Is There Newhere That I Can Store Weapons, Clothes, Ammo Etc Without It Disappearing If I Leave The Area ??

Help Appreciated

I use the empty lockers on the platform stairway thing that leads to the walkway to Rivet City. They are just down the stairs from the guy who begs for water. I have never lost a single item there and it's a convenient place to stash extra stuff when you buy and sell in Rivet City.
I believe you can use any empty locker...but others will chime in also...I'm sure.

No item disappears when you exit the cell they are in. I have not confirmed this on dropped items in Wasteland's exteriors, though.

Didn't lose anything when dumped stuff at SuperDartMart, the School or Library.

Some have said they have even used the Coca Cola machines ... I did that for while when clearing out a place.

Another thread with the exact same question?

:facepalm:

Pretty much every container in the Wasteland is safe, I wouldn't leave anything of real value just lying around though.

You can get a house too, you know.

Safe in like they dont reset ?
Do NPC's loot containers ad probably can find and take your stuff ?
Is any house a container ?
Can I drop stuff in any house and it will stay there unless a NPC finds it ? so they indeed take it ?

:cryvaultboy:

Ammo boxes, Med kits, safes...are your best bet. Boxes, garbage cans, cabinets, lockers, footlockers (at least in my experience), respawn every now and then...which means you can lose things. There's nothing worse than putting something important in a location and next thing you know....it's gone.

No they don't. There isn't a single container in the game that will respawn. When it comes to respawning there's no such thing as now and then, they either respawn every 3 days along with the cell or they don't respawn at all. In the case of Fallout, they don't respawn at all unless you use a mod.

I have seen all of the mentioned above re-spawn, and I didn't specify time but yes ok 3 days. You can go to most of the locations you've cleared (after 3 days) and find that at least a few boxes have new stuff in them. If you don't believe me try it. I guarantee it. And this is vanilla FO3 (with updated patch).

And also toolboxes are safe, Nuka -Cola machines, refrigerators and stoves. I'm talking about inside locations.

NOTE: I just now went back to the Super-Duper Mart, which I had cleared weeks ago. A box RESPAWNED a ceramic plate and a knife. Of course that's only one box out of over a dozen, but it does happen. I was surprised, because I expected more. But I bet you a million caps, if I go back in 3 days, there will be more stuff there.

No you didn't. The proof is in the editor. All containers have a Respawn flag that must be checked in order for them to generate new stuff, and the only ones that have that flag enabled are ones that the AI uses, like merchant chests etc. There's isn't a single regular container that has that flag checked, which makes it impossible for them to respawn. If you're seeing stuff in some after you come back to an area, it's either because you missed it the first time around or you're using a mod that has made changes to the way containers respawn. By default, no containers in the game will ever respawn. If you don't believe me, just open up the editor and take a look.

I don't have a mod. I just have regular game with the updated patch from 2 years ago. And you may be right about that editor thing, but I know for a fact, there has been numerous times that I've rechecked things, like desks, or lockers or boxes...and I KNOW I've checked them before, and there will be new stuff in them. Can I explain it, no, but I know it happens. In fact, I tend to check the garbage can outside the Museum of history "every now and then" and there will be something in it. Would the patch do that?

That's not possible. I just checked both of those garbage cans in the editor and neither of them have the Respawn flag checked. And no the patch wouldn't have something to do with it, any change it made would show up in the editor. NPCs do access containers in the game, so maybe that Ghoul sentry is putting stuff in them. But it's impossible for them to be respawning on their own without that flag checked. All containers are the same in the game, they just don't respawn. Only the ones the merchants use do.

Ok, I bow to your greater technical wisdom, but I am going to run an experiment tonight. Damn, I hope I'm right because otherwise...I have been imagining things....which might be spooky.LOL.

They may not be flagged in the editor, but I have the exact same thing happen as described by Michael. For example, I will sometimes travel to Evergreen Mills to do some trading with Smiley and a garbage dumpster that was empty will sometimes have items in it. This happens both outdoors and indoors. Lockers, garbage cans, dumpsters, metal boxes. They ALL respawn items after time passes. Like Michael, I am only using vanilla Fallout 3 with the latest official patch.

Is it a glitch? Who knows? All I know is that the items do respawn.

If an enemy respawns(like the Raiders in the exterior of Evergreen Mills), it makes sense that the containers will respawn as well.

The First Aid Boxes, Ammo Boxes, Nukacola Machines, and the like have never respawned for me.


ETA: I should mention that when I said the above examples respawn, I mean that the containers of those type CAN respawn, not that they all respawn items at the same time.

Yea, what shadowshiv said. I still haven't done my "formal" experiment yet. But, maybe tonight.

No they can't. Take a look in the editor, none of those containers have the Respawn flag checked. Without that enabled, it's impossible for them to respawn. If you think that you're seeing stuff get put into them then it's just a container that you missed before, or an NPC is putting something in them.



Well for one thing, the Raiders in Evergreen Mills don't respawn. A couple do do but most don't. And it only makes sense for them to do so because they've been told to do that. Containers have not been told to, in fact they've been told to not respawn at all. And if what you think you're seeing was a bug, then it would affect all containers, including the so-called "safe" boxes like First Aid Kits. The game won't differentiate between containers, they're all the same to it. So if a bug caused a Dumpster to respawn, then it would affect an Ammo Box as well.

Uhhh, I'm 100% sure, I've gone back to different places, and have checked something the second time, and there will be something there. Being lazy, I've put off the experiment, but I really should to solve this issue.

What I will do, is put a single bullet, in everything I check. In fact, I'm due to check that sewer system thing (near the talon company, not quite in Grayditch), and I'll make an effort to ensure that everything get examined.

What's funny, I think I had this discussion a couple of years ago, when I first started playing the game. And technically, it wasn't happening, but yet...it was happening. Go Figure, :huh:

These are areas where NPCs don't(or can't) go. For example, the garbage dumpster inside Evergreen Mills. No NPCs venture in there(the Raiders being loooong dead) to place any items.

Here is another example. I am sure we all know the wonderful CTD issue that Fallout 3 likes to do from time to time(a sign of a fun game is that I go back to it time and time again regardless of the crashes), right?;) Well, let's say I am entering Meresti Metro Station. I save the game before entering(I have over 1500 saves at the moment). I enter the Station and the garbage can in the entrance is empty. I go a little further along and attempt to save again. This time, I get the CTD. I will either reboot(if I played for a while) or restart the game. I then reload my last save, which is just outside Meresti Metro Station. I enter the Station again but this time the exact same garbage can that was empty the last time I entered now contains an item or two. It is the exact same timeframe as my previous entrance except that there are items there this time.

I am not arguing with you just for the sake of arguing. This is what is happening to me, and it looks like to Michael as well. It may be a bug, like you say, as we both know not all of them were squashed in the final official patch. However, medic kits and ammo boxes remain empty forever, so I don't know how it happens.

In the end, it's not a huge deal as it doesn't break our games and make them unplayable. It's just an interesting little mystery.

Merry Christmas!:)

You've just explained it right here:



Containers like Garbage Cans and Dumpsters don't always have stuff in them the first time around because of the odds factor of the leveled list they use. They might show up as Empty the first time you check them, which means they don't end up being looted the first time you come across them. So next time you go through that area again, after the cell resets, there'll be something inside it. But once you remove an item from it, that's it, it won't ever respawn again. It's doesn't happen to containers like First Aid Kits as they always have something in them, so you loot them the first time through an area. It's impossible for it to simply be a bug as that would affect all the containers, including First Aid Kits etc. It's nothing more than the random appearance value that comes up with a container's leveled list.



It sure seems that way to me frankly. If you don't believe what I'm saying, go look in the editor and see for yourself. It's impossible for a container to respawn without having that "Respawns" flag checked. Which none of them do, other than a few that are used by NPCs.

I think I see what you mean. For example, I go into an area, and if it's empty the 1st time, meaning I don't take anything from it...and the second time, when I come back, there may be something there, because it didn't have anything in it the 1st time? But if I go in and there is something and I take it, there will never be something in it again? Or something to that affect. :unsure:

And I wanted to post this, because I was looking and it mentioned something......

Post "1000 things we've learned from Fallout 3 "
345. If you come across lockers, metal boxes, and desks you will find some goodies inside. Now, if you keep checking back, the object will resupply itself. Cool!!

Anyways, just being clever.... :whistling:

Exactly. There's no guarantee that there may have been something in there the first time, with some containers the appearance probability may mean that it comes up as Empty the first time through. But that doesn't mean that later on there might be something in it, since you didn't actually take anything out. Not until you actually remove something from it does that Respawn flag have an effect.