Skyrim talk:Respawning

game breaking bug

I noticed a major game breaking bug involving respawns that isn't mentioned on this page.

If you kill an enemy like a giant then revisit the area 2 to 9 days later you will find the body has disappeared. But the side effect of this is that the respawn timer breaks. And after this no amount of waiting will allow a respawn.

So it appears that if you revisit and area after the bodies have disappeared but before the 10 days are up it not only resets the respawn timer but totally stops it.

There is mention of this bug on the bethsoft forumsFalnor 11:30, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

This bug has now been fixed in patch 1.6Falnor 08:40, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

WTF is a "Courtesy Exit"?!

I'm assuming that by "courtesy exit," you're referring to the fact that some dungeons have an exit at the very end that can then be re-entered from the outside. If that's the case, then the article is incorrect; these exits do NOT always "re-lock" when the area respawns. For example, Forelhost has such an exit that's locked and requires a key. However, I've gone back to that dungeon many times after it respawns (PS3) and that door always remains unlocked.

Because I can't even be sure that this is what the term "courtesy exit" is referring to, and because I can't find any verification as to whether or not these exits re-lock in other areas, I'm removing the statement from the article entirely. If you'd like to re-add it, please do so in a manner that is both clear and accurate. Simply making-up a term and "putting it in quotes," without defining what it means, is unacceptable and does not belong in any Wiki article.

Whoever wrote that, please try to be more professional in the future. I know this Wiki doesn't have very strict standards when compared to the likes of Wikipedia, but you should at very least strive to clearly articulate what you're saying in the article and make sure it's accurate. Those of you who edit and monitor these articles, I would encourage you to be more diligent about verifying these claims when they appear.

216.243.60.171 21:46, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Why are you removing info when you don't understand what it means, simply ask and you will (probably) get an answer. Bypassing the rant and focusing on the question, the answer would be the doors that are "barred" from the other side. While they are not "courtesy exits" they do relock. The Silencer has spoken^Talk 22:09, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Turn off annoying item respawn?

Is there some way to turn off the respawn of items that are lying about, but without turning off the NPC/creature/container respawn? That would be great! --Nv4dispbluescreen 11:14, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

edit: got the job done by spending hours in the construction set removing them manually. --Nv4dispbluescreen 10:21, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Waiting out respawn times

are you able to wait out respawn times? For example if a mine takes 30 days to respawn can you mine everything then wait 30 days away from that mine then go back and there will be more ore? — Unsigned comment by 66.87.67.156 (talk) at 15:43 on 8 July 2012

That's the gist of it. You should add another day to make sure of the timing, as in 31 days. There also seems to be a bug that stops some veins respawning though. The Silencer speaks^Talk 14:45, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

Question About Safe Container Areas

Okay, so I've been reading up on "dungeons" that have non-respawning containers because I am considering using one of these as my house, but what I'm wondering is if a dungeon is considered non-respawning, is it just the containers that don't respawn or does everything not respawn (enemies, loose items, weapon racks, etc.) Also, if you drop a loose item in the Skyrim cell will it stay there forever or will it eventually disappear? I looked all over for answers and can't find any. Please help.--ElementalDud 14:35, 14 July 2012

Helgen is noted as one of the non-respawning dungeons but I am sure that bandits can be found there repeatedly so I assume it is only containers but I wouldn't risk it yet. As for dropping items, I dropped a bunch of dragon bones on the ground, to save weight, in the wilderness and a good 20 hours of gameplay later I found them again in the same place. I have also dropped torches outside my houses to provide some light and they have never moved. RIM 19:42, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

Revisiting discovered locations: Will the loot that enemies drop always be at the same level?

"The level of the location is set at the first visit, based on your current level. This means that the level of the enemies and the loot will be the same when you return to that location. When an area is too difficult to complete at the current level, you can return to location later when you have leveled to try again."

I have been playing for several days, and I always 'discover' any caves/ruins ect that I am close to while headed somewhere. But, after reading that the locations enemies and contents will be set to whatever my level was when I first visited, I have stopped discovering new locations, in fear that I will not actually clear them until my level is much higher and thus the loot that I get will be worthless at those higher levels.

The main thing I am concerned about is weapons, and to a point, armor. I went to the "Wreck of the Winter War", and killed a bandit chief- He dropped a battle axe that was better than the one that I am using. But, I reloaded an earlier save from before I discovered the Wreck of the Winter War, because I did not want its contents to be set to the level that I was when I discovered it, so that at higher levels I might would be able to get an even better battle axe there.

So my question is this: If I 'discover' the Wreck of the Winter War, kill the bandit chief and take his weapon and then leave and go about my business, and just say I get up to level 50 before I visit the Wreck of the Winter War again, will the enemies and contents there still be set at level I was when I found it?

I know that the above quoted information is quite clear, but I read elsewhere that the loot will scale with your level even if you revisit a previously discovered location. Has anyone tested this to be completely sure? — Unsigned comment by 98.17.73.39 (talk) at 05:29 on 25 October 2012‎

Enemies do not scale in locations you've been at a lower level... Your example isn't the best because exterior locations do seem to rescale as they're not in their own zone and as such need to keep up with the rest of the world... However if you say visit Embershard Mine at level 2 and go back later all the enemies will still be what a Level 2 PC will see and will be carrying weapons/armor for their level HOWEVER the loot in chests WILL update to your level! Lord Eydvar ^{Talk|Contribs} 05:57, 25 October 2012 (GMT)

2 days respawn?

It appears kicked or blasted items restore their positions in 2 days. — Unsigned comment by 92.255.147.12 (talk) at 07:05 on 23 October 2012

1.8 possibly changed some things

Its seems that as of patch 1.8 on the 360 that dungeons do indeed level with you now in most cases. I've tested this on 3 locations I cleared at low levels, Embershard Mine, Fort Amol and Halted Stream Camp. All 3 of these locations I cleared before I hit level 8, I came back a month later in game at level 20 and found non-boss enemies who were at my level according to leveled lists, specifically a Bandit Highwayman and 2 Bandit Thugs in Embershard Mine. 3 Thugs and a Highwayman in Halted Stream Camp, and a Fire Wizard, 2 Storm Mages and 3 Adept level mages of all types in Fort Amol. Can someone run a check on this since this has NEVER occured before I downloaded 1.8 and started a new file. Lord Eydvar ^{Talk|Contribs} 10:40, 21 November 2012 (GMT)

Skyrim Respawning?

Do the chests in Skyrim (the actual cell, not the game), like the treasure map chests for example, respawn? I know that if you drop things in the Skyrim cell they will stay there forever so it stands to reason that the chests shouldn't respawn either, just wondering if anyone can confirm this and if it should be added to the main page. — Unsigned comment by ‎ ElementalDud (talk • contribs) at 16:38 on 10 December 2012

My experience indicates that the treasure map chests never respawn. I don't know how many chests there are in the Skyrim cell, but I don't think there's enough of them to warrant a note on this page. --Xyzzy ^Talk 16:36, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Plants respawn glitch

I have a very disturbing bug, in some places (mostly towns), plants just disappear with no reason. Typical scenario is: I fast travel to a town where all the plants have respawned, I enter my house and when I leave it, all the flora just disappeared. This happened too if I fast travel twice in a row to the same location. This bug seems to be prevented by not harvesting plants in the first place, towns where I never picked up any plant do not have this issue... PS: Latest patch installed + all DLCs. — Unsigned comment by Plectrius (talk • contribs) at 06:45 on 8 February 2013

Sounds odd, do you have any third-party mods installed? — ABCface^◥ 06:47, 8 February 2013 (GMT)

I have some mods installed but none of them affects the respawning process at least for one of my characters, besides this also happened during my first playthrough with no mods installed. Plectrius (talk) 15:15, 8 February 2013 (GMT)Plectrius

I've suffered from the same problem for a long time. Finally, I've got a solution and some possible reasons for this problem. Wait in another place for 10+ days, fast-travel to the city with this problem. The plants should be all right now. Do not enter any doors and creat a save. (not quicksave!) For now, everything would be ok. Follow these steps with other cities to fix them all. Don't delete the save afterward! Here is a possible explanation. The game won't keep everything in memory space, such as the states of plants. If you enter a house and the game will lose these states. If you return to the cities, it will try to find the nearest save to re-generate these states. If the previous save is bad (plants disappear), you will suffer from it continously. Hope it would be of any help~ Dreamshadow (talk) 15:14, 3 April 2013 (GMT)

It seems that it's not a perfect solution. Quit the game to desktop, restart the game and the plants will disappear again, even if you create the save right next to them. Sorry for my ignorance. I have to ask someone for help now. I want to clarify that the "disappear" just means these plants become "harvested". Any ideas? Dreamshadow (talk) 14:41, 7 April 2013 (GMT)

Respawn problems

I'm afraid that I have to bother you once again.I have some questions about respawning.

1.It seems that weapons and shields dropped by many generic enemies will never disappear on the ground.If the whole place has respawned,they may be picked up by newly-respawned nearby enemies.When I loot their bodies,I can find two sets of weapons/shields.Is these all right?

2.I'm not quite sure if it is a commom bug.Some outdoor places may have "incomplete respawn".The chests/plants there can respawn normally,but occupants/items will never respawn.For myself,two locations have this problem,Ruins of Rkund and Greenspring Hollow(They do have normal respawn time).Another one is Four Skull Lookout,as is shown in its discussion page.Do you have any ideas about this?

ThanksDreamshadow (talk) 09:12, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Now, you don't bother anyone. These are questions that need answers! For your first point, I can say that it happened to me and that it happens often when I'm revisiting a dungeon, or even in town. With one of my characters, there are a sword and shield in Windhelm that I believe belonged to a thug and never disappeared. I don't know the cause of it, or why it happens in some places and not others, but it's relatively harmless. If you want to make sure they'll disappear, put them on a body or in a respawning container.

As for your second point, it seems that those three locations are simply bugged. I remember having trouble getting the "Cleared" status for the Ruins of Rkund, and I noticed recently that the body of the hunter at Greenspring Hollow disappeared and none of the pelts around him respawned. I never had any problem with Four Skull Lookout myself, but it seems many had trouble with it concerning radiant quests. I noticed that these locations all have a "10 or 30 days" respawn time, maybe it's 10 for plants/containers/etc and 30 for occupants? I'll test this tomorrow. Elakyn (talk) 18:20, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Okay, back from the tests and infortunately nothing new; Greenspring Hollows, the Ruins of Rkund and Four Skull Lookout are just bugged. For the last two, all containers and plants respawn but enemies are nowhere to be found. For Greenspring Hollow, the wild beast respawns but nothing else. I tried waiting about 40 days, just to be sure, but nothing. Elakyn (talk) 18:39, 6 March 2013 (GMT)

Thank you very much. Sorry for being late to give you a reply, I just forgot to add this page into my watchlist...I've found that if you put the same equipment into a chest in large amount(>=5?), they won't disappear and prevent this chest from respawning. By the way, you may have to wait for some time to get the "Cleared" status for some places(especially outdoor locations).Dreamshadow (talk) 14:17, 9 March 2013 (GMT)

There are several cases of things not being reset during a cell respawn:

1. Items dropped by dead NPCs after a battle. These are never cleaned up despite what some of the official patch notes indicate. The USKP set a workaround variable to prevent this from becoming a problem since it bloats the save otherwise.

2. Arrows fired into the world that aren't retrieved. Go back to any battle site where lots of arrows got fired. You'll find them all sticking straight up out of the ground. This issue remains unfixed despite claims in the official patch notes. There is no user side solution to this.

3. Nirnroot glows, ash piles, and other various generated items stack up and cause save bloat. Bethesda has only ever partially addressed the nirnroot and ash pile issues, but plenty of other cases remain that the USKP has kept in check since last year.

4. Various flora objects in the world will simply never respawn their contents, leading to a permanently despawned world of plants and an eventual shortage on alchemy ingredients. There's a mod out there that fixes this, but the solution is rather drastic and invasive and not something I'd recommend using.

Fourskull Lookout - The enemies are not intended to respawn. They're based on templates of actors who don't. Greenspring Hollow - The items there are all tied to an XMarker which I'm presuming gets disabled at some point. The CK isn't telling me which script it is, so it's probably a dynamic alias somewhere. Ruins of Rkund - Same as Fourskull. The enemies are not set to respawn here.

Respawns at specific places vary widely. Sometimes because of the encounter zone they're in. Sometimes because individual parts are not set to respawn. The 10/30 day cycle is just a general rule.Arthmoor (talk) 06:37, 9 April 2013 (GMT)

Great! Your answer will be of much help to everyone. Many players have suffered from these problems. Minor maybe, sometimes they are really annoying. Thanks again for your help! Dreamshadow (talk) 08:08, 9 April 2013 (GMT)

My guess is that the referencing script is the one on the XMarker itself. It's got the defaultDisableOnResetIfLocWasCleared script attached to it, which seems to indicate that it's deliberately not respawning. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 20:23, 9 April 2013 (GMT)

Stores, shop shelves and strongboxes

There is nothing in the article about if or when will respawn stores and houses that have been "cleared". For a thief character this is important to know. Shelves in shops seem to respawn all right, but I'm not sure about chests or houses where we broke in, and strongboxes somehow never seem to respawn at all (tested in the Winking Skeever, an easy place to steal from). Also, for respawning purposes it's said not to enter the cell or the time will reset, but what's exactly a cell? The shop/house, the city...? Some insight here, please. --Iconoclasta (talk) 11:10, 9 March 2013 (GMT)