On October 9, 2026, the official Call of Duty site published the second part of its deep dive into Modern Warfare 4's DMZ, focused on how to play and, above all, on the Forward Operating Base (FOB), where players spend time between deployments. The post is long and packed with feature names. This article, written by the SequeLariCOD team in our own words, sorts out the essentials for newcomers. The numbers below come from the official post; when the source gives no number, neither do we.
What DMZ is
DMZ is Modern Warfare 4's extraction mode. It takes place on the open map of Hajin, the same setting as this season's Warzone, and mixes exploration, fights against AI soldiers and against other players' squads, looting, crafting and missions. You can play solo or in a squad. The golden rule is simple: everything revolves around exfil. You only keep your rewards if you get out of the map at the end of the deployment. If exfil fails, anything not in a Secure Slot of your backpack is lost. The good news is that DMZ XP earned in the match still counts toward the mode's progression even when the exfil goes wrong.
The Forward Operating Base
The base is the mode's menu and holds your permanent progress. Some parts are open from the start, and others unlock as your DMZ level rises. Right away you get Operator management, DMZ Orders (missions that teach the mode and tell the story), the Stash and Loadout, a Firing Range with targets from under 10 to over 100 meters, Survival Kits, the Bounty Leaderboard and the Deploy button, which flies you to Hajin by helicopter. The rest comes over time:
- 3D Printer: DMZ level 2, according to this guide.
- Boss Board: after the second DMZ Order.
- Vendor: level 5.
- Gunsmith: level 10.
- Dog Tag Case: level 20.
A note for readers of our progression article: the launch progression post mentions the 3D Printer at the mode's very first level, while this guide puts it at level 2. Both sources are official; if you see a difference in the game, go with what the game shows.
Operators: slots, loss and recovery
Every player starts with two Active Duty Operator slots (three with the Vault Edition) and earns more by leveling up in DMZ. An Operator stays locked to its slot until dismissed, and the same character can't fill two slots. If they go down in a deployment, they become Missing in Action (MIA) and can't deploy again until recovered. Recovery costs DMZ Cash, the price rises with the Operator's Trait Points, and they come back without the gear they carried but with their chosen Traits. The other option is to dismiss them and start over with someone else.
Each Operator has a Dog Tag with 18 levels across six tiers (Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Damascus and Onyx, three steps each). Every level grants a Trait Point, up to 18 per Operator. Points go into three trees, Warfighter, Scout and Survivalist, with 66 Traits in total, 22 per tree: 7 Major and 15 Minor, the latter randomized. Choices are permanent, so think before spending. The more Traits, the more expensive recovery becomes.
Operator Prestige
With 18 Trait Points and not MIA, an Operator can Prestige. This Prestige belongs to that Operator only, separate from player Prestige. It requires handing over high-rarity gear (weapons with attachment slots, a Plate Carrier and a Backpack), Printer Ingredients and DMZ Cash, all of which are consumed. Traits reset, but the Operator gains a random Permanent Prestige Trait, up to a maximum of three.
- First Prestige: Rare gear, 4 Printer Ingredients and 200,000 DMZ Cash.
- Second Prestige: Epic gear and 300,000.
- Third and beyond: Legendary gear and 500,000.
Stash, backpack and resources
The Stash is shared by all Active Duty Operators and holds up to 40 items and 12 weapons, counted separately. In the match, the backpack is what matters: the Basic Pack has 8 slots, and larger ones add space, room for weapons and Secure Slots, which protect what's inside if exfil fails. Metals, Electronics, Synthetics and Chemicals are broken down automatically and take no space. 3D Printer Ingredients are not: after exfil you need to move them to the Stash. Cash, resources and ingredients are shared by all of a player's Operators.
Deployments: three ways in
Before each match you choose between Story Missions (with a briefing, rewards and milestone bonuses), Dynamic Operations (which pay cash and XP and give the squad a Supply Drop of increasing rarity for each completed operation) and Free Roam, to explore Hajin with no mission, which the guide recommends for hunting ingredients. Getting in also has a price:
- Ground: free.
- Polaris Dagor A1: 5,000 DMZ Cash.
- LTV: 25,000.
- Helicopter: 50,000.
- Cargo Plane: 100,000, with a choice of the exact drop point.
On the final screen you can swap Operators, adjust your loadout and turn on Squad Fill, which adds two allied players if you're alone. The guide itself suggests never heading out without a plate carrier, backpack, weapon and medkit.
The Bounty system between players
Taking down other players' Operators builds a Bounty on your own head. At four eliminations you become Wanted and are announced to players nearby. To get rid of the Bounty you have to exfil without your own Dog Tag, go down and fail to exfil, or pay it off at a Bounty Station in Hajin. On the other side, hunters buy intel at those stations to find Wanted players, who show up on the map as a shrinking circle. Whoever eliminates the target and exfils with their Dog Tag earns DMZ Cash.
Printer, bosses, Vendor and Gunsmith
The 3D Printer crafts gear, ingredients and base upgrades from recipes, resources and ingredients. Recipes come from leveling, Orders or extracting with them, and an extracted recipe is consumed and pays 5,000 DMZ Cash. Upgrades raise bank and Stash capacity, discount Operator recovery and unlock rare ingredient printing.
The Boss Board gathers two kinds of targets. Lieutenants require intel, bought with cash or unlocked through challenges, and drop cash, a unique weapon and a Dog Tag Case; picking up the case reveals the carrier's position, so the guide advises leaving fast. Commanders are always in Hajin and need no intel: Colossus, an armored soldier with a minigun, Deathstalker, a drone, and a Tank.
The Vendor trades cash for weapons and items, with offers that rotate from time to time. DMZ's Gunsmith builds weapons with the mode's cash: at launch there are 32 base weapons in eight categories, and a base M4 costs about 5,000. The Gunsmith fits up to five attachments, but weapons found in Hajin can come with up to eight. To buy a weapon type you first need to find and exfil with its Weapon Manual, and Blueprints can be used for free once. Weapon levels are shared with Multiplayer.
A progression of its own
DMZ has its own level track, from 1 to 70, separate from Modern Warfare 4's 55 levels. XP comes from the mode's own missions, operations and activities; Multiplayer and Warzone XP doesn't count. Rewards include base stations and upgrades, recipes, Operators, kits and Fire Support.
Getting started in short
For your first week, the official guide's logic is: follow the DMZ Orders, which teach the mode and pay well; keep valuables in Secure Slots; exfil whenever your backpack is in good shape; and spend Trait Points slowly, because choices can't be undone. DMZ is rated for ages 17 and up, like the whole game, and has voice chat with strangers: before playing, check our Play safe page.