Inventory

The Inventory is where the player carries items that cannot be or are not equipped. A player's backpack inventory can hold up to 28 items, and any additional items must be stored in the player's bank. Some items are stackable (such as coins, runes, and arrows) which means they only take up the space of one item, no matter how many a player has.

The limit of 28 items in a player's inventory is integral to the RuneScape economy. Since only 28 items can be held at once, this requires players to make trips to banks to deposit items while they are gathering and/or making items. This adds time to the process of gathering items such as logs, ores, or flax and the process of making items, such as bowstrings, bars, and bows. If inventory was unlimited, the prices of such items could face a considerable drop because it wouldn't take as much time to obtain large amounts of them. Runecrafting would be made ridiculously easy, as players would be able to craft infinite amounts of runes in a single trip. Gathering skills, such as Fishing, Woodcutting, and Mining could be trained for infinite amounts of time without much movement, and processing skills, such as Smithing, Cooking, and Fletching would be extremely easy because infinite numbers of materials could be processed into finished items in one trip. The limitations of the inventory help to stabilize the RuneScape economy.

Due to the introduction of Summoning, it is possible to have access to more items on the move by using a Beast of Burden (e.g. Pack yak). However to access the items that have been stored with the BoB, you must have enough free spaces in your inventory for the items, as you can not use them directly.

Note that a player can transport more than the standard 28 items by dropping an item, moving somewhere, dropping a new item, going back to reclaim the first item dropped, and repeating. This is uncommon, since it takes a long time to transport just another few items. However, for a player with an inventory full of valuable items, this may prove extremely useful. Of course, this tactic isn't completely reliable due to the risk of random events that can temporarily teleport the player away, meaning any items currently dropped could be lost.

Trivia

 * The word backpack seems to be a metaphor, because there is no backpack on the player if all worn items are taken off.
 * The existence of an inventory is clear, though, as various NPCs have stated they can see it, and the Player themself has said "Let me take X out of my pack" on various occasions.
 * Additionally, the dialogues of the giant chinchompa and lazy cat, the last one while wearing a catspeak amulet, implies that there is actually a backpack on the player's back.
 * In the 2009 Halloween event, there is an in-game message stating that eek "Jumps into your backpack". This also implies that players literally have a backpack.
 * When in the swamps of Mort'on while being attacked by Ghasts if they succeed to turn a piece of food into Rotten Food, a message will appear stating, "You feel something attacking your backpack, and smell a terrible stench." Also implying that you have a theoretical backpack.
 * In RuneScape classic, players could hold 30 items, yet those 30 items also counted as your worn equipment.
 * There is also a glitch when opening your Inventory from Inventory icon. When you look at your stats, and click Inventory, you may see the last items you banked. For example, if you had 28 Bow strings and banked them, you saw them for just a split second.
 * The maximum the character can carry in one inventory (including armour) is 193, with all runecrafting pouches, the coal bag, the gem bag, and the bolt pouch. However, this does not include GE item sets, packs, basket of fruits, sacks of vegetables, etc.
 * When a player withdraws "Max Cash" with more money in their inventory, a message will appear at the bottom stating that they have no more space in their inventory. However, more items may be withdrawn. This is expected to be the same with other stackable items such as, Tokkul, Arrows, Runes, etc.
 * According to the Zombie Head, the inventory has 'fluff' at the bottom.