Item Decay
Related topics: Game Mechanics
Item decay or "Housekeeping" means the server code that causes items to disappear or decay after they've been left on the ground for some time.
Many changes to housekeeping have been made over the years in attempts to improve server performance.
1999
In Sudden Season:
"Once an empty corpse is closed, it rots immediately. This is to alleviate lag caused by lots of useless corpses hanging around."
2001
"Pack toys no longer decay when left on the ground. Mr. Tusker won't run away looking for nanners anymore."
2002
In The Iron Coast:
"Currently when a monster dies, its corpse lies there for 90 seconds and then decays, leaving behind any loot that hasn't yet been claimed. This loot remains on the ground until it is either picked up by a player, or cleaned up by the housekeeping system. Unfortunately, as long as the loot sits on the ground it eats server resources, resources related to keeping track of each item and telling all the players in the area about it. In addition, a large number of items on the ground contribute to client lag, both by increasing the amount of messaging between server and client, and by straining the graphics capabilities of the client.
So in order to reduce these performance hits, we are changing the behavior of monster corpses slightly. In November, monster corpses will remain on the ground for five minutes--a much longer period than they currently do--but when they decay, any unclaimed loot that remains on the corpse will also decay. This will reduce the number of items on the ground and thus reduce the load on the game servers. Note that this change does not affect player corpses in any way. Also note that this does not change the period of time in which a monster corpse is "protected" (i.e., the period of time in which only the monster's killer--or the killer's fellowship, if the killer is sharing kill loot rights--can access it)."
2004
"This month we've made some internal changes to allow us more flexibility in specifying how long items can stick around before they disappear. For the vast majority of items in the game, there is no change. Items such as Pack Dolls and Wedding Cake are still set to never housekeep. Items such as torches are still set to housekeep as quickly as possible.
One change that players may notice is that Holiday Lights, which were previously set to housekeep as quickly as possible, will now stay in game for at least 30 seconds before housekeeping. This means that if you accidentally drop your Holiday Lights, you have at least 30 seconds to pick them up. Previously they would disappear almost instantly.
There were a handful of items that were either set to never housekeep, or set to housekeep instantly, that are now set to housekeep normally. These include Olthoi Eggs, many title tokens, and the Statue rewards. Note that this change will not cause statues to housekeep when hooked."
2005
In Assault:
"5th anniversary dolls are now set to never rot when left on the ground, so long as the landblock stays occupied. New language has been added to the Holiday Lights description stating that they will rot quickly when inside into a backpack that is placed on the ground."
2010
In Celebration:
"Monster corpses will decay even if someone is holding them open. This should reduce the issue of corpses staying locked open and not rotting. (Decay takes longer then if the creature corpse were not opened)"
2011
"Decay time for very low value items has been hastened."
"T'thuun pack dolls will now decay in 20 seconds if left on the ground."
"All dolls will now have a decay time and do not stay on the landscape indefinitely."