Why one house differs from another
Every area has its own kind of loot: military sites have weapons and military gear, farms tools and food, medical buildings medicine, towns everyday items. Rooms inside a building differ too.
Item pages show the kinds of places an item turns up in and which containers to search.
Rarity and loot level
| Rarity | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Common | Turns up often in matching places. |
| Uncommon | You will find it, but not in every building. |
| Rare | Worth a special trip to the right kind of place. |
| Very rare | Hard to find even in the right places. |
Every named place on the map has a loot level from 1 (basic) to 4 (best). The best weapons and gear only turn up at high-level places and military sites. Taken loot comes back over time.
Search the right containers
A fridge holds food and drinks, a gun cabinet weapons and ammunition. The container list shows what each one holds and where it stands.
Only what you can reach
You can only search, open or pick up what you can actually reach: walls, floors, ceilings and closed windows are in the way. Glass lets you see through but not reach through. This also applies to doors, bodies and wells.
Infected carry loot too
Killed infected can be searched. What they carry depends on who they were: a soldier has military gear, a police officer police equipment, a nurse medical supplies.
Not everything is loot
Meat, pelts and fish come from hunting and fishing; some items are only made by crafting; vehicle doors, hoods and trunks come off vehicles. Their item pages say where to get them.