I have been trying to make a game that involves an item that you can turn on and off throughout the game but as soon as you pick it up you cannot switch it on and off. I need some help on this.

there's two types of scenarios for Objects and their Verbs:

in your inventory and/vs not in your inventory

thus, there's two built-in String List Attributes:

'displayverbs' and 'inventoryverbs'

Pixie explains their usage well (this is not simple stuff to understand, if you don't know quest, and especially, coding, well):

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5023

and here's their obscure and brief mentioning in the docs:

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/ ... ments.html

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in the most simple case, you just need to add the verb to the 'inventoryverbs' String List (or give/create the 'inventoryverbs' String List Attribute for it and its Object)

though, this may involve a few areas of code, not sure how much work is needed, if it's simple or complex, to get it working

I agree with HK as top the problem, but the easiest solution is to go to the Object tab of the item. The display verb and inventory verbs are set towards the bottom. You should see "switch on" and "Switch off" for the display verbs, just add them to the inventory verys too.