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'''Garbage''' refers to non-existent [[object]]s, and the [[type]] of such objects. As a subject, it seems to easily confuse the uninitiated. It is primarily the absence of being anything else, and therefore to get rid of it, you must [[create]] something. When you [[@dig]] a [[Room]], [[@pcreate]] a [[Player]], [[@open]] an [[Exit]], or [[@create]] some[[thing]], the server first looks for an available [[dbref]] in the pile of [[Garbage]]. If there is no [[Garbage]], it extends the database.

First realize that the server shows an unused [[dbref]] as [[Garbage]]. It has no attributes, it is not saved to the disk. The only space it requires is the emptiness of a [[dbref]] record waiting to be used for some other purpose. All Garbage objects are owned by [[NumberOne|#1]] under the covers, but the server does its best to hide the fact that they exist at all.

The server doesn't find Garbage, will not let you move it, set any [[attribute]]s on it, enter it, or anything else. Garbage is off limits. If you happen to find a way to play with Garbage, it is a bug, and you should report it. Playing with Garbage has historically been a large source of crashing bugs.

New objects are assigned the lowest available [[dbref|dbrefs]], and over time as objects are [[@destroy]]ed and new objects are created, the pile of [[garbage]] will tend to collect at end of the database. In many codebases (including [[TinyMUX]]), a [[@restart]] will automatically shrink the database and forget about any [[garbage]] at the end of the database. [[Garbage]] caught in the middle of the database will remain.

A brief discussion about the disadvantages of having a lot of Garbage (at least on [[PennMUSH]], but potentially accurate on other [[:Category:codebases|codebases]] as well) can be found in [http://www.pennmush.org/cgi-penn/fom?file=38 this entry] on the [http://www.pennmush.org/cgi-penn/fom?file=1 PennMUSH Faq-O-Matic].