[SOLVED]Persistence flags on a ton of references.

[Necrocytosis]

I read this article:

I have a mod that basically enables and disables lights, candles, lanterns...well every light source there is around Skyrim.....Everything really.
The mod works fine, but after finishing up the mod and starting to clean I noticed the amount of items in the "persistence" section and I started to worry. This is a mod I had in LE that I ported to SSE and did a crap ton of rework on in order to make it better than what it was, so at first I thought I'd see if I could remove them, not interested in risking to have stuff permanently saved in peoples saves.

Also, just for the sake of testing, I removed every persistence flag from all references except from the xmarkers that is the enable parent in each location. Got into Skyrim used the console from the menu to cow to get a clean start and gave myself som good speed, then I ran around the world while the clock went by and everything seemed to work just fine, even went in and out of several areas multiple times just to test the if the script was able to pass the command down to the xmarkers and their children...and I just don't see why all those objects would need to be persistent, but I would like to ask the masters of modding before trusting my own judgement on this...I have been away from modding since 2015-ish, so I am rusty to say the least.

EDIT: Another thing I noticed is that not all references i add to the enable partner will become "persistent" it almost seems random. Lately I made patch for "Open Cities" after all was done I found very few persistent references, there was a few, but I would expect all if it was important for the game to keep the references "persistent". This behaviour makes no sense to me. Seems to be happening to old and new references in the mod.

 

Questions:
1. Does this article also apply to SSE or has something changed?

2. I had a hard time determining the different persistence "modes" in the article, the references has "persistence" flag on them, but that's it, does that mean the so called level 1?

Thanks in advance.

Edited February 29 by Necrocytosis
solved.

[Arthmoor]

The article applies to both LE and SE, and probably Fallout 4.

When looking at the refs you're wondering about that have gained a persistent flag, check them in xEdit. If the reference has nothing on the "Referenced By" tab, then it has no need to be persistent and should be fine if you remove it. You should be aware though that the invisible light source bulbs can bake their positions into someone's save whether they're persistent or not. Early versions of Open Cities attempted to move those from their original positions into the open world and ended up being unable to do so.

[Necrocytosis]

Ah, they do, they are referenced by form id lists that remains after a merge of several small plugins years ago..always wanted to merge those lists, it looks messy to have 6 form id lists. The only way I found to merge the lists was to move 1 by 1 reference from one of the lists to the the main form id list or delete all references and make new ones. I remember very little from my last time I was modding, but I would not be surprised if it was a better and easier way?

It is funny how I can scratch my head and troubleshoot this for hours and then get a solid answer from a seasoned modder in such a short time, this is not the first time you've helped me, I really appreciate it Arthmoor!

Edited February 28 by Necrocytosis

[smr1957]

If you merge plugins using xEdit (and not via Wrye Bash), all those lists should be properly merged together.  I personally use this xEdit scrip for merging plugins: Merge Plugins xEdit Script.  While it is linked under original Skyrim mod site, it works for SSE as well.  But, merging plugins has its own set of potential issues, and so should be approached with some caution.

[Necrocytosis]

I simply deleted the Form lists in the creation kit and then started to remove persistence from most objects except markers and things that need to stay persistent. Not sure why I did not see that as an option until now.