Areas will repop ITEMS only if it is empty. Mobs will repop on regular basis (ie: every 15 minutes, or whenever you tell it to do so). From what I've been told, individuals being in the area can cause a slower pop as well, however, I've never actually put this to the test.
IIRC, you're right, all you need to do is edit db.c and adjust the time it pops. Make sure, as well, that your ticks are reasonable, as long ticks create longer time between pops. -----Original Message----- Ok, resently revamped a mud with an existing player base. And well we have a select few that are complaing that areas are repoping much slower then they would. Now I checked in db.cc, where it says soandso area has just been reset. Now that looks like it takes 15 mins for the area to repop. But is there another spot where it does another repop?

