Skyrim:Sleeping

Sleeping is the process of resting in a bed, sleeping bag/roll, or pile of hay to fully restore your health, magicka, and stamina.

As long as you are not a werewolf and do not have the Lover Stone active (see notes), sleeping for any length of time also confers a bonus to the rate at which all skills increase, lasting for eight hours (game time). A message on screen tells you which bonus you have received, for example, "You awaken feeling Well Rested".

• In a normal bed, you receive the Rested bonus, which is a 5% bonus to skill increases.
• In a bed that you own, you receive the Well Rested bonus, which is a 10% bonus to skill increases. This applies to beds in player-owned houses and to beds that you have rented in an inn.
• If you have a spouse and you sleep in the same building as your spouse, you receive the Lover's Comfort bonus, which is a 15% bonus to skill increases.
  • If your spouse is also currently your follower, you receive this bonus for any bed you sleep in while your spouse is nearby.
  • The Lover Stone provides this same 15% bonus permanently (unless you select another Standing Stone bonus), but it cannot be combined with any other similar bonuses.
• If you're a vampire and sleep in a coffin ^(DG), you receive the Vampiric Blood Rested bonus, which grants 10% Resist Magic for one in-game day.
• If you have adopted a child ^(HF) and you sleep in the same house as your child, you receive the Mother's Love or Father's Love bonus, which makes healing spells and potions more effective.

The sleeping bonuses are all cumulative with the skill-increase bonuses from any one of the three Guardian Stones—The Mage Stone, The Thief Stone, and The Warrior Stone.

Waiting

If you have no access to a bed, you can instead wait. Waiting restores health, magicka, and stamina, but does not provide any bonuses.

Notes

• Unlike previous Elder Scrolls games, sleeping is no longer necessary to level up.
• You cannot sleep or wait when enemies are nearby.
• You cannot sleep or wait while trespassing.
• You cannot sleep in an owned bed. Killing the owner of a bed will not (usually) remove the ownership.
• Some owned beds become available for you to sleep in when you befriend their owners.
• The Aetherial Crown ^(DG) makes it possible to obtain both resting bonuses and the benefits of The Lover Stone.