Mod deactivation and the effect on other mods.

[postsimian]

Greetings! The other day I deactivated a mod that I decided not to use and then set out to collect the various companion mods I'd loaded. After stopping in Cheyndinhal, I found a group of companions I thought I'd placed in another mod house, but were instead all cheerfully waiting in the Bridge Inn. Had I left them there and forgotten? This got me thinking: How are locations saved?

 

All mods work on a hex prefix ID. If one mod is deactivated, all mods down from it on the load order list move up one slot (B3 to B2; B2 to B1, etc.). If you parked a companion at a mod house and that mod's prefix ID number changes, will it affect the contents that were placed in that room? (Note: I am not referring at all to mods dependent on an .esm or other .esp file)

 

I guess what I'm asking is: does oblivion save information based on the mod's name and child cells, or does it work based off the ID it receives as the prefix that is indicated in the mod manager? It's been a head scratcher for me.