New Fortnite Patch Will Improve Inventory Management With Preferred Item Slots

Fortnite patch 17.20 is expected to arrive next Tuesday, and while Epic hasn't confirmed that date just yet, the developer-publisher did reveal a new Preferred Item Slot quality-of-life feature that will be part of the free update.

With Preferred Item Slots, players can trust their newly acquired weapons, throwables, and healing items to immediately be placed where they like them in their five-slot personal inventory. If, like me, you spend some of each match separating your Slurp Juice and Bandages from your Assault Rifle and Fireflies, this new update will automatically do that work for you, based on preferences you can set in the game's menus between rounds of battle royale.

Once the update arrives, the system will be activated using a default tiered list for all players, but customization is key, and Epic recommends players get in there and make it their own. For example, I like to have two or three weapons in the front, a throwable or two in the middle, and some Shield Potions at the backend.

Within the game's options, I'll be able to tell the game to automatically sort my favorite weapon to the first slot if picked up, and so on. Less time managing inventory means more time stunting on downed opponents with the latest emotes.

It's the sort of quality-of-life patch that won't make huge headlines compared to things like alien nanites or the Inflate-A-Bull, but should be appreciated by the millions of loopers around the world. Fortnite patch 17.20 should arrive on Tuesday, July 20 after consecutive weeks of smaller hotfixes that still managed to bring new features, such as a reimagined "Holly Hatchery" location that has been completely taken over by the aliens at this point.

For more on the latest Fortnite need-to-know info, don't miss the Week 6 Alien Artifacts before they disappear next Thursday. You can also check out the Week 6 challenges, as well as the brand-new addition to the Icon Series: LeBron James.