Item Decay

Related topics: Game Mechanics

"Housekeeping" means the server code that causes items to disappear or decay after they've been left on the ground for some time.

Many housekeeping changes have been made over the years in attempts to improve server performance. For example, during the The Iron Coast event, loot on corpses was altered to no longer appear on the floor when the corpse decays.

October 2004 Changes
"This month we've made some internal changes to allow us more flexibility in specifying how long items can stick around before they disappear. For the vast majority of items in the game, there is no change. Items such as Pack Dolls and Wedding Cake are still set to never housekeep. Items such as torches are still set to housekeep as quickly as possible.

One change that players may notice is that Holiday Lights, which were previously set to housekeep as quickly as possible, will now stay in game for at least 30 seconds before housekeeping. This means that if you accidentally drop your Holiday Lights, you have at least 30 seconds to pick them up. Previously they would disappear almost instantly.

There were a handful of items that were either set to never housekeep, or set to housekeep instantly, that are now set to housekeep normally. These include Olthoi Eggs, many title tokens, and the Statue rewards. Note that this change will not cause statues to housekeep when hooked."

Janurary 2005 Changes:
"5th anniversary dolls are now set to never rot when left on the ground, so long as the landblock stays occupied.
New language has been added to the Holiday Lights description stating that they will rot quickly when inside into a backpack that is placed on the ground."

2011 Changes
During the Stirrings in the Dark event, the housekeeping time for very low value items was reduced.

Items like Pack Dolls were once set to never housekeep; however, during the Cloak of Darkness event, they were again updated to decay after a period of time.