Skyrim:Form ID

Many pages document form IDs, eight digit hex-numbers which are primarily used with console commands on the PC. Other uses are distinguishing between things sharing the same name and looking up information in the game data.

RefID, BaseID

For NPCs and creatures, usually both a RefID and a BaseID are given; for items, just a BaseID is given. Most console commands accept only one of those IDs. The RefID denotes a specific copy of an object in the game, the BaseID the prototype for an object.

For example, the command player.placeatme <BaseID> will create a new copy of an object and place it at the player's position. This is fine with most items or generic creatures. With unique NPCs however, a second copy will usually cause problems with quests and such. In that case, one could move the NPC to the player with the command sequence:

• prid <RefID>
• moveto player

For most items, creating extra copies does no harm, so player.additem <BaseID> <quantity> can be used to add the desired quantity of items to the player's inventory. RefIDs can only be used if the object in question is loaded into memory; visiting the cell of the object can assure this. See the console article for further commands and uses of form IDs for other types of things.

xx and Add-Ons

The first two digits of form IDs found in add-ons are given as xx, because they may vary depending on the number of active add-ons and the load order of them. Objects from a specific add-on will all have the same two leading digits. If Dawnguard is the only add-on you have, the xx for the IDs should be replaced with 02. In most cases, to find out the first two digits for an add-on, activate the console and click on an object from that add-on to get its ID or use the help command with an add-on specific text. The Nexus Mod Manager also lists the correct ID.

Leading digits which are unique are:

• 00 Those IDs are used by the original Skyrim (Skyrim.esm), the prefix doesn't change
• 01 Those IDs are usually used by the Update module (Update.esm)
• ff Dynamically allocated IDs use this. Since they depend on a specific playthrough, they should not be documented - they will be different for other players.

This Skyrim-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.