Is it safe to drop items on the ground because now I am seriously confused. I dropped items on the floor in goodsprings outside and they are still there. I dropped crap misc items in Novac and they are gone. I recall dropping items in the houses in nipton but they are gone now.

Is it even safe to drop items, bad or good quality? I never had this problem in Fallout 3 or oblivion.

Oh, yeah, its safe to drop stuff......not in the BoS Safehouse, though. But, they may have patched that.

Well I mean dropping items out in the mojave desert, I could had sworn I dropped some items near this small pool of water near good springs and it's gone. I dropped some items outside in Novac near a dumpster and it's gone too.

I dropped some items outside near the saloon in Goodsprings but it's still there.

it should be safe but avoid it if possible....god I miss my Remnants PA....

Items generally are safe to drop, but they can clip and fall through the world on cell reset. Also, if actors have a Responsibility (they do in Oblivion, no idea if they do in Fallout or not) that is very low, they will happily steal your swag.

Generally if you find something missing you dropped though, it fell through the world on a cell reset. Also, if you have a companion who drops something, it's treated just like crap dropped by other NPC's and gets swept out with the rest of the junk on cell reset.

But junk doesn't reset.