Containers (Skyrim)

Containers are objects capable of storing objects. Containers are found throughout Skyrim and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The storage capacity of a container is not dependent upon its size or shape and it can store nearly an unlimited number of items. But, the items initially found inside most containers are determined by the type of container.

Most containers in the game are subject to reset, that is, they clear out all the contents after a certain period of time and are reset to their initial state. Most containers reset after about a week of game time, however, examining the contents of the container causes the countdown to start over. A container could be made to never reset simply by opening it once every 5-6 days or so. Any items left in a container that has reset is forever lost with no ways of getting it back.

Note: Containers marked with a * can only have items placed on or in them with a Physics Carry.

Apothecary's Satchel
These are small leather pouches that can be found near Alchemy Labs or on shelves. They typically contain alchemy ingredients.

Barrel
Barrels can be found almost everywhere. They typically contain 1-5 food items or alchemy ingredients. A variant of the standard barrel are ones that contain alcoholic beverages, such as the Black-Briar Mead. Some barrels are called Thief Cache because they are used by the Thieves Guild to hide weapons, lockpicks and other things their fellow thieves would need. Mead Barrels can be found on Solstheim in add-on. It has the same texture as a normal barrel and interacts the same way. The only difference is that it has a bottle of Nord Mead inside of it.

Chest
Usually the largest storage container found and they normally contain items of higher value than other containers. Chests can vary in appearance dependent upon their location. As chests are the "best" container available, the term chest, is oftentimes used interchangeably for any storage container found within a dungeon.

All chests have a generally rectangular box shape. For example, a Falmer Chest is constructed out of Chaurus Chitin and has a distinct appearance but is still recognizable as a chest.

Chests can be made in the Homestead with the Hearthfire DLC. Requires 1 Sawn Log, 1 Nails, 1 Iron Fittings, 2 Hinge, and 1 Lock (Hearthfire).

Coffin
Usually found in The Hall of the Dead or tombs; they often contain clothing, armor, gold, jewelry, and other misc. items. Skulls are quite common too.

Cupboard
These are found in almost all houses. They typically contain clothing items.

Display Case *
Not a full container per se, but can hold weapons. Items are placed into them and the glass case can be closed. They are typically found in some purchasable properties or Jarls' residences. Objects placed inside display cases by the player can sometimes spawn outside of them, if the area is re-loaded afterwards. This is similar to how items placed by the player on tables, seats or in bowls can be found on the floor as though leaping out of their containers upon re-entering a house.

Display case on low tables can be made in the Homestead with the DLC. Requires 2 Sawn Log, 4 Nails, 1 Hinge, and 1 Glass

Note: Display cases do not function properly. Weapons have to be physically placed in the display cases, and will not place them selves in the standard fashion. By equiping them then selecting the weapon mount, or in this case the display case.

Dresser
These are found in almost all houses. They typically contain clothing items and general clutter.

Egg Sac
Egg Sacs are usually found in caves, tombs and ruins. These are the egg sacs of Frostbite Spiders and typically contain a random number of Spider Eggs.

End Table *
These are found in almost all houses. They typically contain general clutter.

Pot
These are found in some houses and shops, and occasionally at bandit camps. They typically contain alchemy ingredients.

Sack
These are found in almost all houses and shops. They typically contain 1-5 food items or ingredients.

Drawers
Usually contains various clothing and armor, as well as septims and general clutter.

Safe
Quite rare, but can typically be found in upper-class housing, such as Proudspire Manor.

Knapsack
These containers are fairly rare, but can be found in almost any enviroment. They typically contain a range of items such as books, ingredients, jewelry, potions and gold.

Strongbox
Used primary for Thieves Guild missions. They are also used as Dawnguard caches in and as East Empire Company Strongboxes in.

Wardrobe
These are found in almost all houses. They typically contain clothing items.

Urn
These various sized containers can be found in tombs, ruins, and other places where the dead reside. Typically contain a small amount of gold and on occasion jewelry or potions.

List of non-resetting containers
The following containers never reset, thus they are safe to store items.
 * All chests and containers inside purchasable houses.
 * All containers in the Abandoned House in Markarth.
 * The chest in the secret room inside Sleeping Giant Inn.
 * The end table and wardrobe inside the ruined Helgen Inn.
 * The wardrobe in Riverside Shack.
 * The end table located in the Alchemist's Shack.
 * The Apothecary's Satchel located in the cellar of Anise's Cabin.
 * The Arch-Mage's Quarters after completing The College of Winterhold questline.
 * The chest at the entrance of Sky Haven Temple.
 * The metal chest at the top of Valtheim Towers
 * The ice runner chest in Broken Oar Grotto after the quest.
 * The chest inside Idgrod the Younger's room, in Highmoon Hall, Morthal.

Merchant chests
All merchants in Skyrim have a corresponding chest that contains their wares. This chest is a physical item much like a regular chest, however it is typically hidden (often under the floor) and inaccessable in the game world. This is to prevent players from abusing the bartering game mechanic.

Items within the chest can only be viewed or obtained via the barter menus and the chest is will refresh its items every two days.

Accessible merchant chests
In Dawnstar, to the north of Iron-Breaker Mine there is an accessible merchant chest underneath a small rock overhang. This chest belongs to Ahkari. Like all merchant chests, this chest should not accessible, but its position is bugged. The items in this chest can be freely taken without incident.

Similar to Ahkari's chest, Ma'dran's merchant chest is available for serching. It is located outside of Markarth behind the first stone wall on the right when traveling on foot towards Kolskeggr Mine. The items within can be taken freely with no repercussions, as well.

In Whiterun, underneath the Skyforge, Eorlund Gray-Mane's merchant chest is accessible.

Do Not Delete
The "Do Not Delete" chest is a scripted placeholder left in-game by developers to represent the total gold-value merchants can hold. This is the box that essentially "allows" an NPC to be a merchant. It does not contain anything, the only reason it exists is to allow the merchants to sell their items.

It isn't known why it is a chest, rather than a line of code within the game's programming. It isn't actually deletable except on PC. If deleted, most merchants will cease to function altogether, although sometimes all it does is "break" their shop menu, meaning it can be opened, but it does not work.

It has similar physics to the paintbrushes of Oblivion. When dropped, it does not fall to the ground, so they can be stacked in the air, or used to reach high places. If multiple are obtained, they can be used as a sort of "ladder". Some places are even able to be reached with them without going through the loading screens, although this is not recommended as it can make the game extremely buggy, laggy, and will often cause the game to crash completely. In some cases, fps rates have dropped by nearly 90%, due to the areas reached not having been rendered.

These chests can make it possible to skip entire dungeons. For example, at Shimmermist Cave, instead of going through the entire dungeon, you can jump, drop a "Do Not Delete" box, climb the ledge, and go through the hall and fight the Centurion, skipping 95% of the dungeon.