Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ — Hajin, the Forward Operating Base and Everything Confirmed, Explained
Infinity Ward's first DMZ Deep Dive blog confirms how Modern Warfare 4's extraction mode will work at launch, covering the Hajin Exclusion Zone, the Forward Operating Base, enemy threat tiers and vehicles. Here's everything officially confirmed so far, straight from Call of Duty's October 5 intel drop.
Activision and Infinity Ward dropped the first half of their promised "DMZ Deep Dive" on October 5, confirming exactly how Modern Warfare 4's extraction mode will work when the game launches on October 23. The blog lays out the Forward Operating Base, the new Hajin Exclusion Zone, enemy threat tiers, vehicles and the After Action Report system in granular detail for the first time.
Here is everything Infinity Ward has officially confirmed about DMZ so far, built entirely from that intel drop and the earlier reveal blogs. A second deep dive covering the FOB's crafting stations and player progression to level 70 is due later this week.
1. What DMZ Is, and Why It's Back
DMZ is Call of Duty's extraction shooter mode, returning to the franchise for the first time since Modern Warfare II. Infinity Ward describes it as "a persistent, open-world combat environment where players loot, complete objectives, fight both enemies and rival Operators, and hope to extract with their rewards." Unlike a round-based mode, every deployment is its own run: you drop in with a squad, work through objectives and looting, and either make it to an exfil helicopter with your gear or lose everything you carried in.
For Modern Warfare 4, DMZ effectively takes the slot Zombies has occupied in recent entries — the game's third pillar alongside Campaign and Multiplayer.
2. Welcome to Hajin: The New Exclusion Zone
DMZ's new setting is Hajin, "a sprawling Exclusion Zone forged by the aftermath of the Modern Warfare 4 Campaign," located in a contested region where Russia and the Korean peninsula meet. Developers have confirmed Hajin is larger than Al Mazrah, the DMZ map from Modern Warfare II, and is built around exploration, environmental storytelling and high-risk operations.
The zone's atmosphere shifts dynamically: sudden downpours cut visibility, and dense fog or overcast skies can turn a familiar route into a genuine navigational problem. A radiation storm also spreads over time, tracked on the HUD as a countdown, forcing squads to find an exfil point before conditions become lethal.
3. The Forward Operating Base: Your Command Center
The Forward Operating Base (FOB) is DMZ's hub between deployments, and it grows as you play — from a foothold to a fully operational base with over a dozen Stations. Confirmed Stations available from the start include:
- Operators (Active Duty): manage available Operators, upgrade their Traits and pick one for deployment.
- Stash/Loadout: stores loot between runs and lets you equip weapons and gear ahead of infil.
- DMZ Orders: the mission directives that onboard you and tell DMZ's story.
- Firing Range: a wooded range with targets out to more than 100 meters for testing optics.
- Survival Kits: themed loot packs that can be opened or used to craft.
As you complete more Operations, further Stations unlock: a 3D Printer for crafting gear, a Gunsmith for building weapons from scratch with DMZ Cash, a rotating Vendor, a Bounty Leaderboard, a Boss Board for tracking Lieutenants and Commanders, and a Dog Tag Case for trophies. The final Station, Deploy, is always available and sends you into Hajin via a heavy-lift military transport helicopter.
4. Surviving a Deployment: Looting, Orders and Operations
Looting and DMZ Orders
Looting is one of the most reliable ways to earn DMZ XP: collecting gear and consumables, using found Keys to unlock special rooms, and checking the FOB's 3D Printer for hints on where specific materials tend to spawn. Infinity Ward recommends against over-focusing on loot alone, instead aiming for a balanced deployment across combat, looting and objectives toward an S-tier rating.
DMZ Orders are the guiding mission directives that teach Hajin's systems and advance the story. Some are simple; others require better gear or a coordinated squad, so the blog recommends checking requirements at the FOB — or via the Orders Menu on the Tac-Map — before you commit to a route.
Dynamic and Side Operations
Dynamic Operations give each deployment a clear objective, selectable before infil or triggered from a Dynamic Ops phone in the field. Completing one earns DMZ XP, DMZ Cash and a Supply Drop that increases in rarity — Common to Uncommon to Rare — with each successful Op. One variant, Hunt Operators, pits your squad against a full team of rival Operators. Side Ops are lower-intensity tasks like recovering lost Supply Drops, repairing trucks, or climbing radio towers to reveal a nearby Lieutenant's general location.
5. Threats in Hajin: Enemies, Lieutenants and Bosses
Hajin's hostile forces scale from Tier 1 North Korean Grunts up through armored and gas-masked Tier 4 soldiers, alongside autonomous combat drones, quadruped robot dogs, attack helicopters and road convoys. Every Point of Interest carries its own Threat Level, shown on the HUD under the compass, ranging from Low to Extreme — the higher the threat, the more numerous and dangerous the response to combat.
Lieutenants are named high-value targets with increased durability and distinct behavior patterns. Killing one awards a large DMZ XP payout and a chance at a Key, but looting their Dog Tag Case also broadcasts your position to every Operator in the region on the Tac-Map — a real risk-reward decision. Commanders are roaming bosses that appear across multiple locations and are confirmed to include named threats like Colossus and Deathstalker, dropping prized 3D Printer Ingredients and large XP rewards when defeated.
6. Vehicles: Getting Around Hajin
Confirmed ground vehicles span from unarmed civilian options to dedicated tactical transport: the Camper and Sedan offer basic mobility with no protection, the Soviet-styled Grizzly trades armor for speed and agility, and the Aston Martin-designed Dreadnought is a high-performance all-wheel-drive SUV built for hostile terrain. Also confirmed are the Polaris Dagor A1, the LTV (with an optional mounted .50 cal), and the Cargo Truck and D50 Radar Flatbed. An automated Train and a Tram handle rail transit around Hajin City, while RHIBs cover water and Helis, Heavy Choppers and the Monarch heavy-lift helicopter handle the air and exfil runs. All DMZ vehicles need repair and refueling at Gas Stations — notably, Infinity Ward confirmed this requirement will not carry over to vehicles in Call of Duty: Warzone.
7. The HUD, Tac-Map and After Action Report
DMZ's HUD differs from standard Multiplayer, adding a Threat Level indicator, a Hostiles Kill Count that dispatches a Hunt Squad if it fills (marking you "Marked for Death"), full squad status readouts, and dedicated DMZ Cash and equipment displays. The Tac-Map shows Mission Objectives, key POIs, enemy Compounds, ammo and armor caches, and the spreading radiation zone, all overlaid on a lettered-and-numbered grid for calling out locations to squadmates.
Every deployment ends with an After Action Report broken into four parts: a Report of items and DMZ Cash collected, a combined F-to-S++ Rating based on objectives, combat and looting, a Level readout applying earned XP toward your DMZ Player Level (1 through 70, with Dog Tag ranks from Steel to Onyx III), and a Summary of completed Orders and rewards.
8. Key Hajin Locations to Know
Infinity Ward's tour confirms over a dozen major Points of Interest and says more than 60 named locations exist across the map. Standouts include:
- 14th Political Prison (Northwest, NK) — a walled detainment facility built around the Citadel, a maze of gantries, cell blocks and a furnace room rated Critical threat.
- Chang-san Air Base (Western, NK) — a granite-hillside complex hiding an underground bunker larger than the surface base, rated Extreme in its interior.
- Haneul Nuclear Reactor (Northeast, SK) — severe radiation throughout, requiring a gas mask and radiological gear at all times.
- The Grid (Central Hajin City, SK) — the game's most fortified urban sector, spanning the DBN TV tower, Hanex Bank and the Nenshin Tech Complex, rated Critical to Extreme.
- NuriGO Mall and Wolves Stadium — dense urban shopping and sports districts with underground tunnels and vertical combat opportunities.
Minor locations confirmed so far include Tong-il Village, Revolution Dam, Pyonghwa Village and Daesong Ridge, alongside recurring infrastructure like Gas Stations, Police Stations, Clinics and Fire Stations — each color-coded and worth checking for themed loot.
9. What's Coming Next
Infinity Ward confirmed Part 2 of the Deep Dive is coming later this week, covering every FOB Station in detail — 3D Printer crafting, Bounties, weapon acquisition, Stashes and Loadouts, Active Duty Operators, DMZ Operator Prestiging and Permanent Prestige Traits. Alongside the blog, Infinity Ward also released "From The Ward: DMZ: Addition By Extraction," a video interview covering the team's ambitions for Hajin and lessons from the original DMZ Beta back in 2022.
Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. Read our breakdown of Modern Warfare 4's release date, editions and Warzone plans for pre-order and platform details, or catch up on Black Ops 7's final Haunting season while you wait. For context on why DMZ is replacing the series' usual send-off, see what Treyarch has said about handing the franchise off going into Modern Warfare 4.
Quick Tips Recap
- DMZ is Modern Warfare 4's extraction mode, replacing the Zombies slot, with a new setting called Hajin that's larger than Al Mazrah.
- The Forward Operating Base is your hub: start with Operators, Stash/Loadout, DMZ Orders, Firing Range and Survival Kits, then unlock the 3D Printer, Gunsmith, Vendor and Boss Board.
- Balance looting, DMZ Orders and Dynamic/Side Operations for the best After Action Report rating instead of chasing loot alone.
- Check a location's Threat Level before pushing in — stealth kills and breaking contact both reduce how hard the enemy response hits back.
- Looting a Lieutenant's Dog Tag Case broadcasts your position to the whole map, so plan your exfil before you pick it up.
- All DMZ vehicles need fuel and repairs at Gas Stations; that restriction will not apply in Warzone.