How many items is it safe to store in a single container

the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion

While dumping my loot in a non-respawning chest in my home, I noticed some items disappeared from the chest. I assumed they would return once I'd taken some of the items from the chest, but even after removing all the items they were nowhere to be found – neither in the chest nor in my inventory. How many items can I store in a single container before any new items placed there start disappearing?

Best Answer

That seems to be a glitch. The UESP Wiki's "Oblivion: Containers" article states that containers do not have a weight or item limit.

From the UESP wiki's "Oblivion: Minor Glitches - Items Disappearing from Containers" article:

Items Disappearing from Containers

Sometimes items appear to disappear from containers if you have already put a lot of items in. This is merely a display bug, however: if you start removing other items from the container the missing item(s) will reappear. Also, if you "Take All", the missing items will still be added to your inventory. Saving the game while in the same zone as the container then reloading the save will often make all the missing items reappear; leaving the room, or looking in other containers after reloading, will break the container again.

This glitch seems to be caused by an error in the recorded number of items stored in the container. It looks like that number sometimes becomes less than the actual number of items stored. This causes the most recently added items to not be listed in the container's inventory. Often, if you add another item to the container, a previous missing one will appear, but instead the new item disappears.

Storing items that you will not be using at equal to or less than 100% health will reduce the likelihood of items disappearing. Armor repaired to 125% can quickly fill up a container.

Note that if you are using mods which raise your maximum encumbrance, the same glitch may also happen to your inventory.

So, if you dump a lot of items inside a container, some of them will appear to vanish, and when you "Take all" some of the items that were hidden in the container will become hidden in your inventory as well.