Ok, to respond to some questions:
-- I did not change what happens to chests that get blasted in any meaningful
way. I suppose it is technically possible that a chest, blasted to "near
death", has chest damage kick in and push it over the edge, spilling the eq
when it would normally dust with the chest. That chance is very, very small
(maybe 1 in 400) and next to impossible to do intentionally. I might make the
change that blasted chests that are destroyed drop their eq instead of dusting
it, but making robbery easier for the thief is not exactly one of my career
goals, so I would not count on it.
-- the Armageddon "close all chest at reboot" feature is an automagic feature
that does not cause chest damage. This was accidental, but I'm leaving it this
way anyhow.
-- unsuccessful chest commands, such as "open chest" that is still locked or
"close chest" that is already closed, do not cause chest damage either. Only
commands that change the chest in some way stand any chance at causing chest
damage. This means opening them, closing them, turning the dials, hitting them
with attacks, etc. Basically, anything that would need to save.
-- Yes, that means giving chests dirty looks is safe. Those of you who figured
this out by the comment about "spilling beer on them" can now justly taunt
their friends who were screaming "Oh crap! My chests and eq will instantly rot
to dust just by me looking at them! We're all going to die!"

Shinarae Lluminus