Drop
The drop function is the action in which a player removes an item from their inventory, placing it on the ground. The drop function is one of the default right-click options (sometimes replaced with destroy for most untradable, holiday, and quest related items) but can be made into the left-click option by toggling Shift Click to Drop in the Controls tab of the Options menu, this enables the player to drop items by holding the left-shift key and left-clicking. A dropped item does appear on the ground where the player was standing, and can be recovered at any time. Every item holds this function, except for certain untradeable items (such as event rewards) where the drop function is replaced by 'destroy' and items that cannot be dropped or destroyed such as bonds. Destroyed items do not appear where the player was standing, and to recover it, the player will have to return to the original source of the item (or a special NPC that replaces them) unless the item is permanently lost and cannot be reclaimed.
The limit to the number of different items that can fit on one game tile is 128, with stackable items such as coins and noted items counting as one. However, items dropped on the ground disappear after a certain time. Tradeable items appear to other players 60 seconds (one minute) after being dropped, and disappear after another 120 seconds (two minutes) if not picked up. Items placed on tables will appear to other players 60 seconds (one minute) after being placed, and disappear after 9 minutes. Untradeable items disappear after 180 seconds (three minutes). Items dropped by an account with less than 20 hours of playtime follow the rule for dropped untradeable items.
Functions
Drop is normally used to free a space in the player's inventory, whether temporarily or permanently. For example, if a player wishes to bury the bones in front of them, they may drop their coins, pick up and bury the bones, and then recover the coins. If a player receives an item useless to them, it is often dropped promptly so as to not waste inventory space.
Restrictions
Players can still drop items for others to pick-up; however, in order for such items to become visible they must be logged in prior to when the item was dropped, or placed on a table, and stay logged in until the item becomes visible. Logging out during or after this period, when the item is either invisible or after it becomes visible, will make it impossible to see or pick up the item.
Variants
The drop function is replaced by the destroy function in certain items, usually event rewards or items requiring a specific skill or quest, etc. The destroy function is similar to the drop; it likewise removes the item from the inventory, but unlike drop, it does not appear on the game screen and cannot be recovered. Because of this, when a player attempts to destroy an item, they will always get a warning message. The message usually lists possible ways to recover the item as well.
Drop trading
Drop trading is the term given to the trading method by which one player drops an item to give to another player, and, after waiting for the item to become visible, the receiving player picks it up.
Historical drop trading
Drop trading has been used historically as a way of breaking Rule 6 (Account Sharing/Trading), which dictated that no items may be transferred between accounts of the same owner, usually a main account and a pure. This use of drop trading was used when having two clients opened at the same time was not possible. Notably, Rule 6 was expanded to allow accounts owned by the same player to trade without being in violation of the rules[1].
Drop trading was used even more before banks that could hold items were introduced to the game. Many players would have "mule" characters, which would serve as an item bank, and transfers would be done through drop trading. This was against the rules, and many players have been permanently banned for it although this was hard to catch due to the player not saying anything during the drop trade transfer. However, drop trading is also risky because there is a chance that the items could be intercepted by another player.
In the very early days, this rule was rarely enforced. Well known players often asked for "coal mules" in return for expensive items. It is reported that Jagex started deleting mule accounts some time in early 2001 but stopped due to the chance of an innocent player being deleted.
In RuneScape 2, while the trade limit was in place, only items of small value could be seen by other players.
Changes
| Date | Changes |
|---|---|
| [[{{#explode:23 April 2015| |0}} {{#explode:23 April 2015| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:23 April 2015| |2}}]] (update | poll) |
Warnings when trying to use high alchemy on valuable items will now appear based on the Grand Exchange value of items rather than the alchemy value. |
| [[{{#explode:10 July 2014| |0}} {{#explode:10 July 2014| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:10 July 2014| |2}}]] (update) |
The warning prompted when dropping high value items now has option to disable it permanently. |
| [[{{#explode:3 July 2014| |0}} {{#explode:3 July 2014| |1}}]] [[{{#explode:3 July 2014| |2}}]] (update) |
Dropping an item with an alchemy value of 30,000 coins or more will now prompt a confirmation message. |