Items Kept on Death

Items Kept on Death is a menu accessed from the Worn Equipment button on the Interface that shows which items players will keep when they die. Generally, only the three most valuable items will be kept, and these items will be shown in this menu.

The value of items are not based on market value or Grand Exchange prices, but is based on the store (or alchemy) value of the items. Rare items such as partyhats will NOT be kept on death, unless a player has fewer than three items (four when using Protect item), even if the market value of an item, such as a Blue partyhat (worth coins) is substantially higher than the majority of Runescape's various items and accessories.

In addition, stackable items are considered as individual items, and the value of those items is based on a single item, even if the combined total worth of the items is far greater than any other items. For example, if the player is only carrying 400 coins, only 3 coins are retained upon death as each coin is valued individually.

Skulled
If players are skulled by entering the Abyss, or by entering PvP worlds or Bounty Hunter, they will lose all of their items when they die. There was an update in which you may NOT use the Protect Item in PvP worlds or Bounty Hunter. This prayer originally was what people who player-killed (PKed) when PKing so that their best item could be protected while they used other low costing items for protection. (e.g. A PK'er would use bandos godsword with rune armour.) However, there was a later update to Bounty Hunter worlds so that you could automatically protect one item. The duration of being skulled lasts for 10 minutes of playing time, and may be avoided by wearing a Forinthry bracelet when entering the Abyss.

Safe activities
The term "safe" refer to the fact that it is safe to die within the activity. Safe activities, such as Castle Wars, Duel Arena, Soul Wars or Fist of Guthix, allow players to keep all their items upon death.

Staked duels
In the Duel Arena, players may challenge other players to a staked duel. This means that items (or coins) are put at stake during the duel, and the winner is awarded with the staked items.

However, since the Duel Arena is a safe activity, players will not lose any items (except the staked items) if they die during the duel.

Gravestones
When players die, gravestones may appear on the spot where the player dies. (However, this is not the case in safe activities, Corporeal Beast slaying, Wild Jade Vine killing, dangerous Clan Wars or on PvP or Bounty Worlds.) Gravestones may last for 2-6 minutes, depending on the type of the gravestone. During this period, a dead player will be able to respawn and retrieve any remaining items that are not kept on death from the gravestone. (As noted below, "unkeepable" and untradeable items cannot be retrieved from the gravestone.)

"Unkeepable" items


Certain untradeable items, like the Ring of Visibility and Runecrafting pouches, cannot be kept upon death. This is regardless of whether the item is the most valuable item, or if Protect Item prayer is used. When player dies, the item is lost forever, cannot be retrieved from the gravestone of the player, and will not appear to other players.

Caught Hunter items, such as Chinchompas will be released when a player dies. Books like Barbarian skills and My notes disappear on death.

There appears to be two types of item not kept on death. Items which are never kept, no matter what, and items that are not available from your gravestone even if you return in time. In the image, notice how the Ectophial is not outlined in white and indicates it will be available to be reclaimed. If it falls below the items kept on death, it will not be reclaimable.

"White outline" items
These items are highlighted in the Items Kept on Death screen. They are destroyed automatically if you die in an unsafe manner such as regular play or an "unsafe" activity.

Some of these items include:
 * Runecrafting pouch
 * Ring of Visibility
 * Karamjan rum
 * Movario's notes (volume 1)
 * Movario's notes (volume 2)
 * Strange key loop
 * Strange key teeth
 * Glowing fungus
 * Bolt pouch
 * Any type of Experience lamp or the Book of knowledge
 * Lunar armour -- You can get your lunar armour back by buying the pieces from the Oneiromancer on Lunar Isle

"Not reclaimable at gravestone" items
These items will be saved if they are kept in the inventory upon death, but will not appear at the gravestone if they are not kept upon death. Items that have a 'destroy' rather than drop option usually fall into this category.

Some of these items include:
 * Pets
 * Animals, such as Chinchompa or Green, Orange, Red, and Black salamanders
 * Ava's attractor or accumulator
 * Books such as Barbarian skills and My notes
 * Achievement Diary rewards such as Karamja gloves, Explorer's ring, and Varrock armour
 * Ectophial
 * God capes - Zamorak, Saradomin, and Guthix
 * Magic secateurs
 * Ring of fire, Flame gloves, and Inferno Adze
 * Dragonkin key
 * Safety gloves from the Stronghold of Player Safety
 * Bearhead from the Mountain Daughter quest
 * Stardust from a Shooting Star
 * Agile equipment from the Advanced Agility Courses
 * Zanik's crossbow
 * Jester Costume
 * The Empty crate from Dealing with Scabaras.

Wealth information
On 3 March 2009, the interface was upgraded to show players the value of the items being carried or worn. This information is displayed to the right of the interface:
 * Carried wealth - total value of items carried or worn.
 * Risked wealth - the value of items lost upon death.

Trivia

 * Gloves bought from the Culinaromancer's Chest were once an unreclaimable item. This has now been fixed by Jagex.
 * Items such as the Slayer helmet and a charged Dragonfire Shield are not correctly priced with their basic version.
 * Untradeable Items show their price when they are shown in the Items Kept on Death menu. Such as an Explorer's ring is shown to cost 350 coins.
 * The ‘Items Kept on Death’ interface will now give a bit of extra info about gravestones if applicable due to the 9 November 2009 updates.
 * Free to play players that has previously been members and who still have member items can still check the worth of the items, even though they aren't members any longer.
 * When on the 'Items Kept on Death' screen, the effects of being poisoned are paused, this is the same as with the Ring of Stone.