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Containers are pieces of tiles located throughout Project Zomboid's various locations, including Knox County (Pre-0.2.0r). The key difference between a container and other furniture pieces like chairs, tables and so forth, is that they have their own dedicated inventory. Allowing the player to drop off and organize items, lightening the player's load and allowing them to scout and scavenge easier. Placing more than one of the same item inside a container will automatically stack them into the same slot, decluttering the inventory menu.
Container window
To the right is an image displaying the container window. In order to show this window, the player can either left-click the container, or mouse hover over the proximity/container window, which is displayed at the top of the screen by default. Or if it isn't visible, pressing the I key will toggle it on or off.
Just like the player's inventory, the container window is separated into three categorical columns; the icon of the item, the type (name of the item), and category (e.g., literature or food).
Below is a description explaining each component of the container window; numbers are paired with those displayed on the image to the right.
- Containers can hold any type of item, however, only up to their encumbrance capacity. This functionality is similar to how bags can only hold a certain encumbrance limit. The two numbers display the current (0.9) and the maximum (20) encumbrance.
- The rightmost column displays the loot panel. The loot panel shows every container and cupboard within arm's reach of your character. Clicking on each will reveal the items inside. Items that have been placed nearby on the floor will also be visible.
- Clicking "Loot All" will move all the contents of a container into your inventory. Moving/turning away will cancel this action. You can also drag and drop stacks of items.
- Items are listed in a hierarchical manner, decluttering the player's inventory list by stacking similar items together. To view a particular stack of items, the player can left-click the small arrow, presenting them with a darkened overlay. This can be especially helpful when the player has items of different levels/durability, such as a half full water bottle and a full one. All item stacks can also be displayed or hidden by clicking one of the two boxes at the top of this category.
Container icons
- = Cabinet
- = Campfire
- = Clothing Dryer
- = Counter
- = Crate
- = Drawer
- = Floor
- = Freezer
- = Fridge
- = Garbage
- = Mail Box
- = Medicine
- = Microwave
- = Oven
- = Plant
- = Shelf
- = Vending
- = Washing Machine
- = Glove Box
- = Seat
- = Truck Bed
- = Trunk
Types of containers
Refrigerator
- See more: Refrigerators
A refrigerator is a container that slows the rate in which perishable foods spoil, whilst they're stored inside. This functionality will work so long as there is a source of power connected. Most have both a fridge and freezer container, however some will only have a fridge or freezer.
- Fridge slows the rate in which perishable foods spoil by 5 times.
- Freezer slows the rate in which perishable foods spoil by 25 times.
Ovens
- See more: Ovens
Ovens are a heat source that is typically used for cooking. The oven, microwave and antique oven can be found inside kitchens of houses, restaurants and staffrooms. The propane barbecue and charcoal barbecue can be outside certain houses or in picnic areas. The campfire cannot be found naturally, requiring the player to build one using a campfire kit, which can be crafted or spawn inside certain containers. Each oven has a particular source of fuel that they require in order to function, this fuel may vary between ovens. The main fuel types are electricity, propane, petrol, charcoal and wood or other burnable material. For more info about each oven type, see the Heat source article.
Counters
- See more: Counters
Counters are a flat-topped work surface (with the exception of floating counters) with cupboards. All counter variations have a weight capacity of 50.
Kitchen counter
A kitchen counter can be found inside the kitchens of houses and restaurants. They will usually contain various types of cooking utensils and food. They may also contain seeds, dead mice or rats, dish towels or a mop. The item distribution will vary depending on the kitchen type, a few examples include: Burgers, Spiffo's, Pile-o-Crepe, Bakery, Pizza, Cafe and more. Survivor houses, or houses with barricades on the doors and windows, will contain much more non-perishable food, like canned foods, or a shotgun and ammo.
Shop counter
A shop counter can be found inside various shops, often having a cash register on top of one. They will usually contain basic literature, stationery items and tote bags. Some stores these can be found in include: Furniture, Theatre, Clothing, Gift, along with more. There are also some stores that contain a set of items unique to their shop type, some include: Electronics, Bar, Pharmacy, Gun, Hair Salon or Tattoo Parlor, Laundromat, Convenience, Gas and more.
Bathroom counter
Bathroom counters can contain a range of junk items along with sheets, bath towels, tissues, bleach, medical items and more.
Occupation counter
Occupation counters can be found randomly inside a normal house. The kitchen counters will have a range of items belonging to a specific occupation. The occupations that are randomly chosen between are Carpenter, Electrician, Farmer or Nurse.
Steel Counter
A steel counter is an industrial variant of the standard counter, therefore will contain items typically found inside storage rooms and warehouses. Some items include carpentry tools, metalworking tools and various materials. An exception to this includes steel counters found inside a medical clinic, which can contain various kinds of medical items and walkie talkies. A steel counter can be crafted by the player at level 5 metalworking.
Dressers
- See more: Dressers
Bedroom storage includes wardrobes and drawers, which are usually, but not always, frequently found inside the bedrooms of houses and motels/hotels.
Wardrobe and drawers
While wardrobes and drawers usually stay in the bedroom, wardrobes may also be found throughout the house, particularly in the living room. Wardrobes and drawers have identical item distribution, however will vary slightly between being in the bedroom and not. Both locations can have clothing, pillows, bags, baseball bat and more. Some examples of the distribution differences include: candles, sleeping tablets and walkie talkies are not in the bedroom, while ValuTech PortaDiscs, alarm clock and HAM radios are.
Small table
Small tables differ from wardrobes and drawers as they have a separate item distribution and can be found throughout the house differing depending on where they're found. All small tables can include any of the civilian radios and walkie talkies. Those found in bedrooms mostly contain household electrical appliances and magazines, whereas outside the bedroom, they can contain skill books, reading material, house keys, maps, TV remotes, home alarms and more.
Shelves
- See more: Shelves
Shelves are the most common container as they can be found in almost every building type, with many different variants.
Wooden shelves
Wooden shelves can be found in most types of buildings, a few examples include: gas stations, tool stores, bars, pharmacies/medical clinics, clothing stores, restaurants, kitchens, among many others. The contents of a wooden shelf can differ dramatically and will usually stick with the theme of the building or room type, for example, electronics store shelves can have batteries, headphones and Electronics Magazines; or a gas station may have chips, lighters and car batteries. Inside houses however, they are usually found inside the kitchen, containing bowls, radios, literature, salt and pepper.
Metal Shelves
Metal shelves are an industrial variant, usually coming in one of three content categories: construction, firearms and mechanical. The construction shelves are the most common, containing tools, like hammers and screwdrivers; materials, like nails and glue; or electricals such as, radios and walkie talkies. This type of metal shelf can be found inside tool sheds, garages and warehouses. Firearm shelves can contain all kinds of firearms, ammo and tactical radios, depending on the building type they're found in. These shelves are found in police stations and gun stores, however police stations will not have varmint rifles or hunting rifles. Mechanical shelves can contain all vehicle parts, tools, mechanic magazines and skill books, these will be found in mechanic shops and gas stations.
Bookshelf
Bookshelves are commonly found inside houses or in abundance within libraries and bookstores. They are the best source of skill books, or much more commonly, books. It is also possible to find other literature items, such as newspapers, magazines, journals, empty notebooks, sheets of paper, recipe magazines and even radios. With a high enough carpentry skill and the correct equipment, it is possible for the player to construct a small and a large bookcase.
Magazine shelf
Magazine shelves are usually the best place to find recipe magazines, however this isn't always the case. For example, corner stores will only have books, normal magazines and newspapers, while a grocery store will have normal magazines, newspapers and maps. Recipe magazines will also not appear inside gas station magazine shelves, however they are a very good place to find maps. NOTE: This item cannot be picked up or placed.
Shop shelves
Shop shelves come in many variations in both the model and contents, which depend on the shop type. The item distribution will correspond to the store they're found in, however the distribution can vary substantially between similar store types, for example a zippee store and the average convenience store has similar but different items that can spawn on the shelves. A few examples include: tool stores which can have various carpentry, metalworking, fishing, farming and mechanics items; bar shelves often have alcohol and cigarettes; Pharmacies will have all types of medical supplies, gift stores will have various kinds of junk items, candles and stationery.
Mannequins
Mannequins can be found in clothing stores displaying various clothes and accessories, gardens and farms. They have a capacity of 50 and come in multiple stances and themes.
Desks
- See more: Desks
Desks are fairly abundant throughout Knox Country, appearing in houses, offices and schools.
Office desk
Office desks are a two tile wide object with only one container, which is always on the tile with the drawers, therefore desks without a drawer will not have a container. Office desks can be found in the office of a house, bank, factory, school and many other building types. A large variety of items can be found inside an office desk, such as stationery items, confectionary food, pills, cigarettes, along with many more. The office desk only has a weight capacity of 20, being a fairly poor 2 tile wide storage container.
School desk
School Desks are found exclusively inside schools, with many lined up in rows inside a classroom. They take up a single tile and have a weight capacity of 50, being far superior to the standard office desk. The school desk has a shorter, yet differing list of spawnable items than the office desk, including ValuTech PortaDiscs, walkie talkies, basic literature and more.
Cabinets
- See more: Cabinets
File cabinet
File cabinets can be found inside the office of many different building types. They have no requirements to move, weight 12 and a capacity of 15. Have chance to spawn: sheet of paper, magazine, newspaper, book, comic book, notebook.
Medicine cabinet
The medicine cabinet will typically contain various medical items, however the distribution can vary somewhat between buildings. A medicine cabinet inside a bathroom has a fairly small chance of having medical items and is more likely to contain items like sheets, bleach, bath towels and hairspray. However, a medicine cabinet found inside a survivor house or nurse's bathroom will not contain these same items and is much more likely to contain medical items, and at a much higher quantity. Has capacity of 10, weight 7.5 and need Carpentry level 2 and Hammer to move.
Lockers
- See more: Lockers
Small chest
The small chest has the same item distribution as the large locker found in schools. Small chests can be found in military bases and some tiny houses. It has a considerably lower storage space than the large locker, with a weight capacity of just 10.
Small locker
A small locker can be crafted with metalworking at level 6, however it appears naturally inside gun stores, hunting stores and the armory of police stations and the jail. Small lockers in gun stores can contain every possible firearm, ammo and weapon modifications, along with the hunting knife, axe, gunpowder and military grade comms. Hunting stores will stock exclusively the hunting rifle, varmint rifle and shotgun, along with the relevant ammo. Whereas armouries will never contain rifles or weapon modifications. Small lockers will also be found throughout Knox Country inside various garages and tool sheds. However, these will only contain tools and crafting materials.
Blue/yellow locker
The large locker can come in two variants, yellow and blue, and is found inside schools, fire stations, police stations, factories, and similar locations. Lockers inside changing rooms will often contain clothing and bags, however they may also contain a baseball bat, electricals and 9mm rounds. Similarly, lockers inside schools can contain clothing and school bags, along with other items like stationery, basic literature and sports equipment. A Large locker is craftable through metalworking and will be unlocked at skill level 9.
Metal locker
Metal lockers will regularly be found inside mechanic shops, tool sheds, garages, warehouses and storerooms. Most metal lockers will contain various tools and materials for metalworking, carpentry, electrical, farming and fishing. Mechanic shops will differ in distribution, containing electronics, mechanic, engineering and metalworking recipe magazines, mechanic tools and radios. The metal locker takes up just a single tile and has a weight capacity of 50.
Military locker
Heavy-duty military lockers are essentially a larger version of the small locker, and can only be found in some military, gunstore, and military surplus store locations. In Build 41.65, these large lockers have no collision and cannot be interacted with, so their intended contents are unclear.
Crates
- See more: Crates
Crates are box type containers that can contain a large variety of items. They're usually found in storage spaces, making the contents vary depending on the building type. For example, a convenience store will have literature, chips and lighters, while a grocer will have varying types of food. Most crates can be found inside warehouses which will have many useful tools and materials, like sacks, charcoal, metal sheets, seeds, wire and many more. Storage units contain much of the same as warehouses, however more household and less construction focused.
Wooden Crate
Wooden crates have a weight capacity of 50 and can be stacked up to 3 high, or more with a high roof or outside, making them the second highest storage space possible on a single tile. They can be built once reaching level 3 carpentry and will vary in design depending on the carpentry level. They will frequently be found inside warehouses, while also appearing in storage rooms, tool sheds and storage cupboards.
Small crate
Small crates have a weight capacity of 25, which is half of a wooden crate. They cannot be built, but can be found in liquor stores, food markets and grocery stores. However player needs to have carpentry skills to not break it when trying to pick it up.
Cardboard box
Cardboard boxes can be found in both large and small variants. The large has a weight capacity of 25, while the small only has 10. The cardboard box can be picked up without requiring any skill level, therefore has a 0% chance of breaking, making it a useful transportable storage item for early on.
Metal Crate
A metal crate will not appear in the game world naturally, requiring it to be built by the player. Building a metal crate requires a metalworking level of 4 and will have encumbrance capacity of 80. It can be stacked up to 3 times, like the wooden crate.
Military crate
Heavy-duty military crates can be found in military areas (such as the quarantine checkpoint on the road leading to Louisville) and in surplus/gun stores. There are two types, a greenish-grey color, and an army green color. There is no functional difference between the two types besides their appearance. They have a capacity of 50 (65 with organized) and can stack like other crates. They can be picked up and moved with a hammer.
Basket
Baskets can be found in liquor store, food markets and fruit stands. They can be picked up without any requirements but are rarer than Cardboard boxes. Each basket has a capacuty of 10, same as a small cardboard box.
Displays
- See more: Displays
Displays are very similar to shelves and counters, in that the contents vary depending on the store they're located in. The key difference is the container name they're recognized as in the code. For example, a clothing store has both a shelves
container and a clothingrack
container, each with a differing item distribution. Furthermore, a cafe has both a counter
and a displaycase
. These displays can come in the form of a glass cabinet/counter, rack, stand, or shelf. The contents of the containers will be relevant to the type of store they're found in. There is a known bug/inaccuracy with the glass display case in which guns will only visually appear in the case when placed within gun stores, despite the contents. The default visual for the glass display is jewelry.
The following is a list of stores that they can be found in.
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Bins
- See more: Bins
Bins can be found both indoors and outdoors, containing various kinds of garbage. The most notable item is the garbage bag, which are frequently found inside bins. Other garbage items can include empty bottles, stationery items, tissues, cigarettes and more. Bins that are found inside bathrooms will often contain items that will usually be found inside a counter or medicine cabinet, however this may be a bug.
Mail boxes
Mail boxes can be found in 2 variants, either the public or private mail box. The private mail box is the most common, and can be found at the end of most household driveways, while the public is much less common, usually being found in commercial areas. The weight capacity for mail boxes is limited, with a capacity of 5 for private mail boxes and unknown for public. Mail boxes are recognised as one of the best places to search for recipe magazines as they are incredibly common within residential areas. Furthermore, the contents have a 30% chance of being a recipe magazine, and a 70% chance of being either a newspaper or magazine. A post office can be found to have lock boxes inside, however these do not have an inventory.
Vending machines
Vending machines come in 2 variants, chips and pop, with each having a weight capacity of 20. They are usually found in commercial areas, outside some restaurants and hotels/motels. Each variant will only contain its dedicated item type, either chips, or pop cans and orange soda. It should be noted that vending machines differ from the fridge, as they do not reduce the rate of spoilage, nor require electricity, and are just a simple container.
Composter
The composter spawns in parts of Louisville’s suburban area or can be crafted through carpentry. Rotten food can be placed into the composter which will generate compost over time. Once the level of compost reaches 10% full or more, a sack can be used to remove it, producing a compost bag. Compost is used as a fertilizer in farming, to increase the growth rate of crops. A composter has a weight capacity of 50, and although its primary use is for rotten food, it can be used to store any type of item.
Stashes
Stashes are hidden containers left by other survivors in order to keep their valuable items safe that can be part of the metagame. The player may stumble upon a stash by accident or be led to one by following an annotated map. There are three different types of stash containers that the player can discover. A stash can be hidden under the floorboards inside a house, which can be discovered by hearing a creaking sound when walking over a particular floorboards tile. Alternatively, a floorboards stash can be discovered through using "Search Mode". To access the stash, simply stand on or near the creaky floorboards, the stash will then appear in the container window as a shelf icon. A stash may also be hidden inside a dufflebag or under a sheet (sheet model currently replaced by a crate). There are 3 different loot types that can be found inside a stash: shotgun, pistol and tool. The shotgun stash can contain a shotgun, shotgun shells and a box of shotgun shells. Similarly, the pistol stash can contain a pistol, 9mm rounds and a box of 9mm bullets. The tool stash can contain a hammer, axe, saw, tarp, plank, rope, nails, box of nails, duct tape, glue, adhesive tape or wood glue. (However, there is also a chance that the floorboard stash will contain jewelry instead of the aforementioned items).
Plants
Currently there is only one usable plant container present in the game.
Log stack
A log stack will only ever contain logs, with a different container for each tile the stack covers. The size of the log stack can vary between a large multiple tiles long and the smaller 2 tiles wide variant. The smaller log stack can be found beside some shacks and hunting cabins, while they can both be found in lumber yards. As a log stack has an inventory, this saves the player from having to chop down trees, therefore saving tool durability.
Removed/Unused containers
Berry bushes
Introduced with build 29 foraging update, it is believed that they were an old implementation of the mechanic, until being scrapped for a scavenge menu, but are still left in the game as of build 41. They can be found in seemingly random locations (two near Fallas Lake church, one near the edge of a parking lot of a large apartment block in March Ridge), in pre 41 builds of the game, edible berries were able to be found inside of them. As of build 41, their looting tables were either removed or broken, making them completely empty, alongside with this, their textures were removed from the game, making them invisible without the debug menu. They can be picked up with level 2 farming and any garden instrument, but it should be noted that you can't put them back due to a missing code, so they will be a burden in the inventory unless stored away into any other container or a bag.
Corn plant
Wild corn plants can be found on some abandoned farm fields. They used to have corn in them. There were removed from the game since build 38 and onwards, they were completely removed from the game, presumably due to its abundance.