Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 — DMZ Early Access and the Forward Operating Base Explained

Call of Duty has confirmed that DMZ Early Access for Modern Warfare 4 begins on Tuesday, October 20, three days ahead of the game's full launch on October 23. The announcement came alongside a new official "DMZ Deep Dive" guide to the Forward Operating Base (FOB), the extraction shooter mode's home base between deployments into the war-torn city of Hajin. Here's exactly when you can get in, and how the FOB, its stations, and Operator progression actually work.

1. DMZ Early Access: When and Who Gets In

According to Call of Duty's official blog, Early Access to Modern Warfare 4 rolls out in two separate waves for anyone who has digitally pre-ordered or pre-purchased the game:

• Friday, October 16 — Campaign Early Access opens.
• Tuesday, October 20 — DMZ Early Access opens.

The benefit applies to the Standard Digital Edition and the Vault Edition on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, Steam, and Nintendo Switch 2. Call of Duty's own notes caution that Campaign and DMZ Early Access start times differ by platform and region, and that actual availability is subject to change and possible outages. Modern Warfare 4 itself launches for everyone on October 23 — full editions and pricing are covered in our Modern Warfare 4 release date and edition breakdown.

2. What Is DMZ in Modern Warfare 4?

DMZ is Call of Duty's persistent extraction mode. You drop into Hajin, a war-ravaged Korean city, either solo or in a squad, and the goal is survival with a payoff: loot valuable items, craft gear, complete Orders, and engage AI forces and rival Operators, all while working toward your exfil. How cautiously or aggressively you play — teaming up or going it alone — is entirely up to you. Unlike multiplayer or Warzone, progress and gear in DMZ persist between sessions through your Stash and your Operators' individual growth.

3. The Forward Operating Base: Your Command Center

The Forward Operating Base (FOB) is home between deployments. It's a navigable encampment where you offload loot from your Stash, gear up, pick up your next Orders, and head back into the Exclusion Zone. The FOB is also where DMZ's permanent progression lives, including customizing your Active Duty Operators. As you complete more deployments into Hajin, the FOB itself unlocks and upgrades into a fully established base, with new stations becoming available as you progress.

4. Stations You Can Access Immediately

A handful of FOB stations are available from your very first visit:

Operators Station

Recruit and manage Operators for DMZ deployments. Each Operator develops independently, earning its own DMZ player XP and Trait Points through higher-quality Dog Tags. You start with two Active Duty Operator slots and unlock a third by raising your DMZ player level — Modern Warfare 4 Vault Edition owners start with three. An Operator stays locked to its slot until you dismiss it, though you can freely swap its cosmetic skin.

If an Operator is eliminated during a deployment, they become MIA and can't be redeployed until recovered. Pay DMZ Cash at the Operators Station to rescue them and keep their Traits — though a recovered Operator returns without their gear, so you'll need to re-equip a Loadout. The cost to recover scales with how many Traits that Operator has earned. Alternatively, you can dismiss an MIA Operator outright and start fresh with someone new.

DMZ Orders Station

DMZ Orders are your guiding Mission Directives. They onboard new players, tell DMZ's story, and challenge you to master the Exclusion Zone.

Stash and Loadout

The Stash stores loot of every type — weapons, gear, 3D Printer ingredients, and more. Offload items you'll want for future deployments every time you extract, then equip weapons and gear into your Loadout ahead of the next infil.

FOB Firing Range

A wooded grove for testing weapons, especially optics, against targets set from close range out past 100 meters — useful for dialing in a loadout before committing it to a live deployment.

Survival Kits Station

Themed packs of loot items you can open and use immediately to gear up, or break down for crafting.

5. Expanding the FOB: Stations You Unlock Later

Continued successful deployments across Hajin expand the FOB and unlock more advanced stations:

• 3D Printer — Combines Printer Resources and 3D Printer Ingredients to craft gear, and is also used to upgrade other FOB stations once you have the required loot items.
• Boss Board (unlocks after your second DMZ Order) — Purchase intel on Lieutenants, then locate and hunt down Hajin's most powerful adversaries; additional intel on Commanders is also available here.
• Vendor — Sells a rotating stock of weapons and items for DMZ Cash; the selection changes day to day.
• Gunsmith — Spend DMZ Cash on attachments for looted weapons, or build new weapons from scratch. What you can build depends on the weapon's level and the shared attachments you've unlocked, and finding and extracting Weapon Manuals expands what's available.
• Dog Tag Case — Displays Dog Tags collected from defeated enemy Operators, with the option to favorite the ones you don't want to risk losing.

The last stations — covering DMZ Player Progression and the deployment point itself, a stretch of razor wire leading to the transport helicopter where each run begins — are available immediately alongside the starting stations.

6. Operator Trait Trees Explained

Every successful exfil awards DMZ XP, which levels up your Operator's Dog Tag. There are 18 Dog Tag levels, from Steel I up to Onyx III, and each level-up awards one Trait Point. Trait Points are spent in the Traits menu across three specializations:

• Warfighter — combat-focused Traits.
• Scout — information and mobility Traits.
• Survivalist — sustain and recovery Traits.

Each Tree holds 22 possible Traits, split into six Major Traits (always visible, arranged in branches of two) and 16 Minor Traits (partly randomized, revealed once you unlock the Main Trait beneath them). Once you commit a Trait Point to a branch, that choice is locked in and can't be swapped later. Because an Operator can only bank a maximum of 18 Trait Points before reaching Onyx III, you'll either max out two of the three Trees or spread points more thinly across all three. Reaching Onyx III also unlocks DMZ Operator Prestige, which converts chosen Traits into permanent upgrades tied to that specific Operator.

Worth remembering: the more Traits an Operator has banked, the more expensive they are to recover if they go MIA, so there's a real tradeoff between building a maxed-out specialist and keeping recovery costs manageable.

7. The Bounty Leaderboard: Hajin's Most Wanted

Killing rival Operators adds a Bounty to your Active Duty Operator's Dog Tag — consecutive kills, wiping entire squads, and getting kills while you're already Wanted all push that value higher. The Bounty Leaderboard station tracks Hajin's Top 50 Most Wanted players (Killers) and Top 50 Bounty Hunters, viewable globally or among friends.

During a deployment, Hunters can buy Intel at a Bounty Station to reveal a Wanted player's general location — the higher your notoriety, the more precise that intel gets. Killing a Wanted target and extracting with their Dog Tag claims the Bounty for DMZ Cash. A Killer clears their own Bounty by losing their Dog Tag, dying without exfiltrating, or simply paying it off at the in-game Bounty Station.

8. DMZ Progression and Getting Deployed

Beyond individual Operators, DMZ runs its own dedicated Progression Track that climbs all the way to level 70, awarding Printer Recipes, unlocking additional FOB stations, and granting other content along the way. When you're ready to head back out, deployment begins at a threshold of razor wire leading to the transport helicopter — accessible either through Story Mission deployment or Dynamic Operations and Free Roam deployment, depending on how you want to play that run. For a closer look at what's waiting on the ground once you land, see our breakdown of the current Black Ops 7 and Warzone season, which runs until Modern Warfare 4 fully takes over.

Quick Tips Recap

• Pre-order or pre-purchase Modern Warfare 4 to get Campaign Early Access on October 16 and DMZ Early Access on October 20 — three days before the October 23 full launch.
• Visit the Operators Station first to recruit Active Duty Operators and start banking Trait Points through successful exfils.
• Always offload loot at the Stash before your next deployment, and gear up through Loadout so nothing valuable is wasted.
• Spend Trait Points carefully — each pick is permanent, and heavily-Traited Operators cost more to recover if they go MIA.
• Check the Boss Board once it unlocks to start hunting Lieutenants and Commanders for better rewards.
• Watch your Bounty: going on a kill streak makes you more valuable to Hunters, so weigh the DMZ Cash payoff against the risk.

Official Resources

• Call of Duty: DMZ Deep Dive — Forward Operating Base Full Intel Guide
• Call of Duty: DMZ Deep Dive — Tour of Duty, Hajin Environments and Threats
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 official site

For more on what's changing as Black Ops 7 winds down, read our guide to the DOOM Event Pass crossover, or browse every Call of Duty guide on the walkthroughs.net game walkthrough archive.