- For other uses, see Rest.
Sleeping in any bed, sleeping roll or pile of hay typically grants a temporary passive ability with varying levels and effects. Any length of sleeping will suffice, even a one-hour nap. The effects can be seen on the Active Effects section of the Magic Menu.
Beds in houses owned by the Dragonborn as well as in rooms rented at inns provide better bonuses than other beds.
Types of effects[]
Rested[]
When the Dragonborn sleeps in someone else's bed, with the owner's permission, they gain the "Rested" ability. While this status is active, the Dragonborn will gain 5% more experience for eight in-game hours.
This effect can be overridden by The Lover Stone, which confers the Lover's Comfort bonus for as long as the stone's effect is active, meaning that the Rested effect won't be granted if the stone is active without using the exploit listed below.
Well Rested[]
When the Dragonborn sleeps in an inn or in a bed that they own, they gain the "Well Rested" ability. While this status is active, the Dragonborn will gain 10% more experience for eight in-game hours.
This effect can be overridden by The Lover Stone, which confers the Lover's Comfort bonus for as long as the stone's effect is active, meaning that the Well Rested effect won't be granted if the stone is active without using the exploit below.
Lover's Comfort[]
- Main article: Lover's Comfort
When the Dragonborn is married and sleeps in the same building as their spouse, they gain the Lover's Comfort ability. While this status is active, the Dragonborn will gain 15% more experience for eight in-game hours.
If the Dragonborn's spouse is also their follower, both will receive this bonus after sleeping in any bed.
This effect can be duplicated by The Lover Stone, which confers this bonus for as long as the stone's effect is active, though the effect will not be granted if the stone is active without using the exploit below.
Vampiric Blood Rested[]
In Dawnguard, sleeping in a coffin as a vampire or Vampire Lord will apply the "Vampiric Blood Rested" bonus that grants a 10% Resist Magic effect for eight in-game hours.
Mother's/Father's Love[]
In Hearthfire, after building a house and adopting a child, the Dragonborn receives the bonus "Father's Love" if male, and "Mother's Love" if female when sleeping in the house that their children occupy. Healing spells and potions add 25% extra health for eight in-game hours.
Waiting[]
If no bed is available, the Dragonborn can wait. Waiting restores health, magicka, and stamina, but does not provide any other bonuses.
Exploit[]
To gain the Rested, Well Rested, or Lover's Comfort bonus while using The Lover Stone, unequip the Aetherial Crown (containing the Lover Stone's power) before sleeping and re-equip it after obtaining the Well Rested or Lover's Comfort bonus. Combining this with another Guardian Stone can allow certain skills to level up 50% faster.
Locations[]
Similar to Oblivion, the Dragonborn cannot sleep in owned beds. Hovering over a resting place with the crosshair will show whether it is owned or not. Before renting rooms in inns, all beds are marked as owned. However, there are many options across Skyrim if the Dragonborn does not want to spend money to rent a room or buy a house.
There are many locations where the Dragonborn can use non-owned beds, bedrolls, and Hay Piles to rest. Usually, the previous occupants are either absent or enemies who must be killed. In general, after enemies in a building are defeated, their resting places are not marked as owned; an exception is Calixto's House of Curiosities, as the items and bed will still be considered owned by him and resting is not possible.
Falkreath Hold[]
- Alchemist's Camp: Evergreen Woods – A tent and bedroll north of Evergreen Grove. The Alchemist is killed in the grove before the Dragonborn discovers the location, so the bedroll is free to use.
- Bandit Camp: Helgen Cliffs – The bandits must be killed before the bedrolls next to the campfire can be used.
- Bleak Falls Barrow – After the bandits in the first room of Bleak Falls Temple are killed, the Dragonborn can use their bedrolls.
- Bloated Man's Grotto – If the quest "Ill Met by Moonlight" is followed up to this point, the first clearing will have several bedrolls and a campfire set up by Hunters of Hircine. The bedrolls are free to use because Sinding killed or mortally wounded the occupants.
- Fisherman's Island: Lake Ilinalta - if the Fishing add-on is installed, this location will also have fishing supplies.
- Helgen Inn – After a few days, the beds in the inn will no longer be marked as owned.
Whiterun Hold[]
- Destroyed house – On the north side of the road between Pelagia Farm and Fort Greymoor. Although it is a generic destroyed house similar to Hroggar's House or the houses in Helgen, with no furnishings or containers, the bed is intact and can be used.
- Fellglow Keep – After Orthorn and the wolves are released from their prison, and the wolves and enemy mage are killed, (Orthorn may be dismissed or asked to follow) the beds in the vacant cells can be used.
- Riverwood – If Gerdur or Alvor are spoken to (depending on who the Dragonborn escaped from Helgen with), they will make any beds in their house available to the Dragonborn. There will be a space open for the Dragonborn to sleep even at night, though there is only room for the three occupants in each house to use the beds at one time. However, Alvor does not give a key to his house and locks the door after closing the forge for the night.
- Valtheim Keep – once the bandits and their chief are defeated (the keep may be the subject of either a generic bounty or the location of Amren's family sword, both miscellaneous radiant quests), the bedrolls in both towers and the bed in the north tower are available for use.
Eastmarch[]
- Riverside Shack – The bear (or sometimes Sabre Cat) that ate the previous occupant and lives near the shack must be defeated before the Dragonborn can rest here.
The Rift[]
- Alchemist's Shack – Located at the east end of the mountain pass that runs from Helgen past the Falkreath Stormcloak Camp and Haemar's Shame. A non-resetting end table (safe, permanent storage for any items) and Alchemy Lab are also available for use.
- Angarvunde – The site of another ill-fated expedition into a barrow; three bedrolls and a cooking pot are available for use outside the entrance of the barrow.
- The hut nearest the Word Wall at Northwind Summit. The other bedroll has a skeleton lying on top of and blocking it.
- Shroud Hearth Barrow – Wyndelius's chamber in Shroud Hearth Barrow, once you kill him as he is hostile, will become free to use.
Hjaalmarch[]
- Folgunthur – The previous occupants of the camp outside the tomb, Daynas Valen and his hired adventurers, abandon the camp before the location is discovered and meet their end at the hands of the draugr inside. The three tents and bedrolls are all free to use.
- Ustengrav – After the enemy mage and pair of bandits outside the tomb are defeated, the bedrolls outside can be used freely.
The Pale[]
- Lovers' Tent – Two bedrolls are available inside a large unoccupied tent, on the coast east of Dawnstar.
Haafingar[]
- Riverside Bandit Camp – After the bandits have been killed, their bedrolls are free to use.
The Reach[]
- Four Skull Lookout – The bedrolls in the chamber are free to use after the bandits occupying the ruin are killed.
Trivia[]
- Werewolves receive no bonuses from resting, no matter how long they rest.
- The ratio of real to game time is 3 minutes (RT) = 1 hour (GT), so the bonuses last twenty four (RT) minutes. 1 Skyrim day = 72 RT minutes.
- Unlike previous Elder Scrolls games, sleeping is not necessary to level up.
- It is not possible to sleep in an "owned" bed (one owned by an NPC), or when enemies are nearby. The latter restriction can be exploited as as a kind of detect enemies effect.
- Waiting is not possible when enemies are nearby.
- Sleeping is the only way to get in contact with the Dark Brotherhood once the prerequisite is met.
- In Dragonborn, the Dragonborn may wake up from sleeping to find themselves controlled by an all-maker stone, unless the "Cleansing the Stones" quest has been completed.
- Since one cannot rest when enemies are near, attempting to rest can be used to detect enemies, seen or not.
Bugs[]
This section contains bugs related to Rest (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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- PC Rarely, if the Dragonborn slays an Elder Dragon, the body of the dead dragon will not dissolve nor the dragon soul absorbed, instead, after waking up from sleep the Dragonborn will be staggered and then a "Dragon Soul Absorbed" animation will occur.
- PC A notification may say that the Dragonborn gain a bonus (depending on the condition above) before sleeping after finishing the quest "Innocence Lost," instead of teleporting instantly to the Abandoned Shack, all of the status bar will not show and the Dragonborn will be stuck where they sleep (mouse and keyboard will not work).
- The Lover's Comfort status may not be present after awakening; this can be fixed easily without any console commands — see Lover's Comfort.