The File must be on the path of the classloader, so it should work anywhere from the root up along your com package structure.
I've tried putting the "resources" directory at the level parallel to "com". Doing a getResourceAsStream("/resources/myproperties.properties") was giving me "null". But when I tried putting this at my package level, i.e, where the main class is, and doing a getResourceAsStream("/com/package/mypackage/resources/myproperties.properties") gave me the InputStream.
I'm just wondering y this is so? Is it mandatory that the "resources" be at the main class level?
Thanks,
Naresh