Can my items be stolen if I leave them somewhere?

Question

I haven't bought a house, but I have my own quarters as:

the Archmage of Winterhold, after Savos Aren dies and I bring back the Staff of Magnus.

If I put some items in a chest by the bed, will they stay there permanently until I remove them, or could they be stolen by NPCs, disappear over time, etc.?

On a related note, I've noticed that items remain until I come back when dropped arbitrarily across landscape, buildings, and caves. Has anyone experienced a case where this is not true?

IMO as a general question this is a dupe, however maybe it's worth asking if those quarters you have are considered safe I haven't played so I can't answer that. — Ben Brocka, Mar 28 '12 at 02:09
I'd say it's not a dupe. They want a conclusive answer, which was not given in the linked question. In that question, they wanted to know about different locations entirely. Also, that question does not mention simply leaving items on the ground, nor did any answer conclusively answer that. — Gabe Willard, Mar 28 '12 at 02:10
@EBongo I searched first, but that question didn't turn up... one answer in there specifically mentions these quarters as safe. That's a partial answer, but I'll wait for more. Thanks! — Rob, Mar 28 '12 at 02:11
You may also find interesting information in this question: http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/44559/are-items-safe-lying-around-my-house — EBongo, Mar 28 '12 at 02:25
@GabeWillard It does not depend on the answer having been given or not yet given. The answers to both question are identical, that's the definition of exact duplicate. — DrFish, Mar 28 '12 at 09:07
@robjb Be careful about the Barrels the dorm room and later on in the Archmage's quarters. Many people reported that they are not safe. — Anderson, Mar 28 '12 at 16:43
NPCs can pick up items you leave laying around, although I don't know if they keep them. An example is Riverwood where I fast travel to a lot to store loot in barrels. Extra junk I carry like books, pots, and junk weapons get thrown in the street (it looks like a ghetto there now). One time, one of the kids there ran up to me and said, "Hey, you dropped this!" and gave me back a book I dropped. One of the guards also chastised me for leaving pointy weapons around =P — oscilatingcretin, Jun 01 '12 at 12:24

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 28 '12 at 03:55

Yes, they will be safe in those quarters. I have all the unique artifact style weapons and armor I've acquired and am not using in that exact chest. The earliest ones have been in there for at least 50 hours now. The alchemical components and soul gems on the shelves in the room have restocked a few times, my collection of knick-knacks is fine.

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 21 '13 at 06:29

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Actually if you have the Hearthfire DLC, I think they do come in and steal stuff. I had a mannequin and I had 7 items in it and 5 of them aren't there anymore. Why is this such a big deal for me? Because they were the Dragon Priests mask.

edited Apr 21 '13 at 06:29

galacticninja

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answered Apr 21 '13 at 05:57

user47339

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Where did you store the items? – galacticninja Apr 21 '13 at 06:29

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 28 '12 at 02:48

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I'd play it safe and not leave stuff around, i only ever leave things in the place where you put your dragon priest masks at labrinthian, or in a house or on my follower:)

answered Mar 28 '12 at 02:48

Liam McInroy

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 28 '12 at 12:35

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You don't have to worry about it even if you've thrown it in Skyrim(outside i.e.); whenever I'm overweight I just discard some of them and retrieve them later. Although I would be very impressed if the NPCs picked them up.

answered Mar 28 '12 at 12:35

warun

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NPCs do tend to loot things from the floor. Ive noticed this on followers. But from a chest I would be impressed with. Theres more chance of it just dissapearing. – IAmGroot Mar 28 '12 at 12:47

Can my items be stolen if I leave them somewhere?

4 Answers4