Modern Warfare 4 DMZ Beginner's Guide: FOB, Hajin and Extraction

What is DMZ in Modern Warfare 4?

In short, an extraction shooter. If you have played Escape from Tarkov, ARC Raiders, Hunt: Showdown or the original DMZ in Modern Warfare II (2022), the idea will be familiar. You drop into a large open map full of AI soldiers, choose your own objectives, gather whatever you can carry, and then try to reach an exfil. Other squads are in the same match doing the same thing, so you will sometimes trade fire with real players. Fighting them is optional, though, and it isn't how a run is won. A run counts as a success when you leave the map alive.

Activision's DMZ page sums it up as loot, fight, negotiate, betray and extract. If you get out, what you recovered goes with you into later deployments. If you stay too long or die, the gear you brought in and everything you picked up is gone, apart from items in Secure Slots. The Modern Warfare 4 version is far deeper than the 2022 mode, with a persistent stash, crafting, Operators who level up individually, bosses, and a bounty system for players who hunt other players.

Here is what a session can include, according to Activision's two deep dives:

• Story Missions that carry on the Modern Warfare 4 story.
• Dynamic Operations, repeatable multi-step jobs that pay XP and DMZ Cash and end in a Supply Drop.
• Side Ops such as UAV Towers, SAM Sites and Lieutenant Hunt towers.
• Exploration for keys, locked rooms, underground entrances and 3D Printer Ingredients.
• Boss fights against Lieutenants and Commanders.
• PvP and Bounties against rival Operators, if you want them.
• FOB progression: crafting, station upgrades, Operator Traits and Operator Prestige.

DMZ comes with the paid game. Apart from a time-limited free DMZ trial, which Insider Gaming reported as running until November 11, 2026, you get the mode by buying one of the Modern Warfare 4 editions. Activision hasn't said it will ever offer DMZ on its own as a free game.

How to play DMZ in Modern Warfare 4

You don't have to finish the campaign before you can play DMZ. Activision's FOB guide lists the Operators, Orders, Stash and Deploy stations as available right away. The Story Missions do pick up the Modern Warfare 4 narrative, so if you care about the plot, play the campaign first.

At its simplest, the loop goes: prepare at the FOB, deploy, do what you came for, extract, and bank the results. If you die, you lose the kit you carried and try again with something cheaper. In practice, a round looks like this:

1. Pick an Active Duty Operator. Each one levels separately and has their own Traits, so bring the one built for the job, for example a looting build for a resource run.
2. Build your Loadout. Activision's Ready Up screen suggests at least a Plate Carrier, a Backpack, a weapon and a Medkit. When good gear feels too precious to lose, take the Free Loadout instead. Anything from it that you bring back out is yours to keep.
3. Choose a deployment. Story Mission, Dynamic Operation or Free Roam (see the table below).
4. Read the map before you move. Open the Tac-Map to find your objectives, the Threat ratings nearby, Clinics and Police Stations, and the radiation.
5. Loot and complete objectives. Open containers, fight what you need to fight, and tick off your DMZ Orders while you're out there.
6. Head for an exfil early. The Time Remaining readout on the HUD tells you when the radiation storm will get worse.
7. Bank it at the FOB. Move everything into the Stash, spend or save your Cash, craft, and check what you unlocked.

On your first few runs, keep things small. Take one objective, avoid other squads where you can, and practice getting out. You're there to learn how hard the AI hits, how far apart the areas are, and how often you run into other players. That knowledge will help you more than any piece of loot early on.

MW4 DMZ deployment types

The Deploy station gives you three choices before you go in (Activision):

Deployment type	What you do	Who it suits
Story Missions	Pick or replay a narrative mission with a briefing, objectives and rewards (usually high-value gear and DMZ Cash). You can also roll a random one	Players who want structure and the story
Dynamic Operations	Deploy straight into a multi-step Op for XP and DMZ Cash. Each Op you finish drops a Supply Drop, and each later drop in the same deployment is rarer	Farming Cash, XP and loot
Free Roam	Deploy with no set mission and explore Hajin	Looting 3D Printer Ingredients, chasing Orders, hunting Wanted players

Activision's Hajin blog lists the Supply Drop tiers as Common, then Uncommon, then Rare, so a squad that finishes several Ops in one deployment ends up with better crates. You can also start an Op once you're in by finding a Dynamic Ops phone in Hajin. Most Ops pit you against AI, but one of them, Hunt Operators, sends you after a full squad of real players instead.

Story Missions also have milestone rewards, and they often line up with DMZ Orders. Activision's tip is to compare the mission with your squad's current Orders before you pick one, so you can clear both in the same run.

MW4 DMZ infil methods

Dynamic Operations and Free Roam also let you choose how you arrive. Some methods cost Cash, and some only unlock with progression (Activision):

Infil	DMZ Cash	What you get
Ground	Free	Your squad starts on foot somewhere random
Polaris Dagor A1	5,000	A random start with a lightly armored vehicle dropped in for you
LTV	25,000	A random start with a heavily armored vehicle dropped in
Helicopter	50,000	One squad member flies a helicopter in, with the rest as passengers
Cargo Plane	100,000	You pick the exact spot in Hajin to drop into

Our read: Ground is the normal way to start, not a penalty, and it's the right call while your Bank is small. A Cargo Plane drop is worth its cost only when you have a clear reason to land at a particular place. If you go in by air, equip a Parachute first, since the Loadout has its own Parachute slot. The November 7 patch notes fixed a bug where SAM Sites at the Chang-san base could shoot down a paid Light Helo infil just after it spawned, so the air options have had some early bugs.

How to extract in MW4 DMZ

Exfil is the whole point of a run. You can leave whenever you like, but you can't stay forever. A radiation storm builds across Hajin, and the Time Remaining indicator on your HUD tells you when it's about to get worse. Activision doesn't give a fixed deployment length in its DMZ posts, so read the timer each run rather than trusting a number someone quotes.

According to Activision's Hajin blog, exfil sites are activated from a pool of locations and marked with green smoke. Here's how a standard exfil works:

1. Open the Tac-Map and pick an active exfil.
2. Travel there and call in the Twin Heli Exfil helicopter.
3. Hold the area until it arrives. Enemy pressure rises while you wait.
4. Board to end the deployment and keep your loot.

There are other ways out too, such as a Fulton balloon or a Flare. Activision warns that exfil flares are very loud and can be seen from far away, and that other squads use exfil sites for ambushes. In our experience, the sites also tend to get crowded late in a deployment, once the radiation pushes the remaining squads toward the same few helicopters.

A few habits help:

• Check the Tac-Map often for open exfils and how far the radiation has spread.
• Start moving before the timer runs low. Leaving late means a hurried, noisy trip.
• Keep armor and healing in reserve so you can survive one more fight on the way out.
• Skip extra fights when your bag is full. By then you have more to lose than to gain.
• Watch every approach while you wait for the helicopter.

The best moment to leave is usually just after you finish what you came for, not once every enemy nearby is dead.

What happens if you die in DMZ?

Activision's FOB guide sets out the rules. When an Operator is eliminated, they go MIA (Missing in Action) and can't deploy again until you deal with them. Your Backpack and Loadout are lost, except for anything in a Secure Slot. You have two options:

• Recover the Operator: pay DMZ Cash from your Bank at the Operators station. They return with every Trait they had, but with no gear, so you need a new Loadout before you deploy again.
• Dismiss the Operator: replace them with a fresh Operator, who starts their own progression from scratch.

Recovery costs more the more Trait Points the Operator has. That's a good reason to keep some Cash in the Bank instead of spending it all on guns. Slots are limited too: you start with two Active Duty slots (three with the Vault Edition) and earn another through DMZ levels. One thing a bad run can't take from you is XP. Activision confirms that DMZ XP earned during a deployment still counts even if you don't make it out.

MW4 DMZ map: Hajin

The whole mode takes place in a large exclusion zone on the border between North and South Korea, and the Russian border on the far bank of the Hajin River to the north. Activision's Hajin blog describes that northern strip as fog-covered and currently out of bounds, so you can see it but not play in it. The zone mixes farmland, forest, villages, military bases, industrial sites and a dense city, Hajin City. Activision describes it as one of the largest Call of Duty environments ever made, with over 60 named locations. Every major point of interest starts at a set Threat Level, so where you go matters a lot. Quiet farmland is a better first stop than a fortified bunker.

The Tac-Map has a grid with letters running west to east and numbers running north to south. D7, for example, is Imjin Farmland. Every Key has a grid reference in its description, so you can find its door on the map instead of searching the whole zone (Activision).

Here are the main Hajin locations with the starting Threat Levels from Activision's Hajin blog:

Location	Where	Starting Threat	What's there
14th Political Prison	Northwest (NK)	Prison and Fortress Prison Yard High; The Citadel Critical	A walled prison on a plateau, with watchtowers and a maze-like inner Citadel
Chang-san Air Base	West (NK)	Exterior Critical; Bunker Extreme	An air base cut into a granite hillside, with an underground complex larger than the base above it
Deadtown	Southwest (NK)	Exterior Low; Re-Education Center Medium	An empty farming town with a Clinic, two Gas Stations and sewers underneath
Imjin Farmland	South-southwest (SK)	Exterior and Jeong Loading Dock Low; Rice Mill Medium	Open rice fields and long sightlines around a large mill
Cheongun Village	North (SK)	Village, outskirts and border crossings Low; Heavenly Luck Casino High	A border village dominated by a dark, multi-floor casino where NVGs help
Mirae General Hospital	North-central (SK)	Low	A large hospital with triage tents and close fighting across its wards
Cheonwang Peak Array	Central (SK)	Medium	A summit TV array with a rooftop helipad and long views
Haneul Nuclear Reactor	Northeast (SK)	Reactor High, with radiation; Border Zone Medium	A damaged reactor where you need protective gear and a gas mask
NuriGO Mall	Northeast Hajin City (SK)	East Medium; West High	Shops, a police station, a clinic and a large unlit underground mall
The Grid	Central Hajin City (SK)	Critical; Nenshin Tech Complex Extreme	A walled business district with rooftop fighting and few ways out at street level
Songdo Wharf	Eastern Hajin City (SK)	Low	A waterfront with a market, a pier and active train and monorail stations
Wolves Stadium	South-central Hajin City (SK)	Medium	A ruined baseball stadium, a theatre and a Police Station
Hajin River Heights	Southeast (SK)	Medium	Apartments, Jinseo Park Towers and Compound Echo

This table is a planning aid. Threat rises from these starting values once fighting begins, and it never counts the enemy players in the area.

Our pick for early runs is Deadtown, Imjin Farmland, Mirae General Hospital or Songdo Wharf, all of which start Low. Other squads can still turn up there, but you can learn looting, Orders and exfil without fighting armored troops straight away.

Important buildings and loot locations

Plenty of useful loot sits in ordinary buildings, not just military bases. The Tac-Map marks these building types, and Activision's Hajin blog lists what each one is good for. Building colors help you spot them: red for Fire Stations, blue for Police Stations, green for Clinics.

• Clinics: medical loot. Players sometimes wait inside for wounded squads.
• Police Stations: military gear and a locked Armory, usually with hostiles inside.
• Fire Stations: Radiation Gear and Parachutes.
• Gas Stations and Marine Gas Stations: repair and refuel vehicles, and refill Gas Cans you're carrying.
• Ammo and Armor Caches: restock ammo and Armor Plates. A cache needs time to recharge after use.
• Compounds: heavily guarded outposts with better loot and intel. Going in quietly often works better.
• UAV Towers and SAM Sites: Side Ops. A UAV Tower pays Cash and reveals nearby players and enemies. A SAM Site you capture fires at enemy aircraft, which helps against Deathstalkers.
• Locked rooms and underground entrances: you need Keys for the rooms, and you should look for hatches in the countryside. A door locked from the inside usually means there's another way in.

Season 1: X01

Season 1 added X01, a GRANIT Arms black site that North Korean forces have taken over, on the northern edge of Hajin. You reach it through Hajin. Activision's Season 1 blog describes cargo bays, vehicle depots, underground labs, production lines and a sealed Deep Vault. It also says the facility closes off exfil points as you go, so you have to complete set steps to escape. X01 has its own DMZ Orders, guided by Ghost, an in-world 3D Printer, and a new boss called The Captain. Treat it as a mid-game goal, not a first deployment.

How DMZ Threat Levels work

Threat is one of the main systems in DMZ. Every point of interest has a starting danger rating shown under your compass as you enter. The more noise and fighting you cause, the stronger the enemy response becomes, which means more reinforcements and tougher soldiers (Activision).

Threat Level	What to expect
Low	The lightest enemy presence in an area with hostiles
Medium	Stronger resistance
High	More enemies and better-equipped troops
Critical	Fortified ground. Bring good gear and a plan
Extreme	The most dangerous areas in Hajin, such as the Chang-san bunker

Keep in mind that Threat only measures the AI. A Low area can still hold a fully kitted squad of real players.

To bring Threat back down, break contact. Get out of sight, move toward quieter countryside, take cover, and stop making noise. Melee takedowns, throwing knives and suppressed weapons let you get through busy areas without raising the alarm (Activision). The Season 1 launch patch notes fixed a bug that could delay the Threat Meter, so if it acted oddly during your first weeks, that was probably why.

Marked for Death and Hunt Squads

There's a second meter to watch, the Hostiles Kill Count, which tracks how many AI you've killed in the current deployment. A full meter brings an enemy Hunt Squad looking for you, and your Operator is flagged Marked for Death (Activision).

So shooting everything isn't free. AI kills do give XP, but a long fight can bring wave after wave of reinforcements when all you wanted was to loot one building. This matters most when you play solo, because a Hunt Squad with no teammates to back you up is an easy way to lose a good kit.

MW4 DMZ enemies and bosses

The AI in Hajin belongs to a secretive North Korean faction. Depending on how much of a threat you seem, they may ignore you, search for you, or attack. Activision's field guide lists these regular enemies:

• Tier 1: Grunts, the basic North Korean infantry
• Tier 2: soldiers in body armor
• Tier 3: armored troops who also wear gas masks
• Tier 4: Faceless, fully armored soldiers
• Drones: Combat Drone Swarms and LMG Combat Drones
• K9 robot quadrupeds, usually underground
• Attack helicopter patrols and road convoys

Above them are two kinds of boss: Lieutenants and Commanders. Tougher enemies aren't tied to late missions. If you wander into a high-Threat area or cause enough trouble, you can meet something your gear can't handle.

How to find Lieutenants

These bosses are elite soldiers with their own loadouts and fighting styles, and some travel with a few loyal guards. Activision's field reports name a few, including Gorani, a ghillie-camouflaged hunter in the forests, and Bale, a Spetsnaz veteran at Chang-san Air Base. A kill pays a large amount of DMZ XP and Cash, has a rare chance to drop the Lieutenant's signature weapon, and can drop a Key to their personal loot room.

You can track one down in two ways (Activision):

• Boss Board intel: once you've unlocked buying intel, which needs a set of challenges done in earlier deployments, pay DMZ Cash for intel on a specific Lieutenant. It only lasts for one deployment.
• Lieutenant Hunt towers: climb one of these towers in Hajin and use the station at the top. It marks the general area of the nearest Lieutenant, and counts as a Side Op.

Every Lieutenant drops a Dog Tag Case. Taking it out of Hajin is what moves the Boss Board forward, but the moment you pick it up, your position is broadcast to every Operator on the Tac-Map. You still get the XP, the Cash and a chance at the Key even if you leave the Case on the ground. Our read: before you pick up a Case, plan your route to the nearest exfil, and get moving as soon as you have it.

MW4 DMZ Commanders

Commanders are always somewhere in the exclusion zone and move around rather than staying in one place. You can't buy intel on them. They appear on your Tac-Map when they're close, and your Team Leader warns you. Many normal weapons barely hurt them. The first kill of each Commander pays DMZ Cash, and getting out alive after a Commander kill brings valuable 3D Printer Ingredients (Activision).

Commander	What it is (Activision)
Colossus	A seven-foot armored soldier with a Minigun that fires depleted uranium rounds
Deathstalker	An autonomous drone as big as a helicopter, carrying two mounted machine guns
Main NK Battle Tank	A North Korean battle tank on patrol

The November 7 patch notes also mention a Wheelson Commander, and Season 1 put The Captain in X01. Don't hunt Commanders on purpose with starter gear. You want strong weapons, plenty of healing and plates, and ideally a full squad. A captured SAM Site helps against a Deathstalker. Keep in mind that a Commander fight is loud, and other squads may come to take the reward.

Forward Operating Base explained

The FOB is your home base between runs, and you can walk around it. You drop off loot there, gear up, recover Operators, craft, buy weapons and track your long-term progress. It starts small and grows as you play DMZ. Here are the stations and when each one unlocks, from Activision's FOB guide:

Station	Unlocks	What it's for
Operators (Active Duty)	At the start	Choose, recover and build Operators, and spend Trait Points
DMZ Orders	At the start	Your guided objectives and their rewards
Stash/Loadout	At the start	Store loot and gear up
Firing Range	At the start	Test weapons against targets from under 10 to over 100 meters
Survival Kits	At the start	Open themed supply packs
Bounty Leaderboard	At the start	Weekly rankings of the worst killers and the best hunters
DMZ Progression	At the start	The 1–70 DMZ level rewards
Events	At the start	Limited-time Events and their challenges
Deploy	At the start	Pick a deployment and enter Hajin
3D Printer	DMZ Player Level 2	Make gear and build FOB upgrades
Boss Board	After your second DMZ Order	Lieutenant intel and Commander information
Vendor	DMZ Player Level 5	Buy weapons and items with DMZ Cash
Gunsmith	DMZ Player Level 10	Build and modify weapons with DMZ Cash
Dog Tag Case	DMZ Player Level 20	Show off the player Dog Tags you've collected

Long-term progress happens here. A bigger Stash holds more materials, a better 3D Printer opens more recipes, and well-built Operators make each run a little easier.

Survival Kits come as rewards from DMZ levels, Orders, missions and Events. They include Deployment, Triage, Armor, Equipment and SERE Kits. Unopened kits stack in the station until you need them. Vault Edition owners get a Deployment Kit with two each of Weapon Insurance Contracts, Operator Rescue Beacons, Fulton Drop Markers, Medium Backpacks and 2-Plate Carriers (Activision).

DMZ Orders

DMZ Orders are your main guide through the mode. They teach the systems, tell the story and send you to different parts of Hajin. They're grouped into pages, and they pay out resources, loot and Cash. Activision describes them as one of the most dependable ways to raise your DMZ level and fill your Stash. Some are simple, while others need better gear or a squad.

Pages belong to story chapters; the launch patch notes, for example, mention the rewards menu of the Underground Chapter. To give you a feel for the early tasks, GamerFuzion's walkthrough of the Human Intel page lists three Orders that fit into a single deployment:

• Hunter: find a Lieutenant Hunt tower, climb it and use the terminal to mark the closest Lieutenant.
• Triage Protocol: go to a Clinic, pick up a Bandage and gather 30 Chemicals.
• No One Left: clear a Compound, then grab the Medical Extraction Intel that drops afterward.

The same guide puts that page's reward at a Flash recipe, 20,000 DMZ Cash and a Basic Triage Kit. Community walkthroughs also report that a finished page is followed by a briefing from your contact when you get back to the FOB, that the next page opens after a successful exfil, and that at some points you pick which chapter to play first, knowing you'll clear all of them in the end. Activision hasn't detailed that flow in its own posts, so treat it as player-reported.

You can read your Orders at the FOB station, in the top corner of the FOB HUD, or on the right side of the Tac-Map during a run. When an Order needs you to go somewhere, its marker appears on the Tac-Map and you can ping it for your squad. Check them before every deployment. Many can be done alongside a Story Mission or a materials run, so there's no point in leaving them for later. Season 1 added several new pages of Orders for X01.

Stash and Loadout

Your Stash holds everything you've brought out: weapons, gear, consumables, 3D Printer Ingredients, Keys and valuables. Your Loadout is what your Operator takes into Hajin. Activision's numbers:

• The Stash starts at 40 items and 12 weapons, counted separately. Upgrades raise both limits.
• Every Active Duty Operator shares the same Stash, Bank, Resources and Ingredients, so you can farm on one Operator and gear up another.
• The four Resources (Chemicals, Metals, Synthetics, Electronics) are broken down automatically as you loot, and they don't take up Stash slots.
• The Stash sorts by type and then rarity, and you can stack identical items together. Rarities named in Activision's posts run from Common through Uncommon, Rare and Epic up to Legendary.
• Without a backpack you use the Basic Pack, which has eight slots. Better Backpacks add slots, and some add Secure Slots or room for an extra weapon.
• Armor Plates fill your vest automatically when you infil. To carry more, you need Traits that add plate capacity or an Armor Box Field Upgrade.

The key point: anything in the Stash stays at the FOB no matter what happens, while everything in your Loadout and Backpack is at risk once you deploy. Our advice is to leave your best gear in the Stash until a run actually calls for it. Losing a common rifle doesn't matter much. Throwing away your top vest and a maxed-out rifle just to investigate a far-off firefight stings a lot more.

MW4 DMZ crafting and 3D Printer

Much of your progress in DMZ comes from crafting. The 3D Printer opens at DMZ level 2. It makes gear, makes some Ingredients, and handles the permanent FOB upgrades. Most items need a Recipe first, and Activision says the majority of Recipes start locked. Crafting uses three things:

• Recipes: these unlock as your DMZ level rises, from DMZ Orders, or when you find one and take it out. A Recipe you extract with is added to the 3D Printer automatically and also pays 5,000 DMZ Cash. Weapon Manuals work the same way.
• Resources: Metals, Chemicals, Electronics and Synthetics, which your Operator breaks loot down into on pickup.
• 3D Printer Ingredients: special items you have to carry out whole, such as Binding Catalyst, Biomaterials, Detonators and Control Units.

These are the first Recipes you unlock at DMZ level 2 (Activision):

Item	What it does	Materials
Bandage	Temporarily restores max health when you're wounded	Synthetics ×15, Chemicals ×15
Medkit	Repairs wounds and gets you up from Last Stand	Chemicals ×30, Binding Catalyst ×1, Biomaterials ×5
1-Plate Armor Vest	A carrier with one plate slot	Synthetics ×25, Metals ×25
2-Plate Armor Vest	A tougher carrier with two plate slots	Synthetics ×50, Reactive Metals ×5
Small Backpack	Extra item slots	Synthetics ×25, Metals ×25
Medium Backpack	More item slots plus Secure Slots	Synthetics ×50, Rigid Synthetics ×5

The November 5 patch notes say FOB vendors, recipes and build costs were changed, so check the cost in the 3D Printer before you plan a run around this table.

The Medium Backpack is the one to work toward first. It gives you more room and Secure Slots, and items in those slots survive a failed extraction. Rigid Synthetics and Reactive Metals are Uncommon, and Binding Catalyst is Rare, so you'll find the Medkit harder to make than the vests.

The 3D Printer has a few handy features. You can pin, or Track, a Recipe or an Ingredient so it shows a pin icon when you loot it. Each Ingredient entry suggests where to look for it. You can craft several copies at once. You can also send what you make straight to your Operator or into the Stash, which lets you gather materials on a second Operator and leave the finished gear waiting for your main.

Beyond the starter list, the Printer has tabs for Consumables, Plate Carriers, Backpacks, Tacticals, Lethals, Field Upgrades, Fire Support, Gear (gas masks, night vision and Parachutes) and Ingredients. Valuables, marked with a gem icon, can be sold for Cash or used in FOB upgrades.

Best FOB upgrades to get first

Inside the Printer, an Upgrades tab holds permanent FOB improvements, and each one takes several prints to finish. Activision lists these:

• Stash Item Capacity: more space for loot and Ingredients.
• Stash Weapon Capacity: more room for guns you aren't ready to risk.
• MIA Recovery Discounts: cheaper rescues for your high-level Operators.
• Bank Upgrades: a higher cap on stored DMZ Cash.
• Increasingly Rare Ingredient Printing: craft Uncommon and Epic components such as Rigid Synthetics and Alloyed Plating.

Later tiers add more Dog Tag Case storage, Gunsmith discounts and more Vendor items. The Dog Tag Case station itself also improves as your DMZ level climbs past 20, and Activision's FOB guide says those station upgrades raise the DMZ Cash you collect from Bounties. Not every player you kill carries a Bounty, though. Which one comes first depends on where you're stuck. If your Stash is always full, more space matters more than cheaper recoveries. If you keep losing high-level Operators, take the discount. Once a run starts ending with leftover Cash you can't store, upgrade the Bank.

Active Duty Operators, Traits and Prestige

In DMZ an Operator is more than a skin. Each one levels through Dog Tag ranks and collects Traits that make them better at certain jobs (Activision).

Everyone begins with two Active Duty slots, the Vault Edition adds a third from day one, and DMZ progression unlocks one more. Once you put an Operator in a slot, they stay there until you dismiss them. Their outfit can be changed, yet the character in that slot stays fixed, and no Operator can fill two slots at once.

Each time an Operator earns enough DMZ XP to raise their Dog Tag, they get one Trait Point. The Dog Tag has 18 levels: Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Damascus and Onyx, each with ranks I to III. An Operator is fully leveled at Onyx III with 18 points. A strong run can raise the Dog Tag more than once.

Trait Tree	What it focuses on	Example Main Traits (Activision)
Warfighter	Fighting and gunplay	Adrenaline Burst (a kill resets Tactical Sprint), Possum (one self-revive into Last Stand per match)
Scout	Looting and information	Investor (a little more extracted Cash), Container Looter (chance of extra loot in containers), Field Crafting (craft from Common resources while deployed)
Survivalist	Healing, revives and staying alive	Faster Revive, Free Revive (fixes your first Wound automatically), Die Hard (reaching an exfil in Last Stand calls it automatically)

There are 66 Traits, 22 in each tree. Each tree has six Main Traits you can always see and 16 Minor Traits that are random and stay hidden until you unlock the branch below them. Your first point in a tree buys a random Minor Trait. After that you work up a series of branches, picking one Trait from each, up to nine per tree. Once you pick a Trait it's permanent and can't be swapped out. With 18 points, you can max out two trees completely or spread points across all three.

Possum has been weakened twice. In Season 1 it only works when the squad that killed you is 2.5 times farther away than before, and its fallback activation timer went from 4 minutes to 5 (Season 1 patch notes). Don't build a whole Operator around it.

Our read: two or three focused Operators are better than one who's average at everything. One setup that works: a Scout who farms materials, a Warfighter kept for player fights, and a Survivalist saved for the hardest missions. Just remember that more Trait Points means a more expensive recovery when that Operator goes MIA.

How Operator Prestige works

When an Operator reaches 18 Trait Points and isn't MIA, you can Prestige them. It's optional and separate from both the 1–55 and the 1–70 tracks. Prestige wipes the Operator's regular Traits and gives them a random Permanent Prestige Trait that stays with them even if you dismiss them, move them to another slot or change their skin. To Prestige, you equip the required gear and pay the Cash (Activision):

Prestige	Gear to equip	DMZ Cash
First	Rare or better: a Plate Carrier, a Backpack, 4 Printer Ingredients and 2 weapons with three Attachment slots each	200,000
Second	Epic: a Plate Carrier, a Backpack and 4 Ingredients, plus 2 weapons with four Attachment slots each	300,000
Third and every one after	Legendary: a Plate Carrier, a Backpack and 4 Ingredients, plus 2 weapons with four Attachment slots each	500,000

Warning: everything left in that Operator's Backpack and Loadout is used up when they Prestige, not only the required items. Move anything you want to keep into the Stash first.

Three Permanent Prestige Traits is the cap per Operator. Starting with Prestige four, each new one is offered as a swap: you either replace one of your three or turn the new one down. Prestiging several Operators also earns Calling Cards and other rewards Activision hasn't revealed yet. This is a long-term system, so there's no need to rush it in your first week.

Weapons and Gunsmith in MW4 DMZ

This station opens at DMZ level 10. You use DMZ Cash to build new guns, buy attachments and modify weapons you've brought out of Hajin. It shares weapon progression with Multiplayer, so any attachment you've unlocked in either mode is available in both (Activision).

The main rule: if you extract a weapon, you can modify that one gun, but losing it doesn't unlock the model. To buy a base weapon again and again, you have to find its Weapon Manual and extract with it. That unlocks the weapon for purchase and, like a Recipe, pays 5,000 DMZ Cash.

What Activision's FOB guide confirms:

• 32 launch weapons in eight classes: assault rifles (8), SMGs (5), shotguns (2), LMGs (3), marksman rifles (3), sniper rifles (3), pistols (4) and launchers (4). Launchers take no attachments.
• Gunsmith builds take up to five attachments plus an Apex Attachment slot. Weapons found in Hajin can have up to eight attachment slots.
• Slots and attachments both cost Cash, and each extra slot costs more than the one before. The Apex slot costs nothing, provided the weapon is leveled enough to have it. Activision gives about 5,000 DMZ Cash as the price of a base M4.
• Cosmetics are free: Stickers, Decals, Charms, Gun Screens and Camos are applied without spending DMZ Cash.
• Blueprints get one free use. If you lose it, you can buy it again at a discount compared with building the same weapon from scratch.
• Gunny can put a build together for you, and Gunsmith Discounts arrive through DMZ progression.

At the start you can carry two weapons plus a melee weapon in and out of a run. A Weapon Backpack adds space for another gun, which is how you bring home extra rifles (Activision). Use the Free Loadout when your stock is low or you don't want to risk a favorite weapon. Our advice is to extract every Weapon Manual you find. Being able to rebuy a gun you trust beats hoping for good drops.

To unlock attachments faster, see our MW4 best loadouts guide and the Apex Attachments guide. Season 1 cut the weapon XP paid for vehicle kills on AI, so running over hostiles no longer levels guns well.

Vendor and Firing Range

Reach DMZ level 5 and the Vendor becomes available, selling weapons and gear for DMZ Cash. It's the quickest way to fill gaps when you haven't unlocked printable versions yet. Its stock changes regularly, and better items show up as your DMZ level rises and as you add Vendor upgrades through the 3D Printer. Since Season 1, owners of the Season 1 BlackCell pass see extra items (patch notes). Anything you buy can sit in the Stash until you need it.

The Firing Range is open from the start. It's a wooded area between the Gunsmith and the Vendor, with walls for crouching, going prone and mounting, and targets from under 10 to over 100 meters. Test new optics and attachments here before you pay for a full Gunsmith job.

MW4 DMZ Bounties and PvP

Chasing other squads is never required, though nothing stops them from coming to you. You have a few tools for dealing with other squads. Proximity chat lets you talk to anyone nearby. The Ping Wheel can offer a Truce or invite another squad to join yours, which is handy when talking would give you away (Activision).

Players who keep killing other players get a Bounty. Activision's FOB guide explains the two roles:

• Killers: every player kill raises your Bounty, which is tracked on your Dog Tag across deployments. Things like who shot first and whether you were outnumbered affect the amount. Four player kills make you Wanted, and there are higher Wanted levels above that. Nearby players get a warning when a Wanted Operator is close. At the top level, your rough location can show for everyone in Hajin.
• Hunters: at a Bounty Station in Hajin, you can pay for intel on Wanted players in your deployment. The list of Wanted players there is free. To claim the reward, you kill the target and extract with their Dog Tag, and bigger Bounties pay more.

You lose a Bounty if you die without getting out, if another player extracts with your Dog Tag, or if you pay it off with DMZ Cash at a Bounty Station. The FOB's Bounty Leaderboard shows the Top 50 Most Wanted and Top 50 Bounty Hunters each week, for everyone or just your friends. Season 1 fixed player kills in X01 raising Bounty levels more than they should have.

If you like PvP, Bounties give you a goal beyond taking other players' gear. Just remember that being Wanted gives every other squad a reason to come after you.

MW4 DMZ vehicles

Crossing the zone on foot takes ages, so vehicles matter. Unlike in Warzone, DMZ vehicles have limited fuel and armor, and you repair and refuel them at Gas Stations. Some Traits help, such as one that lets you fix a flat tire on the spot (Activision).

Vehicle	Type	Best use (Activision)
Sedan	Civilian car	Quick trips with no protection
Camper	Unarmored wagon	Moving the squad when nobody is shooting
Grizzly	Light tactical vehicle	Fast and nimble, good for hit-and-run
Dreadnought	Armored Aston Martin SUV	Armored and good off-road
Polaris Dagor A1	Tactical off-roader	Carries a full squad over rough ground
LTV	Light combat vehicle	Optional mounted .50 Cal for heavier fights
Cargo Truck and D50 Radar Flatbed	Military trucks	Cargo bed, or a vehicle-mounted UAV on the Flatbed
RHIB	Fast inflatable boat	Waterways and entrances you can only reach by water
Heli	Twin-engine combat helicopter	The fastest way across the map
Train	Automated rail line	Fixed route across many South Korean areas
Tram	Elevated monorail	Slow loop around the edge of Hajin City

Players don't drive the Train or the Tram. The Heavy Chopper is almost never player-flown, and the Monarch is the exfil aircraft. A vehicle saves time, but engines are loud, and an empty tank beside a Compound is a bad way to end a run.

MW4 DMZ progression and rewards

The mode keeps a separate 70-level Player Level track that unlocks FOB stations, upgrades, Recipes, Operators, skins, Survival Kits and Fire Support. That track sits apart from the Modern Warfare 4 career, which climbs 1 to 55 and then moves into Prestige. DMZ XP does count toward that career level, and weapon XP and camo progress are shared too. It doesn't work the other way: Multiplayer and Warzone XP don't raise your DMZ level (Activision).

Track	Range	What it does
DMZ Player Level	1–70	Unlocks and upgrades FOB stations, Recipes, an extra Operator slot and more
MW4 Career Level	1–55, then Prestige	Shared with Multiplayer and Warzone. DMZ XP counts toward it
Operator Dog Tag	18 levels, Steel I to Onyx III	One Trait Point per level
Operator Prestige	Up to three Permanent Traits	Optional, after 18 Trait Points
Weapon levels	Per weapon (72 for the M4)	Attachments and camos, shared with Multiplayer
FOB upgrades	Several prints each	Permanent storage, Bank, discounts and crafting

You earn DMZ XP from Side Ops, Dynamic Operations, Story Missions, looting, Orders and fights. Killing a rival Operator pays more XP than killing an AI soldier (Activision).

Double XP Tokens work in DMZ too. Activision's Campaign Early Access post says the campaign's reward tokens, three Double XP and two Double Weapon XP, became usable in Multiplayer and DMZ at full launch. Activision's posts don't spell out whether a Double XP Token speeds up the 1–70 DMZ track as well as your career level, so check the Level section of your After Action Report after a boosted run. Our how to level up fast in MW4 guide covers how DMZ fits into the wider 1–55 grind.

Each deployment ends with an After Action Report, whether you got out or not. It has four parts. Report lists your loot and the Cash added to your Bank. Rating gives you a grade from F to S++ based on Objectives, Combat and Looting, with totals for AI Kills, Missions Completed, Loot Containers Opened and Side Ops Completed. Level applies your XP to your DMZ level and Dog Tag. Summary shows the Orders you finished. Activision's own advice is to aim for an all-round run rather than only looting or only fighting. To push the rating up, finish an Op, open containers and complete an Order in the same run instead of spending the whole time on AI.

Events and limited-time rewards

The Events station shows active Events, their challenges and their rewards, many of which are only around for a short time. Season 1 launched with two DMZ Threat Briefings (Activision):

• Battle Tank: fight a North Korean tank in Hajin and carry out one tank part per deployment. More parts mean better rewards.
• The Captain: find this heavily armored boss in X01 and bring out pieces of his helmet.

If one squad member extracts with a Commander part, the whole squad gets credit. Cross-mode Events such as Wager Match and Joint Fire also count DMZ play, and Joint Fire's XP boost grows with squad size. Rewards include gear, Survival Kits, Blueprints and 2XP Tokens. Read an Event's requirements before you deploy so you can work on it alongside your Orders.

Modern Warfare 4 DMZ beginner's guide: tips for your first deployments

DMZ has a lot of systems, and it's easy to spend your first nights on things that don't move you forward. The steady approach: build up the FOB, learn two or three Low-threat areas well, and only take bigger risks once your Stash and Bank can absorb a bad run.

1. Start with your DMZ Orders. They teach the systems, unlock features and pay out resources.
2. Get to level 2 for the 3D Printer. Crafting matters early, especially for Backpacks and vests.
3. Learn the Low areas first. Imjin Farmland and Deadtown make far gentler first stops than The Grid or the Chang-san base.
4. Use the Free Loadout on materials runs where you don't need your best gear.
5. Keep an eye on Threat and the Hostiles Kill Count. Too many kills bring reinforcements and eventually a Hunt Squad.
6. Make a Medium Backpack. Secure Slots protect your most valuable find on every run.
7. Extract every Weapon Manual. They give you guns you can buy again and again at the Gunsmith.
8. Stack objectives. Do an Order, a Dynamic Op and some looting in the same run.
9. Think before you pick up a Lieutenant's Dog Tag Case. It reveals your position, so know your exfil first.
10. Keep Cash set aside for recoveries. Losing your best Operator is bad enough without being unable to afford their rescue.
11. Give each Operator a role. Focused builds are more flexible than one all-rounder.
12. Leave on time. Getting out with good loot beats losing everything for one more objective.

Example: two friends start DMZ on the same night. They take the Free Loadout, deploy into Free Roam at Imjin Farmland, finish one Order, loot the warehouses and leave by the first green smoke they see. The following night they turn the Synthetics into a Medium Backpack and try a Dynamic Op in Deadtown. Neither run is impressive, but both make it out, and their Stash grows steadily.

Use the Tac-Map all the time. Buildings, Compounds, objectives, Threat ratings and the radiation all show up there, and every glance saves you some aimless walking.

Modern Warfare 4 DMZ early access and release date

According to Activision's FOB guide, Campaign Early Access began on Friday, October 16, 2026, and DMZ Early Access followed on Tuesday, October 20, for players who digitally pre-ordered or pre-purchased the Standard Digital Edition or the Vault Edition. This applied on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Steam and Nintendo Switch 2. Insider Gaming, citing Infinity Ward, put the DMZ Early Access start at 10 AM PT on October 20, which was 1 PM in New York and 6 PM in London, with every region getting in at the same moment. KeenGamer reported that the required update was scheduled to arrive on every platform by 9 AM PT the day before, Monday, October 19. The full game launched on October 23. Activision's progression blog says the weapon levels, Attachments and Camos you earned in DMZ Early Access were waiting in Multiplayer at launch. Season 1 started on November 6, and on PC the game needs TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot (Activision).

The Call of Duty hub has the related service categories for the series.

Want a hand with this?

If you'd rather have an experienced player alongside you while you learn Hajin, MW4 Pro for Hire and MW4 weapon leveling are listed on FullBoosts. Read the publisher's rules before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included. A marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.

FAQ

Is Modern Warfare 4 DMZ free to play? It isn't. DMZ is one of the modes in the paid Modern Warfare 4 game, and Activision hasn't announced a standalone free version. Insider Gaming reported a time-limited free DMZ trial on PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Battle.net and Steam that ran until 10 AM PT on November 11, 2026. Outside short offers like that one, you need a paid edition, so check your platform's store for any new trial.

Can you lose all your loot in DMZ? You can lose everything you took into Hajin and everything you picked up there if you fail to extract. Items sitting in your FOB Stash are never at risk, and anything placed in a Backpack's Secure Slots survives a failed run (Activision). Keep your best gear in the Stash until you need it.

Can you play MW4 DMZ solo? You can. Activision's DMZ page lets you go in alone or as a squad. If you have no friends online, turn on Squad Fill, which puts you in with two other players.

What happens if you die in MW4 DMZ? You lose your Loadout and Backpack, apart from items in Secure Slots, and your Operator goes MIA. You can pay DMZ Cash to recover them with their Traits but without their gear, or dismiss them. The XP you earned still counts (Activision).

What is the max level in MW4 DMZ? Level 70 on the DMZ Player Level track. Each Operator also has an 18-level Dog Tag and optional Prestige with up to three Permanent Traits, so reaching 70 doesn't finish your DMZ progress.

Does MW4 DMZ progression carry over to Multiplayer? Partly. DMZ XP raises your 1–55 career level, and weapon levels and camos are shared. Multiplayer and Warzone XP don't raise your DMZ level (Activision).

How do you unlock the Gunsmith in MW4 DMZ? Reach DMZ level 10. To buy a base weapon there more than once, you also need to extract with that weapon's Weapon Manual.

What should you upgrade first in MW4 DMZ? Reach DMZ level 2 so the 3D Printer opens, make a Medium Backpack for its Secure Slots, then put Stash capacity upgrades first. Once your Operators start earning Trait Points, add MIA Recovery Discounts and Bank upgrades.

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