Locations & Loading - All chests and coffers only load in Dungeon zones. Within those zones where they load, there are specific locations that the coffer or chest can appear. These load spots are fixed by zone and by type of treasure: in a zone with both coffers and chests, coffers have specific load points, and chests have other ones that they can load at. A chest or coffer will load randomly into one of the load points assigned in it's zone, and stay there until it is successfully opened; they do not disappear by themselves. Once a chest or coffer is opened, it usually takes 25-30 minutes to reload, although chests opened during the The Goblin Tailor quest to provide a Magical Pattern reload in as little as 15 minutes. Coffers will reload immediately when the attempt to open one fails, and a Mimic is loaded. When a chest or coffer reloads, it appears in another one of it's preassigned locations, chosen randomly.

Opening a Chest or Coffer With a Treasure Key - All jobs other than a Thief must obtain a specific Rare/Exclusive key from a mob drop to open a chest or coffer. Chest keys are often found when gaining experience in a zone, or the mobs that provide them can be hunted specifically. Because so many jobs need coffer keys to obtain various Artifact pieces of armor, there are regularly coffer key hunting parties which are formed by characters in the level 50s or above. These groups will go to a specific Dungeon zone and kill the mobs that drop the coffer keys there, to obtain enough for everyone in the group who needs them. Once a character has a key for a chest or coffer, they need to find the chest or coffer loaded in the zone. This involves moving around the zone and checking the various spots where the chest or coffer can load. In a zone populated by many characters, it can be difficult during the busiest hours of the day to find a coffer or chest loaded; sometimes it is worthwhile to wait at a specific load spot for a chest or coffer to appear. Once the chest or coffer is found that relates to the key, the character has to move right next to the chest or coffer, and trade the key to it. Neither chests or coffers can be opened while invisible. They can be opened with Sneak, but the Sneak effect will wear off when it is opened. When a character successfully trades the key to a chest or coffer, it is opened and the FFXI Gil  or item awarded, and the chest or coffer disappears.