[AndMetal]

It appears the AddObject function basically adds the object into the database (the object table specifically), not necessarily spawning it:

zone/Object.cpp

// Add new Zone Object (theoretically only called for items dropped to ground)
uint32 ZoneDatabase::AddObject(uint32 type, uint32 icon, const Object_Struct& object, const ItemInst* inst)
{
        char errbuf[MYSQL_ERRMSG_SIZE];
    char* query = 0;
        
        uint32 database_id = 0;
        uint32 item_id = 0;
        sint8 charges = 0;
        
        if (inst && inst->GetItem()) {
                item_id = inst->GetItem()->ID;
                charges = inst->GetCharges();
        }
        
        // SQL Escape object_name
        uint32 len = strlen(object.object_name) * 2 + 1;
        char* object_name = new char[len];
        DoEscapeString(object_name, object.object_name, strlen(object.object_name));
        
        // Construct query
        uint32 len_query = MakeAnyLenString(&query,
                "insert into object (zoneid, xpos, ypos, zpos, heading, itemid, charges, objectname, "
                "type, icon) values (%i, %f, %f, %f, %f, %i, %i, '%s', %i, %i)",
                object.zone_id, object.x, object.y, object.z, object.heading,
                item_id, charges, object_name, type, icon);
        
        // Save new record for object
        if (!RunQuery(query, len_query, errbuf, NULL, NULL, &database_id)) {
                LogFile->write(EQEMuLog::Error, "Unable to insert object: %s", errbuf);
        }
        else {
                // Save container contents, if container
                if (inst && inst->IsType(ItemClassContainer)) {
                        SaveWorldContainer(object.zone_id, database_id, inst);
                }
        }
        
        safe_delete_array(object_name);
        safe_delete_array(query);
        return database_id;
}

KLS made a question function to allow items to be dropped via quest back in SVN Rev 126:

changelog.txt

==10/21/2008
KLS: Some changes to make compiling with profiler enabled more error free.
KLS: Added player quest event EVENT_TASK_STAGE_COMPLETE exports $task_id and $activity_id.
KLS: Added player quest event EVENT_PICK_UP exports $picked_up_id for when a player picks up a ground spawn or dropped item.
KLS: Added quest::CreateGroundObject(itemid, x, y, z, heading) which lets the quest script create ground objects in the zone like if they had been dropped.
KLS: Objects should decay after they're loaded back into the world. Might want to backup your objects table till I can confirm this works 100%.
KLS: Lowered ground object decay time from 30 min to 5 min.

From the Wiki:

quest::creategroundobject(itemid, x, y, z, heading, decaytime) - Creates a ground spawn object/item.

However, I'm not sure if it can be used to create something that can't be picked up (campfire). Then again, are campfires even handled server side? If anything, I think they may be handled in the *_EnvironmentEmitters.txt files.