 22:28, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

Abounded House in Markarth is safe?

Do containers in the Abounded House respawn? According to my playthrough it seems safe but maybe it has just 30 days respawn timer. Actually none of my Dead Thralls respawn there even though at the same time I had a respawn of my vampire thrall stored in Vindrel Hall after about 8 days leave.--31.128.147.154 20:42, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

According to the Abandoned House and House of Horrors pages, the house may be used for safe storage. I believe this includes the corpse of Logrolf as well. -Alphabetface 03:31, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Actually I am pretty sure that the corpse of the Boetiah Priest disappear after some time.--89.23.180.12 18:40, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Safe Container confirmation with the CK

Now that the Creation Kit is out, I did some poking around to see what containers were tagged for respawn or not. Here are some observations:

• Barrels are NOT safe. The CK lists only 8 non-respawning barrels in the whole game. Four of them are in the Archmage's Quarters at the College of Winterhold, three are at the Wreck Of The Brinehammer, and one is in the Bloodworks of the Palace Of The Kings in Windhelm. Despite the fact that all the barrels in player owned housed are marked for respawn, I think that owned houses don't actually reset the same way other cells do.
• Furniture such as end tables, dressers, cupboards and wardrobes ARE safe. I didn't see any "special" versions of these containers that were marked for respawn, but all normal furniture was OK.
• Sacks are all questionable. There are quite a few of the "flat" flour-sack type sacks that don't respawn, but there's no sure in-game way of knowing at a glance if they are safe. Sacks with tied-off open ends are almost always unsafe.
• Chests are also NOT to be trusted. There are very few that don't respawn.
• Interestingly enough, the cooking pot style containers found at various campsites are all safe containers.
• The various urns found in Nord tombs and ruins are NOT safe.

I'll dig some more for specific examples at other locations I've seen mentioned on this page and other places. Tremayne 23:52, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Re "owned houses don't actually reset the same way other cells do". I believe that is indeed the case, and is controlled by the "encounter zone" (ECZN) of the cell. All player houses use the "NoResetZone", and that zone has the "Never Resets" flag checked. The only cells that use that zone are: Breezehome, Vlindrel Hall, Hjerim, Proudspire Manor, Honeyside, and Sinderion's Field Laboratory.

It's possible other cells also use an encounter zone that have a "Never Resets" flag, but until I can figure out where to read that flag in the game data, there's no easy way to automatically scan for any other cases. --Nephele^Talk 01:59, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

I just checked the Encounter Zone list in the CK and yeah, there are quite a few of them that are flagged for "never reset". Most appear to be dungeons that are quest-related, but there are some obvious quest-related zones (like Bleak Falls Barrow) that aren't flagged.

Some notable "never reset" zones:

• both Dark Brotherhood sanctuaries
• the Abandoned House in Markarth
• the cellar of Anise's Cabin
• the College of Winterhold Midden
• Helgen Keep
• the Thalmor Embassy.

Tremayne 06:17, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Just to make sure: Does this mean the areas listed above as "notable 'never reset' zones" are officially safe storage areas for all their containers? Should they be placed on the page under safe storage? And all others listed should be removed until someone can confirm in the CK? --Amsuko 20:27, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Chest near Riverwood

The chest which spawns after you find Treasure Map I seems to be a safe container. I tested it for 30 in game days and nothing disappeard. BTW best items for tests are reinforced armors and weapons because such items do not spawn. At least it never happened to me. 89.245.79.29 16:05, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Urban legends section added

I verified, with the methode described furter below, that the barrels outside of Warmaiden reset. I put them into urban legends section, since some contributors seem not to read the discussion section. 89.245.102.0 13:20, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Prev: None

Up: Skyrim talk:Containers

Next: Archive 2