What do the #'s mean in mob names?

[Rhodan]

I noticed a lot of mobs have # before their name in the npc_types table but I don't really know what it means. I thought perhaps it denoted a boss mob, but then I noticed non-boss type mobs in there as well.

[bufferofnewbies]

I don't believe anyone is really sure what they are there for. It is just something copied over from live when they parsed. Certain npcs showed up with them, and the designers kept it, incase they ever figured out what it was intended for, for easy reference to whatever coding they might need for it.

[Angelox]

Originally Posted by bufferofnewbies

I don't believe anyone is really sure what they are there for. It is just something copied over from live when they parsed. Certain npcs showed up with them, and the designers kept it, incase they ever figured out what it was intended for, for easy reference to whatever coding they might need for it.

When you are sorting npc's in a zone, the # helps to identify mobs you're working with and puts them up top the list. also, the # is invisible, so if you're doing perl quest for a specific npc that has more with his name in the zone, you can specify one like that (Perl still sees the character). Certain other characters work as well also.
If you'll notice, the special mobs or named ones usually are the ones that start with #.

[cavedude]

I think you're correct, bufferofnewbies. The # came over from live logs. What they mean for Sony I have no clue. They could be used to distinguish two similar mobs, like you said Angelox, but I am certain Sony uses their numeric IDs to reference them. Using names in quests instead of ID is a EQEmu thing, to make it much easier to write quests due to human readability.

[wize_one]

seems on live, velious+ era's is to denote a special mob.. either named or something else..

[Rhodan]

Actually, I've noticed that mobs with a # in the name do not respawn until everyone leaves the zone - regardless of the spawn timer.

I set the goblin lord in runnyeye to a 3 minute spawn then went down and killed him. 15 minutes later, still no spawn. zoned out and came back, there he was. Killed him again and immediately zoned/came back and he spawned three minutes after death.

Now, there might be something else causing this and its pure coincidence...