Oblivion Mod:Save File Format/Properties

The Properties structure appears in a couple different places. Within ACHR, ACRE, and REFR change records it can appear as a section containing several possible subrecords; in this case, the described properties are those of the overall change record's item. In addition, every item listed in an Inventory can also be accompanied by one or more property structures. The overall format of the Properties structure is the same in each of these cases, as are the values and structures of the individual property flags (although some flags have only been seen in limited locations).

The following table summarizes the overall Properties structure. This represents the entire contents of the Properties section found in ACHR, ACRE, and REFR change records. Within an Inventory, one of these structures will appear for each listing in changeEntries (i.e., this structure is already listed within the overall Inventory data structure).

Name	Type/Size	Info
propertiesNum	short	Number of properties changed in this structure.
property	struct[propertiesNum]	Structure detailing an individual property change.
Flag	byte	Flag indicating which property has been changed The following table lists known values for the flag.
-Value	var	Changed property value, The type of value and its length depends upon the flag; see the following table. (Value is not present for flags with zero-length data)

A large number of property flags have been encountered so far, as summarized in the following table. However, the actual meanings of many flags are unknown. The emphasis has been on determining the size/structure associated with each flag, since this must be known before the rest of the property structure (and generally the rest of the change record) can be processed. The provided information has been sufficient to completely parse all of the analyzed save files. Furthermore, the table is probably incomplete: it seems likely that all gaps in the table are just uncommon flags that have not yet been seen.

flag	value	Type/Size	Seen in	#Seen	Info
0x11	Worldspace	iref	ACHR, ACRE	30969	iref points to a WRLD record
0x12	Script	variable	Inv, ACHR, ACRE, REFR	140223
	scriptref	iref		4520	iref points to a script (SCPT) record
	varNum	ushort			Number of values set
	variables	struct[varNum]			values of changed script variables
	varIndex	ushort			Variable index
	varType	ushort			Variable type flag: 0x0000 = Local (8-byte double); 0xF000 = Reference (iref)
	-refVar	iref			Reference Variable Value (only appears if varType=0xF0000)
	-locVar	double (8 bytes)			Local Variable (only appears if varType=0x0000). Note that, according to SCPT quote: "...savegames store all numbers (despite their short, long, float designation) as doubles (64 bit floats)..."
	unknown	byte			?indicates records end?
0x1b	Equipped	0	Inv	286587	Item is currently equipped. Appears to be used for weapons, armor, and most types of clothing (except rings and amulets).
0x1c	Equipped	0	Inv	145	Item is currently equipped. Appears to only be used for rings and amulets.
0x1e	xMarkerHeadingRef	byte[20]	ACHR, ACRE	84778	Details of structure are speculative.
	cell	iref			iref points to a WRLD or CELL record
	x	float
	y	float
	z	float
	flags?	ulong
0x1f	AIPack	byte[14]	ACHR, ACRE	1503	Property was originally documented as being 8 bytes; the 6 extra bytes seem to always be empty (0x00)
	package	iref			iref points to an AI package (PACK record)
	flags	ubyte[4]			It seems that only the first byte is essential
	package2	iref			unknown
	unknown	ubyte[2]			Mostly both bytes are zero, but at least one occasion was encountered where these bytes where [0x1, 0x1]
0x20	Trespass	byte[63]	ACHR	33	The first 4 bytes have special significance, since they are repeated in the text dump file. They appear to be the formID of a temporary object. Considered part of "Trespass" subrecord.
0x21	unknown	variable	ACHR, ACRE	5162
	dataNum	ushort
	data	byte[5][dataNum]			5 bytes are possibly iref+byte; iref points to a PACK record
0x22	unknown	iref	Inv, REFR	5776	iref points to a REFR, ACHR, or ACRE record. Considered part of All Extra subrecord.
0x23	unknown	variable	Inv, ACHR, ACRE	1013
	dataNum	ushort
	data	iref[dataNum]			iref always points to an ACHR record
0x25	Disabled	0	ACHR, ACRE	441	Corresponds to flag 30 being set, and textdumps listing status as Disabled. Used for quest NPCs after they've transformed and quest done (Peryite's souls, Forlorn Watchman)
0x27	Owner	iref	Inv, ACHR, ACRE, REFR	11796	iref points to the NPC_ or FACT (faction) record that owns this item. Signals that item is stolen when found in an inventory record. Used for ACRE records in cases of owned horses.
0x28	globVar	iref		0	iref points to a global variable (GLOB record); see XGLB subrecord under REFR mod file format. Information has not been confirmed from actual save files.
0x29	factRank	ulong		0	Faction rank; see XRNK subrecord under REFR mod file format. Information has not been confirmed from actual save files.
0x2a	affectedItemsNum	ushort	Inv, REFR	217490	Number of items affected by this properties record. Considered part of "All Extra" subrecord.
0x2b	itemHealth	float	Inv, REFR	17503	Item's current health. Considered part of "All Extra" subrecord.
0x2c	uses	ubyte			number of uses for this item
0x2d	time	float	Inv	85	Length of time that item (e.g., a torch) has been used.
0x2e	enchPoints	float	Inv, REFR	1910	Current enchantment points. Whereas the ANAM subrecord for a WEAP record provides the maximum possible enchantment, this is the available enchantment points (0 if the weapon is completely discharged). Considered part of "All Extra" subrecord.
0x2f	soul	byte	Inv	223	Type of soul contained in a soul gem (SLGM, see SOUL subrecord)
0x31	Lock	struct[6]	REFR	23410	Lock level and key that opens lock; see XLOC subrecord under REFR mod file format.
	lockLevel	ubyte			0-100; 100 means key required
	key	iref			iref points to key (KEYM record) that opens lock; 0x00000000 if there is no key
	flag	ubyte			0x04 means lock is leveled
0x32	Teleport	struct[28]	REFR	18	Appears to provide the same information as the XTEL subrecord under REFR mod file format, although the data is provided in a different order than in XTEL. Considered part of "Teleport" subrecord.
	x	float
	y	float
	z	float
	rz	float
	ry	float
	rz	float
	destDoor	iref			iref points to a REFR record (with a DOOR base object)
0x33	Map Marker Flag	ubyte	REFR		Considered part of the "Map Marker Flag" subrecord
0x35	Leveled Creature	-	ACHR, ACRE, REFR	69907
0x36	Leveled Item	byte[5]	Inv	600520
0x37	Scale	float	Inv	3076	Item scale; see XSCL subrecord under REFR mod file format. This property is not considered part of the "Scale" subrecord.
0x39	Non Actor Magic Caster	byte[12]	REFR	2684	Considered part of "Extra Magic" subrecord. The last 4 bytes always seem to be an iref pointing to the record containing this property.
0x3a	unknown	variable	REFR	7295	Considered part of "Extra Magic" subrecord. Meaning of contents unknown.
	iref	iref			Always appears to be an iref pointing to the record containing this property
	dataNum	ushort
	data	byte[61][dataNum]
0x3c	unknown	long?			Identified load code for this property just skips 4 bytes
0x3d	Crime gold	float	Inv, ACHR, ACRE	77	Considered part of the "Crime Gold" subrecord.
0x3e	Oblivion Entry	struct[16]	Inv, ACHR	3	Considered part of the "Oblivion Entry" subrecord.
	door	iref			iref points to the REFR record for the Oblivion end of a gate to Oblivion
	x	float
	y	float
	z	float
0x41	unknown	float?	REFR	140	Considered part of the "All Extra" subrecord
0x47	Cant Wear	0	Inv	83	Only seen on items that are also equipped, for example on Ulrich Leland's prison clothes (Sack Cloth Shirt, etc.), and on Mythic Dawn assassin's bound armor/weapons. Seems to be for items that can't be worn by the player.
0x48	Poison	iref	Inv	48	iref points to the poison (ALCH record) that has been applied to a weapon
0x4a	Animation	bstring	ACHR, ACRE, REFR	40026	Considered part of the "Animation" subrecord (although additional "Animation" data may also be provided outside of the property structure). Meaning of contents is unknown.
0x4b	Movement Extra	variable	ACHR, ACRE, REFR	134338	Considered part of the "Movement Extra" subrecord (although additional "Movement Extra" data may also be provided outside of the property structure). Meaning of contents is unknown.
	unknown	ulong
	dataNum	ushort
	data	ubyte[dataNum]
	- blank	byte[2]			2 extra bytes (always 0x00) appear after the 0x4b property but only if 0x4b is not the last property in the structure. Although their presence seems to be an anomaly, they are definitely there, and the two blank bytes do not count as a separate property. Conversely, there are countless cases where 0x4b is the last entry in the properties structure and the two bytes are clearly not there.
0x4e	unknown	variable	ACHR, ACRE	121	Originally documented as always being 2 bytes in length, but cases have been confirmed with both dataNum=0 (2 byte length) and dataNum=1 (12 byte length).
	dataNum	ushort
	data	byte[10][dataNum]
0x4f	unknown	bytes[4]	Inv, ACHR, ACRE	75535
0x50	boundItem?	0	Inv	15	Seen on Mythic Dawn Assassin's bound armor and weapons (along with flags 0x1b and 0x47)
0x52	investmentGold	ulong	ACHR	32	amount of gold player has invested in merchant. Considered part of the "Investment Gold" subrecord.
0x53	unknown	ulong?	REFR	230	Considered part of the "All Extra" subrecord.
0x55	shortcutKey	byte	Inv	489	User defined shortcut key
0x59	Conversation	variable	ACHR	276
	convTopic	bzstring			Topic Text, last byte (0x0) terminates string and is not included in the string length
	convNum	ushort
	Conv[convNum]
	number	ubyte			consecutive number
	convQuest	iref			iref points to a QUST record
	convDialog	iref			iref points to a DIAL record
	convInfo	iref			iref points to an INFO record
0x5a	Essential?	ubyte	ACHR	19	Appears to be 0/1 value corresponding to last setEssential call on the character.
0x5c	unknown	float	ACHR	991	Property seems to only be set for merchants; observed values in range 0-38. Number of items bought/sold from merchant?

Notes:

• The "#Seen" column is the total number of times each property has been seen within a set of analyzed save files. This column provides an indication of the confidence in the property's size and structure -- although some of the rarely-seen properties are also the ones that have been examined most closely. In addition, this column may help programmers know which flags they must be prepared to encounter. For example, even though the Script flag (0x12) is one of the most annoying to parse, it's also one of the most common flags and therefore cannot be avoided.
• The "Seen In" column shows where, to date, each property flag has been seen, "Inv" meaning within an Inventory. However, just because a flag has not yet been seen in a given location does not mean that it can never appear there. For example, if a filled soul gem were dropped on the ground, it seems very likely that flag 0x2f would be set on the new REFR item, even though the above table only lists 0x2f for Inventory items.
• Many of the properties are considered to be parts of specific subrecords within the ACRE/ACHR/REFR change records. Although such associations are listed in the Notes, the information is not needed when processing save files. They are only relevant when interpreting the (often inaccurate) subrecord sizes listed in text file dumps. The subrecord names may also hint at the property's meaning, for otherwise unknown properties.