RuneScape isn't all rolling pastures and cosy woods, as Lumbridge might have you believe: there are dungeons with streams of magma, tall peaks populated by wolves, the vampyre-ruled lands of Morytania, the Wilderness, and many more dangers besides. On your journeys around these lands it is likely that your character will be slain - probably many times!

This isn't something to be too afraid of, as your character will always 'respawn' in perfect health (although probably missing a few items; more on that later).

If you are a relative newcomer to RuneScape, you will visit the home of the Grim Reaper when you die. Don't fear the Reaper: he is surprisingly friendly and will give you pointers about dying and what to expect when it happens. At all other times, when your character dies, you will be taken to Limbo. Here, you can decide where you respawn, and what items you keep when you do. Your choice of respawn points will include:

• Lumbridge
• The last major city you passed through (your 'hub')
• Falador, if you have completed theRecruitment Drive quest.
  
• Camelot, if you have completed theKing's Ransom quest.
• Soul Wars, if you have completed theNomad's Requiem quest.

The current list of 'hubs' are below. These are the cities you can respawn to when you die, so long as you passed through them recently. Only the most recently visited hub will be selectable.

• Lumbridge
• Varrock
• Edgeville
• Falador
• Daemonheim
• Seers’ Village (members only)
• Ardougne (members only)
• Yanille (members only)
• Keldagrim (members only, you must have been taken there duringThe Giant Dwarf)
• Dorgesh-Kaan (members only, you must have completedDeath to the Dorgeshuun)
• Lletya (members only, you must have been taken there duringMourning’s Ends Part I)
• Etceteria (members only, you must have completedThe Fremennik Trials)

In normal situations (outside of the Wilderness and PvP environments), when your character dies, you are allowed to choose three items that you can keep, while the other items you are carrying drop on the ground where you died. The choice of items happens in Limbo, which is less dramatic than it sounds: it is simply a screen that allows you to select three items you wish to protect and keep, and displays other useful information about your death. By default, the three protected items are the most valuable items on the Grand Exchange, but these can be exchanged for other items in your inventory or worn inventory. Borrowed items are always kept and will automatically take up one of these slots.

Some items are automatically kept when you die, and do not count towards the three items protected on death. This is because they are quest items, or are useful-but-common items that would be awkward to retrieve if you lost them. Coins are also protected in this way.

To find out which items you will keep, you can look at your 'Items Kept on Death' interface. Read theControls - Inventory article to find out more about this feature.

When outside of the PvP areas of the Wilderness, any items you drop when you die will be protected by a gravestone (see below) for a certain amount of time. Once that time elapses, your tradeable items will be visible to all players, who are free to pick up the items for one minute before they disappear.

While in PvP areas of the Wilderness, you willnot drop a gravestone and your items will becomeimmediately visible to the player who dealt the most damage to you before your death. That player will then be able to pick up those items for a period of one minute - after this time, the items become visible to all other players. If you are killed by other methods in the Wilderness, or if you drop items deliberately on the floor, your items will become immediately visible to everyone in the vicinity, and they will be able to pick those items up. In all of these instances, it is unlikely that you will be able to return to the point where you died to retrieve your items. This makes the Wilderness a truly high-risk area to explore. Readhere for more information on getting started in the Wilderness.

Abyss/PK skull

The number of items you retain on death is dependent on if you are 'skulled'. This is denoted by a skull, identical to the one above, appearing on your game screen. You are 'skulled' when you enterthe Abyss, or when you attack a player in a PvP area of the Wilderness (as long as that player has not attacked you recently). If skulled, you will dropALL of your items, and you will not keep three items as you would have at any other time. A gravestone will appear if you die in the Abyss, allowing you to return to the spot where you died, while no gravestone will appear when you die in the Wilderness. Instead, if you are killed by a player in the Wilderness, your items will be immediately visible to other players. They may then pick up or 'win' the items you drop in this way.

If yourPrayer level is high enough, you will be able to use the 'Protect Item' prayer or curse to hold on to one extra item when you die. So, if you die normally, you will be able to retain four items, and if you are skulled and die in the Wilderness or Abyss, you will hold onto one item.You will not be able to use the 'Protect Item' prayer or curse on Extra Hard Wilderness worlds.



There is a chance that you can get your items back, as long as you're quick or have friends near where you were slain. Unless you were killed in PvP areas of the Wilderness (at which point your items drop to the floor and become immediately visible to other players), you may drop several of your items when you die and a gravestone will appear at that spot, guarding your possessions and acting as a warning to others. This gravestone will remain in place for between five and fifteen minutes (depending on your gravestone - see below). A timer will appear in the game window letting you know how long your gravestone has left, and the icon to the left will appear on the world map (as long as you have the 'You are here' marker visible) to let you know where your gravestone is. Please note that if you died in an area for which there isn't a map (like the Underground Pass), you obviously won't be able to see it on the map, but your gravestone will be there and the timer will count down as normal.

If you die in a special area, such as certain times in quests, your gravestone will appear next to the entrance to that area, giving you a chance to collect your items without having to worry about being killed again.

As your time runs out, your gravestone will begin to crumble. A friendly player can fix up your gravestone by right-clicking and selecting 'Repair'. They need to have a Prayer level of 2 to do so.

Alternatively, a player may choose to 'Bless' your gravestone, imbuing it with the strength of their faith to keep it in place for up to an hour. This requires a Prayer level of 70.

Note that, regardless of when the gravestone was blessed, it will crumble to dust one hour after you died. It will also collapse if you die again and drop more items, although your items may remain available for a while longer if your gravestone has been repaired or blessed recently. If you lose your connection or log out, your gravestone will continue to count down.

To make it easier to get to your items when you return, you (and only you!) can right-click on your gravestone and select 'Demolish'. This won't make your items vanish immediately, so you should still be able to pick them up before they despawn.



To change your gravestone you'll first need to completeThe Restless Ghost. If you've done that, you can speak to Father Aereck in Lumbridge Church and offer a small donation to one of his charities for the following options; the more expensive gravestones will protect your items for longer before collapsing, as you can see in the 'Duration' column.

Note that the type of gravestone you have will not increase the length of time repairing or blessing it holds it in place.

You will retain your gravestone style until you buy a new one.

Style	Cost	Duration		Style	Cost	Duration
Memorial Plaque	None	5 minutes		Flag	50 coins	6 minutes
Small Gravestone	500 coins	6 minutes		Ornate Gravestone	5,000 coins	8 minutes

Members who have also completedThe Giant Dwarf can speak to Blasidar the sculptor in Keldagrim to get access to a greater range of gravestones, as well as the basic memorial plaque. Blasidar's house can be found just east of the Consortium Palace.

Style	Cost and Requirements	Duration		Style	Cost and Requirements	Duration
Memorial Plaque	None	5 minutes		Font of Life	50,000 coins	10 minutes
Stele	50,000 coins	10 minutes		Symbol of Saradomin	50,000 coins	10 minutes
Symbol of Zamorak	50,000 coins	10 minutes		Symbol of Guthix	50,000 coins	10 minutes
Symbol of Bandos	50,000 coins Land of the Goblins	10 minutes		Symbol of Armadyl	50,000 coins Temple of Ikov	10 minutes
Ancient Symbol	50,000 coins Desert Treasure	10 minutes		Angel of Death	500,000 coins	12 minutes
Royal dwarven gravestone	500,000 coins King of the Dwarves	15 minutes

Yes! Your gravestone will look the same even when playing on a free world. Because many people there will not have access to the same range of styles, you'll be able to spot your gravestone even more easily in an area littered with the bodies of the slain.

More articles inHow do I get started? Advisors and Tutors Free Trade - Getting Started The Wilderness - Getting Started Death in RuneScape Themed Worlds