...will they stay there forever, or will they disappear? I'm asking because I'm at a bit of a pickle with my encumbrance, so I was forced to drop some armor on the ground in front of the gate to Whiterun. Will they disappear, or will they just stay there? I play on Xbox 360, if that helps any.

Thanks in advance.

Yes.

It's a bad idea in general because most likely the stuff you care about will despawn and the stuff you don't care about will remain. I've dropped dwemer struts in the forge in Whiterun and they're still there. I've dropped a wooden platter outside Breezehome and it's still there. I've dropped a Glenmoril Witch Head outside Breezehome and it despawned. I actually had extra heads so I placed one outside hoping it would keep Braith away from my house, but the head disappeared.

You should be able to use one of the containers in the house of whoever you followed out of Helgen, but sometimes that does tag your stuff as "Stolen".

Whatever you decide: avoid barrels at all costs.

Is the 360 different than the PC version regarding encumbrance? I can still move at a slow walk no matter what my encumbrance is on the PC. I have never had to drop anything on the ground in order to get to either a vendor or reasonable storage. That said, I have tried my patience a few times with long cross country walks while encumbered. Whirlwind helps. As does a horse if you have one handy.

I once dropped several dragon bones on the ground and came back for it within a few hours and it was still there.

I once put a whole bunch of stuff in a dead bandit's body and when I came back in less than 24 hours all the bodies and stuff stashed in the them were gone.

I once killed 3 hired thugs just outside Whiterun gates. The of the bodies disappeared quickly but one remained for months and months. I finally learned how to move things and move the dead body out of the view.

I think any container is safe for a few days. Even barrels are okay fore a few days. I have heard of many people losing things in a barrel they thought were safe, especially at the College of Winterhold.

I'm sure they're the same across all three.
On PS3:
1) You can run until you get over your max carry number (keep in mind it could be 0.1 over all that will show will be 350/350 etc).
2) You can always move regardless how far you are over your max.
3) You cannot Fast Travel on foot if you are overencumbered.
4) You can ride a horse at trotting/sprinting speed when overencumbered.
5) You can Fast Travel on a horse when overencumbered.
6) You move a little more quickly when overencumbered if you have an arrow nocked and drawn. (Unless this was fixed in 1.4 - I don't know if I've tried it post-1.4

AFAIK there is no overlimit at which you point you stop moving or can't Fast Travel while on a horse, but I've never gone like 2100/350.

A few days is probably OK because they reset every 30 ingame days if you're out of the cell. I just avoid them altogether to stay out of the habit.

I'll use containers in dungeons for back-and-forth trips, but I won't leave stuff in them for long periods of time.

Anything you drop will stay there until you come back unless you drop them in a respawning dungeon/container.

Also, people may pick up your items or fight over it. So be careful when dropping stuff in-town.

Can I drop an Ebony bow, wait for someone to pick it up, then brawl for it back? <3

No. Unless you want to pay a fine.

I did an experiment:

I dropped/put both stolen and non-stolen items on the floor and in a chest, in the Riverwood trader. I took some gold off the Riverwood trader front desk that was already there. I sold some things to the NPC there: plain items (such as boots) and more unique items (a letter from a completed quest).

Exited the trader and waited over 10 days. The gold had respawned, which meant the trader had respawned in some way. But all items on the floor and in the chest were still there. In the inventory of the NPC, the plain items had disappeared, but the unique items were still there.

Maybe I should have waited 30.

I dropped a wooden bowl in Riften Inn. Those snow-shods and that blackbriar worker fought for that bow. Ended up the worker being killed.
Relax..its just a bowl

That's hilarious.

I did same thing with a Sweetroll.

Most items will never disappear if dropped on the ground unless beth shaped up and put some sort of garbage collector since patch 1.3xxx.

Drop a lot of ores and ingots I didn't need around the carriage near Windhelm. That was over a month ago and they are still there. It seems the tamriel worldspace is one gigantic non-resetting container.

I want to see people squabble over a dwarven dagger. Does this work in towns, or just inn's?

The NPC's will grab the stuff also, especially in cities like Whiterun.

I recall being encumbered after making some leather. I figured I would drop a shield and run to my Breezehome house, store the leather, and come back for the shield. Well I dropped the shield, and before I could run home some NPC picked the shield and handed it back to me again saying "Oh, did you drop this?". So I was encumbered again. Nuts.

They will also pick stuff up and keep it. You'll usually hear them say something about it when they do it. So in general not a good idea to drop stuff off around NPC's.

Btw, have anybody ever dropped an item and see if it can attract the attention of a nearby bandit?

I do remember reading somewhere, a few months ago, someone dropping some armor near a bandit they didn't know was there. The bandit ran over, picked it up, and asked them if they could keep it. Then the bandit walked back to where they were standing to begin with. The player remained hidden as well.

i think it only works in riften. Try the inn. Make sure that the two snow-shods and that dark elf owner of the blackbriar company are present. Then drop something like a tankard or something. They will bound to see and fight

I had that woman beggar from windhelm asking me for my dropped item. I had the choice of giving it to her or be rude about it. She didn't react in a hostile manner.

I just dropped a Legendary Orcish War Axe on the ground in Whiterun and the NPCs just kicked it around without noticing it. Ingrates!

Don't drop weapons! Guards may get angry with you and fine you!

OMG, they did. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't witnessed it myself. I stll didn't pick it up though.