UESP Forums

I've run into a problem that makes no sense to me. For some reason that I don't understand at all, the game seems, at random times, to delete things from my storage chests/drawers, etc. in my home. It seems to be primarily magical things that get removed (which, of course, makes it all that much more annoying). So far, I've had the Ring of Wortcraft, the Boots of the Swift Merchant, and the Robe of Glib Tongues, disappear apparently without reason.
Is this a glitch of which other folks are aware? Or is there some hidden maximum limit of things you can store in a given container. It's aggrevating the heck out of me, almost to the point of giving up on the game, which I otherwise love.
I'd very much appreciate any help or advice anybody might be able to give me about this...before I get to the point of "Elvising" my monitor.
Thanks, for whatever you folks can tell me.

Do you have Shivering Isles installed? It could be The Reference Bug if you haven't updated.

Thanks for the help. I do have a question, though. Yes, I have Shivering Isles installed, and no, I haven't installed the patch. (I certainly will, though.) But from what I've read (after reading your response) about that bug, it seems to affect things dropped on the ground (and apparently horses, but I don't have a horse). What's disappearing for me is stuff I've put into chests, cabinets, and the like, in my house in the Imperial City. So my question is, does the Reference Bug also affect things carefully tucked away in personal storage places?
Again, thank you greatly for your help, and for anything you can tell me about my problem.


Well....As suggested, I tried to install the patch for Shivering Isles. It wouldn't install. I got, instead, a message saying: "Old file not found. However, a file of the same name was found. No update done since file contents do not match." What does that mean, and what, if anything, can I do about it? Am I stuck, then, without being able to update my Shivering Isles...ever? (Which would, presumably, mean I'm stuck with the "Reference Bug" forever, too.<SIGH>)

Unfortunately I do not know that much about the Reference Bug, but it seems to affect things randomly.

As for the error, again I cannot help. I got the GOTY edition of Oblivion, so the patch was unneeded (as far as I know).

Do you have any deliberately glitched items? One of my characters goes around with a massive posse of followers, and since it's only possible to reverse-pickpocket zero weight items, I've glitched permanently Bound Armour for the followers who aren't Essential. Now the chest that the Bound Armour's been placed into isn't safe for storage of anything else - it randomly deletes other things put in it. I'm assuming this is entirely normal if you're using glitched items .

Also if you store too many items in a chest, they seem to disappear. They're STILL THERE, but you can't access them unless you remove some stuff from the chest and move it elsewhere. My friend who's trying to play without buying any houses ran into this with the drawers in the Inn in Aleswell. It's a reason why it's worth owning a house with multiple storage locations and using all of them, rather than putting everything into one chest .

Are you on PC? If so, you could get the unofficial patch for the reference ID bug. One of my friends found he still had it, even after applying the official patch (FIFTY-THREE Elven Helmets!), so added the unofficial patch as well. That cleared things up.

Sahyan wrote:... Well....As suggested, I tried to install the patch for Shivering Isles. It wouldn't install. I got, instead, a message saying: "Old file not found. However, a file of the same name was found. No update done since file contents do not match." What does that mean, and what, if anything, can I do about it? Am I stuck, then, without being able to update my Shivering Isles...ever? (Which would, presumably, mean I'm stuck with the "Reference Bug" forever, too.<SIGH>)

Or, you could already have the patch.

The version number of the game is found in the Video Settings screen of the Main Menu. In one of the bottom corners it should read "Version 1.-------" with the dashes being a funky array of numbers.

If it says 'Version 1.21---' then you have the latest patches.

In this case, your problem may a simple display bug. As you hypothesized earlier, putting a huge number of items creates a situation where not everything shows up in the window. Happily, in such a case, the items are still there— you just need to empty out some of the junk and store it someplace else. The missing items should reappear.

Curiouser and curiouser. Just on a wild chance, I checked something out, and...one of the items I'd lost was back in the store where I'd bought it. Go figure. Of course, I had to buy it again, but, well...omlettes and eggs, right? (And besides, I've plenty of money at this point.) Then - very much to my surprise - the other two items I'd lost turned up back in the chest in my house. I suspect you're right; what I needed was to get some stuff out of the chest.

Once again, thank you very much indeed for your help, and for your good nature in tolerating my annoying string of questions. Folks at the Oblivion fora are a good, good bunch, much to be appreciated.

(Still don't know why the RIng of Wortcraft wound up back where I'd bought it, but...I've got in again, and what else could possibly matter?<S>)

Storage in Oblivion is definitely a bit buggy. Yesterday I was having trouble with the Amelion armour that you get from a quest in the Fighters Guild. I kept "losing" one of the pieces of the set when I put it into a chest of drawers in White Stallion Lodge. All of the items were present, but not showing up in the list. In the end, I had to put it in the drawers with nothing else present.

Open the container as usual and then use the "Take all" option on the screen. I've had the same problem too. My stuff was there but merely would not appear on the typed list. I retrieved it ok. To avoid, divvy up your stuff into more containers.